Mumbai-Goa-Kerala-Mumbai

Hi

After a successful 3 week trip to Norhern India earlier this year, i'm planning on a shorter 16 day trip to India next year- March/April.
I will be flying in and out of Mumbai,and was thinking of the following rough itinerary.

Arrive Mumbai 2 days - any suggestions of What to see?
Overnight train to Goa- Panjim area? - 4 nights
Overnight train to Cochin, Kerala - 5 nights
Overnight train to Mangalore area 2 nights
Overnight train back to Mumbai.

This is only a rough plan, but im tied to flying in and out of Mumbai, 16 days max, and I want to see Goa and Kerala. I have a limited budget and want to travel by train or bus at a push.

Thanks if anyone can chip in with any thoughts or advice.

Hello, Goa and (especially)Kerala are huge.

What are your interests?

Travelling alone? with partner? with kids? (all have advantages, but often require different Itineraries)

Has Hampi ever tickled your fancy?

The more details you give, the more personalised the replies can be.

What's your closest International airport? (Emerates have loads of flights to south India, they often combine well with flights from various parts of the UK, Mumbai's OK if you have to be there, but it can be avoided)

Thanks for the reply Steve.
I'm travelling from Birmingham. Turkish airlines have cheap ish flights to Mumbai.
I'd like to see Mumbai, but only one night at both start and end of trip.
I will be travelling solo and I'm used to long overnight journeys from last years trip.
Im looking for a bit of relaxation and adventure. I'm a keen photographer, and enjoy the street scenes of India. Would like to sample the backwaters and maybe wash some elephants. I am on a budget though.

Seriously play around with your dates, check departing a day earlier, a day later, and coming back a day earlier/later and combinations of them all.

I'm booked with Turkish Gatwick-Mumbai-Gatwick for January, after playing around, I got a fare of £370 pp, and that includes the taxes. (only a 3-hour stopover 1 way, 2 hour the other way)

Seems like they were doing some kind of promotion.

Watch out though, their Mumbai-Istanbul flight is seriously poorly timed.

I'm looking at around £430 for my flights which are ok.

Anyone know if the Panjim area is a good place to spend 3 nights in Goa, I want to sample both the towns and beaches of Goa.

In kerala I want to stay around Cochin Fort,and tour the backwaters. Does anyone have a good Itinerary for 5-6 days, on a budget. I'd like to stay 1 night on a houseboat, is this possible as a solo traveller, on a budget.
Is it feasable to visit Hospet as part of my Goa visit?

I want to break up my return train journey from Cochin to Mumbai for 1 day/night stay, is it worth stopping at Mangalore or South Goa, or any other recommendations?

You can check out Karwar or Kasargod

Booked Flight with Turkish airlines

Itinerary

Day 1 fly
Day 2 Arrive Mumbai overnight Seashore Hotel??
Day 3 Day Mumbai - Overnight train to Panjim, Goa (sleep Train)
Day 4 Arrive Panjim - Hotel Alfonso??
Day 5 Panjim - Hotel Alfonso??
Day 6 Panjim - Overnight train to Fort Cochin (Sleep Train)
Day 7 Cochin - Hotel Sajhome??
Day 8 Cochin - Hotel Sajhome?? Elephant washing - any recommendations
Day 9 Cochin - Hotel Sajhome?? Fishing Trip ??
Day 10 Cochin - Hotel Sajhome??
Day 11 Allpelay - Houseboat 1 night
Day 12 Leave Kerala - Overnight train to South Goa Madgaon (Sleep Train)
Day 13 - Madgaon - Hotel Anthys Guest House??
Day 14 - Leave South Goa for Mumbai - Overnight train to Mumbai (Sleep Train
Day 15 Arrive Mumbai
Day 16 Fly Home

Any comments on my hotel choices...all are in my budget and have reasonable reviews on Trip Advisor.
I am solo traveller.

Thanks

Kodanad near Cochin is known for elephant bathing. It happens mostly in the early morning. Do a search here to see some more information.

I meant to reply to this thread ages ago, but never seemed to have the time.

Panjim is a nice place, kind of laid back for an Indian city, and side trips to 'Old Goa' (a world heritage site, loads of churches etc.) and maybe a beach resort would be good.

