Need advice on 2.5 month route in india

blgerber

Hey everyone,

I fly into Mumbai on march 1st and out of delhi on may 15th. There are a lot of things that I want to do in India but only a few are a must. However, I have no idea how to organize this trip.

Things I must do in no particular order:
1. Amristar
2. Taj
3. Tiger safari (i hear khana is the best)
4. Sikkim
5. Darjeeling and Gangtok
5. Varansi
6. Udaipur
7. jaipur
8. Jodhpur
9. (Maybe Jaislamer)
9. Trek in the Himalayas
10. Dharmasala



I would also like to go south (kochin) but do not know about time. I want to do this on a budget but I am willing to splurge when necessary. Does anyone have a good route. I would really like to get out and see the more rural areas especially in the mountains. I have some bacpacking experience in SE Asia and Europe but I am a little nervous for India but I am sure I will fall in love very quickly. I prefer not to fly around a lot. Maybe one flight max. Anyone have suggestions????

Darmabum

in general, think of starting in the south. You're getting into monsoon time, and even in May it may be too late for a rain-free trip (if that worries you). I'm an advocate of monsoon travel, however, having spent February through August of last year in Varanasi. A very dynamic time of year in India, monsoon. Travel can be hampered, if not completely halted; weather can be hot if not downright unpleasant (unless really HOT and really HUMID appeals to you.) I forget how much time you have, but in general the monsoon moves from south to north (those who know the south better than I can guide you here) starting perhaps in May/April? . . . find a book called "Chasing the Monsoon" by Alexander Frater. In it he describes his monsoon journey through India. I will tell you that last year "real" rain didn't start in Varanasi until July; though the heat and humidity started well before that; but after some months of heat and humidity, the rains were welcomed with open arms. A "well traveled old American".

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ranjan154

Choice of place is good but the ordering is not correct .. need to go to office now.. i think IM will have it set right by the time i log in next

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robotvoice

Ok here is a suggestion for a route. Khana national park is the closest destination from mumbai so i would go there first. Then continuing northeast to varanasi, and further to darjeeling. After darjeeling/sikkim area is when you are faced with a decision if you want to fly or take the train because it is quite a leap from darjeeling to agra, just guessing it's about 24 hrs. from the taj you could head up to dharamsala, on to amritsar and then down through rajasthan and back to mumbai.

you have a pretty spread out itinerary but if you don't mind long train journeys it could be a lot of fun. you could put something in between the darjeeling/agra trip to break it up, like bodhgaya.

it might look something like this:

week one Tiger safari (i hear khana is the best)
week two Varansi
week three Darjeeling and Gangtok
Trek in the Himalayas
week four Sikkim
week five Taj and delhi
week six Dharmasala
week seven Amritsar
(Maybe Jaislamer)
week eight Jaipur
week nine Jodhpur
week ten Udaipur
back to mumbai

beklemmung

While I don't have any experience actually traveling in India, I'm in a similar situation. I'll be traveling from mid April til the end of June, and I only have a vague idea of what I'll be doing: start in Delhi, move more or less south over 2.5 months. Sounds like you're just going west to east instead.

I know that I'm going to experience some insanely hot temperatures and probably some rain towards the end of my trip, but I can deal with those things. Since it won't be high season for tourism I'm expecting to enjoy vacancies most everywhere I go and hopefully some flexible prices on accomodation. Depending on how much immersion you're looking for (and how much trekking you want to do) in the places you mentioned, you could have time to visit Kerala and perhaps other areas in the south as well. I'm doing my trekking and probably Rajasthan in March and early April, so I figure 2.5 months should be enough to leisurely go from Delhi to Kerala/TN and get a decent experience of things in between.

blgerber

Should I fly from Mumbai to Kerala/Kochin or take the train? Maybe with a quick stop in one of the lesser visited places in Goa??? I have been to phuket and Ibiza and don't want a repeat of that. I would prefer a sleepy beach town to a bustling area.