Need Experienced Advice for a 8-9 day itenarary in India

arijitraja

Hi everyone..
I need a trip advice for the chrismas week. 8-9 days in all.
I dont think going to the hills is a good idea right now. We thought of Sunderbans, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh but most of the roads would be closed at this point of time.
The current options in our mind now are -
1) South India
2) Rajasthan
3) Goa and adjoining area (not feasible at this point of the year).

Looking for a nice itenarary for South India and Rajasthan keeping in mind that we have 8-9 days and we will be flying to B'lore or Chennai..

Also please let me know if some other part of india can be ventures ...

I plan to get the tickets by this weekend...

thanks in adbance

arijit..

SANJAY_DEL

Chennai
Pondicherry
Tamil Nadu
Karnataka coast
Ahmedabad
Jaisalmer
Udaipur
Jaipur
Delhi

machadinha

All that in 9 days? Feel like getting into the specifics?

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timsmith

Take a flight from Chennai to Trivandrum / Kochi and spend 2-3 nights around Kerala ( in a night in House Boat) Then fly to Delhi and do the Goldaen Triangle - delhi / agra / jaipur for remaining 5 days. would be comfortable and would include both kerala + bit of Rajasthan . Leave Goa for next trip

arijitraja

I dont wanna do South and Rajasthan in one trip !!!!!
i have decided on south. Now what can be added to this leave leaving the golden triangle ?

And yes.. isnt the first itenarary a lil too much for 9 days ???

kotharitextile

Give me details of your interests and I shall suggest you best itnerary for states of southern india.

For Adventrous - Kerala
For History Lovers - AndhraPradesh and Tamil Nadu
For Traffic Lovers - Karnataka (Bangalore and Coastal Areas)

Give me details on kotharitextile@rediffmail.com

machadinha

Well you did mention

Hence the confusion perhaps. I was thinking the whole thing looked a little much no matter what way you look at it yes.

Why not discuss it here? That's what the site is for and there's generally interest by a lot more folks than just the original poster, maybe even years from now.

Thanks and fire away with those suggestions!

arijitraja

Hi all,
after thinking for over 15 days, i have finally narrowed down my vacation destination as South India precisely Kerala and somewhat Karnataka. I have 8-9 days with me and would be travelling with a friend. I plan to take a flight to Bangalore 22nd or 23rd and then move down south. THis would be my first trip to south india so am not very sure what all to cover. After researching a lot and asking friends i have narrowed down to these places but 8-9 days is too less to cover them all.

Flight to Bangalore
Mysore - Srigangapatna, Brindavan Gardens
Coorg (Merkara)
Ooty
Ernakulam
Kozhikode
Cochin
Silent Valley (Palakkad)
Munnar
Periyar Wildlife
Trichur(Thissur)
Allepey (Backwaters)
Trivandrum - Kovalam, Varkala

Is this possible ? If yes .. how ?
If no.. what place can i leave ?
Is there any "must see" place i am missing ?
I think the list i have written covers all the three major faces of South India - Culture, Beach and Vegetation.

Anyplace where spending Chrismas would be advisable ?

Anyone travelling in South India during this period... Do gimme a shout..

Regards

Ari

PS: Any tip is welcome !!

mineja

u have pretty randomized sceduleanyway,i´m telling about my experience. i´ve been in Kerala in march 2006.
arrived by train from Goa to Ernakulam/Kochi which is actually the same town linked by ferries.Fort Cochin is is really atmospheric heritage zone...portuguese arcitecture, mattancherry,kathakali dance show,port with chinese fishingnets.spent there 2 days.
after this by train to Thrissur(70 km).actually the only reason visiting this town was the village temple festival,called puram, approx 15 km from there .festival was very massive:elephants, firework,drums.
then in the morning by train from Trissur to Alleppey.
Alleppey is lovely, spent there a night and then the backwaters trip. I took a fullday jorney to Kollam for 300 rupees.I didnt spent money for boathouse.u can make a stopover in Amritapuri, where is the"hugging mamas ashram".i didnt.
arrived to Kollam and spend a night there.
next morning took the bus to Varkala beach.spent there 4 days.there u can relax and find ayurvedic treatment,yoga etc.

arijitraja

Hey Mineja,
ur itenarary was great. just that i think i would be spending 1 day in cochin and 2 days in Varkala/Kovalam and spend the rest in Munnar/Wayannad/Silent Valley...

regards

Arijit

mineja

are u sure?do u really wanna miss the backwaters?my advise-take morning train from Ernakulam to Allepay(6h).stay overnight there and in the morning by boat to Kollam.this is amazing daytrip for sure. stay overnight in Kollam and in the next morning by bus to Varkala.
from Varkala is easy to get to Munnar.I have not been there,but seems to be great pleace as well.

arijitraja

Mineja,

when i said this i mean that unlike you who spend 4 days in Varkala and 2 days in cochin, i would give then 2 and 1...
I am not missing on the Backwaters for sure !!!!
thanks again...

arijitraja

I have almost finalised the places.
Need to find the answers to these Qs.
1) Since i dont have much time.. can silent valley and Coorg be skipped ? I would be going to Wayanad and Munnar.
2) Flight from trivandrum/cochin is too expensive. I want to fly back from b'lore. My trip ends at Trivandrum. The only train doesnt have seats. What are my alternatives.
3) Where exactly should i spend a day in Wayannad ? i guess there are 3 regions.
4) I need to find accomodation at different places like Munnar, Wayannad, Aleppey and Kovalam and Varkala. How do i go about this search.
5)Where can we experience a good christmas and new year celebration ?
6)How do i go from Bangalore/Mysore to Wayannad ?

The budget seems to be going up exponentially (( .. i might just have to skip some places.. I must find some cheap acco !!

adios

ari

2cents

There are Volvo buses plying between Trivandrum and Bangalore.Check out these sites for more details :-

http://www.redbus.in

http://kallada.com

In case you want to shorten the 16-17 hrs bus trip by a few hours,you could take a train from Trivandrum to Ernakulam/Cochin and then board one of the night buses from Ernakulam/Cochin to Bangalore(they are a lot of them departing in the 6pm - 10pm window).

why not start with IM?

There would be Karnataka and Kerala state transport bus services running in the route.Plus some of the sleeper/AC buses from Bangalore to Ernakulam go via Mysore and Wayanad.

arijitraja

New Problem.. please anyone solve this...
I wanted to celebrate new year in a good way .. so someone suggested me Kovalam/Varkala Beach. Now the thing is I have to catch a flight from Bangalore/Hyedrabad to Delhi since the flights from Cochin/Trivandrum is toooo costly. So i need to get back to Bangalore/Hyedrabad or any place which is cheap. Now the buses only start from Triv in the noon and reach next morning. I must reach Delhi by 2nd afternoon...
Plllssss pour suggestions..
2Cents/Mineja any idea??
Anyplace other then Kovalam/Varkala for a new year bash ??

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