Mumbai, Goa, Taj Mahal/Delhi: Itinerary advice needed

jay61

My husband, two children and myself are travelling from Toronto in December for 3 weeks. Our plan must include Bombay, Goa and the kids wish to see the Taj Mahal/Delhi. However, I am at a loss how to plan the trip as I am unsure of how long travel times are between places and what is the best way to travel i.e. air, train, bus etc. Any help would be most appreciated as I am getting very apprehensive. Thanks

machadinha

It's a lot of work in three weeks. I adjusted your title btw. Getting your questions down as clear as possible would be a good start. You have some time to figure it out right, hold the apprehension (natural though).

How old are the kids? Are they used to travel? Could be done flying I guess, or possibly training, but they're long rides, except for Mumbai-Goa perhaps (but never used to be all that easy, I hear it's improved though). Where are you landing and taking off from at all? On the art of getting your questions answered, I can't recommend highly enough this thread How to get the most out of the Itinerary section, easily transposed to any other field of enquiry.

Have you browsed through the forums here? Most of your answers should be there already.

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jay61

Sorry, I am just so nervous that I am not thinking straight. My kids are 15 and 8 and are used to travelling, but mostly to the US and Europe - but have not been to India. We are landing and taking off in Bombay.. Will read the post that you suggested and hopefully have my questions answered. Thanks very much

machadinha

LOL nothing to be sorry about, I pooped myself going there.

That thread won't give you any answers no, just on how to pose your questions so as to maximize possible results.

Some DIY travel links:

Rails:

http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/ The official site. Not all that easy to work with but you'll need it.
http://www.trainenquiry.com/
http://www.indiagroove.com/ Both these latter two offer extra search options, but you'd better check your results with the official one.

Air:

http://www.amadeus.net/home/index_toplevel.htm
http://www.airportsindia.org.in/ (open during business hours only. Usefulness varies highly per airport.)

Buses:

Try Online bus ticket reservation sites . Note that many bus connections just won't be online, whereas the possibilities on the ground are next to endless. Not really recommended for the distances you're thinking of, but given here "as is."

jay61

Thanks again... it is not so much how to accomplish all this in so short a time but also where to stay? The kids want to be by the beach in Goa and I have no idea where to stay?? Does nto seem much of a holiday - more of a nightmare !!! I am the only one agonizing over this - my husband says "we'll go there and figure it out". Nooooooo, I have a great fear of the unknown !!! especially when dealing with travelling within India...

machadinha

Um, well, yes, you can figure it out on the ground. The kids aren't toddlers, it would be hard not to find accommodation or transport, I understand they're used to travel... Most important of all, you've got about 6 months to figure it out, and you've come to the right place to ask about it.

My concern would be mostly about not overdoing it. Although again, with flying it could be doable. Don't overestimate it, what with getting out of town and to the airport and vice versa when you arrive, settling in, barring any delays, yadida... It's just a massive country, get a map showing it on the same scale as your home country (and bear in mind the infrastructure won't be the same, Canada or not).

Ask yourself too what you expect from the beach bit. I'll run into a fight here with the Goa lovers but I could think of a lot better places to do a tropical beach holiday. So depending on what you're used to, it may not be worth spending the extra time on. Although the kids may well love it, you know them better than we do.

jay61

You are right in one way - speaking for myself, I am not a "beach" person... but to keep the kids happy (they dont want to go to India) we have promised them some time at the beach - I think they are expecting beaches like Hawaii.... where they had a blast !! As you say, in six months hopefully I would have figured it out

machadinha

Hm yes Hawaii it ain't.

I'd suggest Mumbai - Diu (Gujarat) beach (very nice, one of the few minus treacherous waters in all of India too) - Agra/Delhi. Still tricky on a first 3-week trip though, and it's quite some distance. Maybe Mumbai-Goa-bit of Kerala/Karnataka (Hampi) - Mumbai could be something.

Mind you I'm a low-budget land transport kind of guy. Anyway, over & out to the others. Just ask on

Loz

I would suggest flying to Delhi (unless you want to see the country side and don't mind being on long trains rides) and spend some time in Delhi and visit the Taj and then flying to Gao, this would mean you can spend max time in Goa/Delhi/Mumbai. The train back to Mumbai. There are endless accommodation options and we found most of ours on indiamike and organized it all via email - very easy. Trains fill up very quickly at that time of year so try to book them before you leave. There is heaps of info on here for Trains and planes and they will give you the times for depart and arrive so you have some idea of distances etc.

Good luck and I am sure you will have a blast.

mairangi_vice

I dont see why you cant do this in 3 weeks. Spend a few days in Mumbai, then fly to Goa or catch a train or drive if you have the time. If you want the beach, I would recommend Baga beach/Calangute in Goa for a few days, and then fly to Delhi (it is a long way, so flying would be best) and do a tour to the Taj Mahal. there are lots of other nearby touristy places to soak up any left over time.

You are going to popular tourist areas so most things can be booked on the net

machadinha

That sure is the other way to look at it Mairangi

re: Working it out on the ground, something I overlooked is you're talking about Dec. So esp. with the kids in tow it's probably a good idea to book ahead what you can, certainly those well-visited areas will be, well, well-visited. You can expect things to peak around XMas, which is an Indian holiday as well. While you'd be hard-pressed not to find a hotel (which may involve lowering your standards however, and in places like Goa I'm not at all sure, while Mumbai for instance is tough at the best of times), trains for instance and on some stretches can book up weeks in advance.

Indus

Hi, My suggested travel plan:

Day 1: Fly to Jaipur from Goa by Kingfisher Airways
Day 2: Sightseeing Jaipur
Day 3: Drive to Agra
Day 4: Drive to Delhi
Day 5: Sightseeing Delhi
Day 6: Flight to Mumbai

You can done your Golden Triangle trip at the last leg of end of your trip and back to Mumbai to catch your international flight.

Have a Great Time!!!

Jamie11

This is what Ive done before.

Catch a train from Goa to Delhi (takes about 33 Hours)
While staying in Delhi you can get a driver to take you from Delhi to Taj Mahal and back
Fly Delhi to Mumbai (www.spicejet.com are cheap)
Mumbai to Goa via bus


You can do it that way in days...so depending how long you want to spend in each place you can tailor it. You get to expierience all the different modes of Transport as well.

Its only a suggestion, as I say, Ive done it that way before when time was limited.

I know you are starting in Mumbai, but I would suggest go straight to Goa, as you and your kids will probly climatise to the country a bit easier there, then after a week maybe do the trip.


what ever happens tho, Im sure you all will have a great time.

BTW I did it in the month of December and had no problems what so ever.

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PortieOwner

Relatives in the Delhi area seem to prefer catching a flight to Thailand for beaches--it's apparently cheaper to go there than Goa, but I have never priced it myself. I hope we can do a Thailand side trip one of these times, I have never been there.