first solo trip to india - 4 days in mumbai what to do ?

Linking road in bandra has a variety of shops and places to eat, l would also check out the caves, some bazaars, Juhu and madh island

aadil. A brilliant essay on what to do in Bombay, one thing though, you missed out the Lalit bar which is opposite the Oasis Hotel on SBS marg.
cheers
alan

Thanks all i think you've filled up my four days and beyond especially when you take in account the amount of geeting lost I plan to do. From Mumbai I'll be moving down to Goa anywhere worth stopping on the way and as I know when I'm departing mumbai would it be useful to book trains in advance ?

Always better to book train tickets in advance as it is usually full most of the time. 90 days in advance is the earliest you can book and it usually gets full in a few hours sometimes during peak season.

Other places to visit before you reach Goa are a stop at either of the places Amboli, Ganpatipule, Gokarna and Tarkarli if you are interested in lovely beaches and some great seafood. If you have more days I would recommend you go on a three day trip from Mumbai to Aurangabad for the Ajanta and Ellora caves which are really worth visiting if you are in India. Just after the monsoon is the best time to go there as the waterfalls over the caves are really beautiful and you can even walk behind one of them. Take the night train to reach early in the morning and then do your sight seeing in Aurangabad city including Daulatabad Fort and then keep the next two days for Ajanta and Ellora (one day in each place) before you return to Mumbai for your onward journey to Goa.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Since I am a teetotaler now, I would recommend the Tea Center at Resham Bhavan next to Churchgate Railway Station for some lovely teas as well as a good breakfast and lunch or dinner.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Welcome to India. Honestly I would suggest to book flights instead of trains if you can, It may save you time and lot of hassles. If you want train experience assuming you are going to kerala. You can book an AC train from GOA to KERALA ( Konkan railways). Make plans before and book most of the things ahead but don't pay to agents online they may not turn up. You always go with some official travel sites.

Enjoy trip!

thanks for the suggestion, although flying doe's seem like a massive time saver , i do want to experience the train and ideally am trying to do the trip on as much of a budget as possible as I'm looking. to travelling over to sri lanka etc after india.

Which of the longer journeys in india should I fly . My loose plans for my travels are

south india - chennai to the andamans from the adamans i plan to fly to kolkata from kolkata to go north and to finally depart from delhi

Which is why I couldn't be bothered, no matter how useful the information might be.

Sorry, I don't seem to be able to edit it here anymore. Maybe the mods could do that.

Cheers,
Aadil.

thank you so much my first few days in mumbai are now planned thanks to youand I aim to plan the rest as I go along but I have a few loose ideas. I'll keep you posted on how I'm going when I acctualyl get there

I have finally put together a rough itenary subject to change - dependant on your recommendations - PLease please do tell me what you think.

The days I have stated are the days i plan to stay in each of the location I have allowed approximately 28 days for travelling - hopefully this will be sufficent .

mumbai 4 dys
maharasta 4
hyberbad 2
karnataka 5
magalore 2
Bangalore 2
Kerela 14 - 21
tamil nadu 7
chennai 3
flight / ferry to adanman islands 14 - 21
kolkatta 4
darjeeling 2
[patna
bodygaya
varansi - ] taking into account courses 14 - 21 days

agra 3
udaipur 3
jodphur 3
delhi 7

if possible I would like to continue to

shimla 3
mcleodgany 3
ladolakh zanskar 3
mandli 3

return to delhi to fly out

Doe's this seem possible and will it be possible to go the far north that early in the year approximately january or will I need to do part of my s/e asia leg and aim to come back ?

Again thank you so much x

time to go

You are cramming too many places and will not enjoy the trip. India is a big country, approx the size of Europe.

Cheers

Nattusbs

what would you recommend ? ,

I'm aware of how big it is and have left xtra days and am willing to make changes ?

Yea seriously that's a big list and you will drain out of energies fast. Travel is not always fun here so just plan 4,5 good places and enjoy them with less comfortable travel.

Don't bother about what people say, if you think you will enjoy it this way then do so and I am sure you will be able to enjoy your trip your way. It all depends on how you go about it and how your stay in each place works out. If it is hectic in some places then slow down, if it is boring in some then may be leave and go ahead to the next place!!!

Ladakh and the other regions where it is pretty cold in the winters which start roughly by mid October are not possible unless you want to do the Zanskar river Chador trek across the frozen river which takes about 13-15 days and is usually done in the winters only when the river is completely frozen so am not sure if you will be in India at that time. Temperatures go down to about minus 30 degrees Celsius so be prepared for that too!!!

In Karnataka you may like to spend some time at the famous temple towns like Hampi, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakkal, Belur, Halebid, Sravanabelagola, Mysore, etc. Ancient temples in all these places are really a wonderful sight besides some of them also being UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I am sure you will enjoy your trip to this beautiful part of India a lot.

Another area I would recommend is Madhya Pradesh which is famous for it's tigers and temple towns too. Visit Bhopal, Sanchi, Vidisha, Udaigiri, Bhimbetika, Gwalior, Indore, Khajuraho and Orchha. Visit Kanha and Bandhavgarh for the tigers and other wildlife/birds!!!

In Rajasthan, do visit Jaisalmer, Shekawati, Ranakpur and Jaipur besides Jodhpur and Udaipur. You can visit some of the places in one day and some in two days.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

Thanks Aadil , thats what I was thinking

obviously I have no idea how I'm going to find it until I get there and there will be lots of changes made along the way I can imagine.

Some have already been made . I won't be going any further north on this trip , I've been warned about the weather conditions! so I plan to fly out of Delhi to south east asia and hopefully come back on route home.

thanks (again !) for all the advice