Kochi will be great as well.

However, you need to consider that your trip will be in March/April, and the heat/humidity will be very difficult to take, so I have a suggestion.

But first, an overnight houseboat, forget it, poor value for money for a couple, a waste of money for someone travelling alone, the problem with the overnight houseboats is that they have to stick to the wider & busier canals, and also, you'll only spend up to 8 hours actually moving along the canals.

There's a very trusted and respected member of Indiamike who highly recommends a half day boat tour of the backwaters that starts and ends in Kochi, I'll get more details if your interested, my favorite way to experience the backwaters is to find a nice backwater hotel/homestay away from the big towns, where you can relax and soak up the atmosphere, and you can also hire (very cheaply) a canoe or small boat and go along the more scenic narrow canals, you could also hire a local to row you around, and it would probably be easy to find another tourists to join you, choose the place carefully and it could even be close to a small 'off the beaten track' village.

The money you save by not doing the overnight houseboat could be used in 2 ways, first, to pay for a good hotel/homestay in a scenic spot on the backwaters.

2nd., From Kochi, you could hire a car & driver to take you first to Kodanad for the elephants, then to take you from Kodanad up into the hills to Munnar, it wont be cheap and you'll need to start early, but the lower temperature will be like heaven.

On the way back north, Murudeshwar is a great place to stop for a day, it has religion, temples, massive statues, nice markets, and a great atmosphere, it has it's own beach and friendly people and is about half way to Mumbai.

Thanks for the detailed reply Steve. I would be interested in the details of that Boat trip you mentioned.
Do you have any suggestions for the hotel/homestay in the backwaters?
Is Murudeshwar a better option than the area around Madgaon in Goa?

How do prices for meals, drinks, Rickshaws etc compare to Rajasthan?

I think Steven is talking about this. Would I be right Steven?

I got back yesterday shattered but had a brilliant time. Highlights were ....

Mumbai - Loved it!! So much to see. Great buildings, Good night scene, Chaos!!
Konkan Railway - Waking up to a gorgeous misty sunrise over the fields on the Konkan Kanya express
Panjim- Great Laid back town. Hired a scooter for 2 days, and saw Old Goa and Divar Island. Went along coast to Candolim.
Fort Kochi - Another great city, Great sunsets over the chinese fishing nets, Great food, some crazy festivals were going on whilst I was there.
Backwaters - A great relaxing experience sleeping overnight on your own houseboat
Anjuna- Hired a scooter and explored North Goa coast line as far as Mandrem Beach

Experienced the mad local train in Mumbai from CST to Vile Parle. It felt like the whole of Mumbai were in my carriage!
Traveled Sleeper Class on trains and met some great friendly people. Woke up one night and discovered loads more people had got on the train. Every Inch of floorspace was covered with people sleeping. Felt Like a Refugee!!

Some of my favourite photos...

[IMG] Cricket. Maidan Oval, Mumbai by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Mumbai Ghats by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Mumbai Sunset by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Divar Island by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Sleeper class by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Goodbye by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Traveller Madgaon by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Madgaon Street Scene by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Madgaon Street Scene by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Chinese Fishing Nets, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Monkey Family by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Sunset, HouseBoat, Kerala by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Sunset, HouseBoat, Kerala by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Holi Day!! Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Festival, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Festival, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Make-up, Kathakali Dance, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]
Kathakali Dance, Fort Kochi by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Anjuna, Goa by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Mandrem beach, Goa by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Okha Express to Goa by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Banyan Tree, Goa by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG] Jahu Beach Sunset, Mumbai by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]


[IMG] Mumbai Sunset by Will.H., on Flickr[/IMG]





Got loads more photos of the trip on my Flickr........

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chicovi...th/8615091061/

Just completed my blog for my recent trip....

http://westerrnghats.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks Chicovilla for posting all your pictures. Great to see them! Looks like you had a good trip. Mandrem beach is beautiful, isn't it. We have stayed in Mandrem twice now.

Well done for travelling sleeper class. A few years ago I travelled a lot in sleeper class, but my wife won't allow it any more.

I have just bought a Nikon P510 bridge camera and Photoshop, to replace my Samsung compact camera.

No clue how to use them at the moment.....

Best regards