Family Holiday Advice

Hi Everyone. I am very excited as I am Indian born living in Australia and taking my husband and 10yo daughter to see India for the first time.
My must do's are Taj Mahal, Goa, Periyar National Park Elephant Safar, Kerala Houseboat and visiting relatives in Mhow and Pune. We plan to be in India for 4 weeks and want to do all the land travel by train or car. At this point I am seeking recent advice re family hotels in Goa as we plan to be in Goa for 8 days on a budget $80 per room per night. Also looking for advice re houseboat. Most importantly I seek the recommendation for a trustworthy travel consultant who can manage everything for me. Looking forward to hearing from recent travellers.

4 weeks is a good time and the budget of $80 is good but all depends when are you coming to India. Dec/Jan is high season in Goa / Kerala so rates go-up else you are fine. there are many hotels in Goa which will meet your requirments but you need to decide whether you want to stay in South Goa or North - there is a thread on India Mike around that. Overall, you can plan to get into Delhi from Australia then go to Taj and see Delhi then head out to Mhow and Pune, then head out to goa and Kerala. You can fly out from Mumbai

Many thanks Sompan. I am just sending off a query to a few travel agents. Do you know of any that can manage everything for me?

I stay in India so I dont use travel agents myself - sorry cannot therefore recommend. I book tickets on-line both planes and trains and for hotels if it is off-season I just walk-in as rates are better. In goa there are many options so I would not worry unless you are going there in peak season Dec/Jan. You can read reviews on Indiamike to book hotels. I have been to Kerala and again booked the houseboat on the spot from Alleppy.

Overall have a broad plan - book your tickets in advance, sepcially train tickets, have some good idea of the car rentals - these vary a bit by area an are costliest in goa but depending on the car can vary from Rs 9-15 per KM with a minimum charge for 200/250 kms per day.

Hi All

We are planning a 5-6 days trip with our parents in the mid of August 2012. We are from Delhi.

Parents are old and therefore we do not want our trip to be very hectic. Can someone please suggest some places for our trip.

Since august is a monsoon period, we are confused as to what places would be best to cover from Delhi.

Suggestions needed. Thanks.

You could try IndianPanorama, lots of people recommend them: http://www.indianpanorama.in/

I've taken my kids on two trips to India so if you've got any general questions fire away. We travelled the first time with Namaste India Tours, just doing Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan, but they don't do the South at all.

The second time we travelled completely independently and it too was very enjoyable and actually very easy, once you've got over deciding where to go and which trains you need to book.

We did stay in Goa for a few days, picking Colva due to its proximity to Madgaon train station. There we found the Skylark hotel a good place to stay, with a lovely pool. Colva's probably not the best place to stay though if you're going for a while.