India first-timer... 6-7 week itinerary

alderhill

Hey all, a friend and I are going to India in the new year.

(Actually, he's in Bombay now, landing the same night as the terrorist seige, hah. He's there for a wedding (not his!) in December, but I'll join him in early January. He's going to Kerala and to visit friends/family in Goa, Mangalore and Bangalore while I'm gone, then we'll see the north together. We both head home in early March. So 6 or 7ish weeks for us.)

We've made a rough itinerary, and here's what we're figuring:

We start with A) Bombay and Goa (He has family in both places, so we'd stay with), then up to Rajasthan. After that we're unsure which direction to go...

North to B) Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Dharamsala and McLeodganj.

East to C) Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Darjeeling and Sikkim. (We have to stay a day or two in Allahabad to visit a relative of my friends... thinking of Khajuraho and a wildlife park from here?)

So A-B-C? Or A-C-B? Or something else?

There are other likely stops along the way... Khajuraho and Calcutta for example.

Also wondering what winter in Dharamsala or Sikkim is like, and to what extent that will affect things in the hills or mountains. (We are Canadian and used to cold weather...)

Will 6-7 weeks be ebough? More than enough? Any and all advice and enlightenment welcome.

machadinha

No real advice; on the weather, kindly check this whole thread: India climate chart .

I don't think those places will shut down no, they're rather popular in winter. They get pretty cold though I can attest, as in around freezing point in those mountain places, maybe somewhere between 10-0C at night in the plains, the latter being a pleasant upper 20's or lower 30's in the daytime. (A thing is too you may be exposed to the cold much more than you might think, so while your home place may get colder, the pervasiveness of it all may make it much harder. It can be hard to warm up anywhere, many places just won't be heated, whether your hotel or a shop or eatery or bus or whatever. I guess one needs to experience this to appreciate it. It gets very cold, yes.) Conversely, be aware come March the plains will already be well heating up. Nothing unbearable I think, but not exactly cold either.

Anyway, check all those weather links on the thread I provided, and remember they can only be averages.

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