Plan - but be flexible

Calcutta

Before you go, read your selected guidebook as carefully as you can. There are over one hundred worthwhile areas to visit. You can only hope to see five, ten or at most twenty percent of these in one trip, so carefully take into account your personal tastes and expectations – for which a little research is called for.

  India is a big country. The length of overland journeys from one end of the nation to the other, are comparable to those within Australia, Brazil and the USA. India is deceptively BIG, so you are probably best restricting your wanderings to destinations within the same corner of the subcontinent, or at least arrange them in a logical geographical manner, like stepping-stones.

The south probably offers the easiest introduction to this wonderful nation, as the pace of life is less frenetic and everybody seems to agree that the southerners can be more easygoing. Find out the dry season and monsoon season in the area you are visiting. Touring in full monsoon is, at best, impractical. Check your flight times and try not to arrive in India in the very early hours of the morning – as is common. If you have no choice but to arrive in the dead of night or before dawn, you should pre-book your first night’s hotel room over the internet or contact a hotel through your guidebook. In these circumstances, it is best not to economize on your first night. You do not want to go touring the backstreets of an unknown Third World city, looking for your budget digs, at 2:30 am! If you have booked an expensive hotel on the internet, it is likely that they will also be able to pick you up from the airport as well – regardless of the hour.

  Do not try to cram too much into your holiday. Going from A to B by bus or train in India can be stressful and draining. Trying to see too much too quickly might even taint your entire trip. Once you have arrived at any desired point you should consider staying for at least ten days, with the exception of Agra – for reasons that will be explained later. Don’t make rigid plans either, I guarantee that they will somehow fall apart: you will meet new friends who will draw you off to unexpected places, you will be compelled to linger in some spots longer, and in other cases you may well leave early. Make a list of places that you would like to see and place them in a convenient geographical order - and don’t stress about completing the list, there is always another year!

  If you want to party it up, there's not much nightlife outside Goa, Kovalam and the main cities of Bangalore, Delhi and Bombay. On the east coast, Mamallapuram and Calcutta have a moderate nightlife scene whereas Madras is quite sedate. 

  You have a vast amount of information on the internet but it’s a chore sorting out the good sites from the bad - the helpful from the irrelevant. To facilitate easy web surfing, here are some trustworthy websites. Incidentally, if you have any complaints after your trip -or compliments- you can also contact the relevant authorities through these websites.

Air India                                             http://www.airindia.com/

Andaman and Nicobar Islands            http://andaman.nic.in/

Andhra Pradesh Tourism                    http://www.aptourism.com/

                                                          http://www.andhrapradesh.com
                                                          http://www.apinfrastructure.com

Arunachal Pradesh                              http://www.arunachaltourism.com/

                                                           http://arunachalpradesh.nic.in

Assam                                                 http://assamgovt.nic.in/

Bihar                                                   http://bihar.nic.in/
http://www.nic.in/ptdc/

Bombay (Airport)                               http://www.mumbaiairport.com/

Biman Bangladesh Airlines                http://www.bangladeshonline.com/biman/

British Airways                                   http://www.britishairways.com/

Chhattisgarh                                        http://cgtourism.nic.in/

Cottage Industry                                 http://www.cottageemporiumindia.com/

EL AL Israel Airlines                         http://www.elal.co.il/

Goa                                                     www.goacom.com
http://goagovt.nic.in
http://goatourism.nic.in
http://www.goatrip.com
http://www.goahub.com/goa/travel_guide
http://ruralbazargoa.nic.in
http://goamuseum.nic.in

Gujarat                                                http://www.gujarattourism.com/

Haryana                                              http://www.nic.in/htc/

Himachal Pradesh                                http://www.hptdc.nic.in/

Indian Airlines                                     http://indian-airlines.nic.in/

Indian Railways                                   http://www.indianrail.gov.in/

Indian Railways (online bookings)        http://irctc.co.in

Jet Airways                                         http://www.jetairways.com

Karnataka                                           http://kstdc.nic.in/

                                                           www.karnatakatourism.com

Kerala Tourism                                    http://www.keralatourism.org

Madhya Pradesh Tourism                    http://www.mptourism.com/

Maharashtra                                        http://www.maharashtra.gov.in
www.mumbainet.com

Manipur                                               http://manipur.nic.in/

Meghalaya                                           http://meghalaya.nic.in
www.meghalayatourism.com

Neemrana Fort Palace                         http://www.nivalink.com/fortneemrana/

New Delhi                                           http://www.newdelhi.net/defaultr.htm

New Delhi (Airport)                           http://www.delhiairport.com/

North Eastern Region                         http://www.northeast.nic.in

Orissa                                                  http://www.orissa-tourism.com/

Palace on Wheels                                http://www.palaceonwheels.net/new/home.htm

Pondicherry                                         http://www.tourisminpondicherry.com

Punjab                                                 http://www.nic.in/ptdc/
punjabgovt.nic.in/page2
chandigarh.nic.in

Qantas Airways Ltd.                            http://www.qantas.com/

Qatar Airways Ltd.                              http://qatarairways.com/

Rajasthan                                             http://www.rajgovt.org
http://www.rajasthantourism.gov.in

SATTE                                                http://www.satte.org

Sikkim                                                 http://sikkim.nic.ind
http://www.sikkimtourism.org

Singapore Airlines                               http://www.singaporeair.com/

Tamil Nadu                                         http://www.tamilnadutourism.org//
www.tidco.com

Thai Airways International                    http://www.thaiair.com/

Tripura                                                 http://tripura.nic.in

United Airlines                                      http://www.ual.com/

Uttar Pradesh                                       http://www.up-tourism.com/

WTI (World Travel India)                     http://www.worldtravelindia.com/

Youth Hostels Association of India        http://www.yhaindia.org/

  India is an affordable place to take extremely long holidays; moreover, their government happily gives no-fuss six month visas to all and sundry. If you are able to leave home for months on end without negative consequences, and the allure of tropical beaches and incessant leisure is strong, then India might be exactly what you are looking for.

    If you don’t like what you see during the first few days or weeks - persevere!  Try checking out a completely different place to that which you are in: if the cities are grating your nerves, head for the southern coastal regions. If you find fault with the coastal regions, head for the mountains. If you don’t like the mountains, there are always picturesque deserts and tropical islands. If you object to all the squalor and bad service, try the Palace on Wheels! Trust me, within this great nation you will find your own personal Shangrila. Some disillusioned and compulsive travellers have contacted their airline and cut short their visit, only to regret the decision days before they leave.