In April I will have a two week leisure trip to India. I decided that it was time to take a break from work and just chill while exploring a totally new country. In 2004 and 2003 I visited Koh Hong in the Andaman Sea to relax. Last year I had a great time travelling around China, but did not have the time to visit elsewhere. For my relaxation this spring, I have deicded to visit India. Last week, I booked a deep-discount fare on Continental (~$1000 SFO-DEL).
I have about 14 days on the sub-continent to explore and relax. I assume that Goa is somewhat like Cancun, Phuket or Malaga, so I probably would not enjoy. Does anyone have any suggestions in terms of what might be the most enjoyable places for me to visit?

Basic Facts about me:
Places Lived: San Francisco, Hong Kong, Wisconsin, Zurich
Education: Bachelors (History)
Job: Strategy for a medium size software company
Age: 25 years
Farthest away from home: either flower farm in Yunnan Province, Koh Phi Phi or Warsaw....

You are right, Goa is a great place to get stoned and party. Wasn't too crazy about it. I did find that the Taj Mahal and Red Fort were well worth the money. I also really liked the Ajunta and Ellora caves. The Erotic Temples of Kajaraho lived up to their reputation.

In general I found India to be a very intense place. It took a week to get used to the pace of things. Once I cleared that hurdle the remaining weeks were really nice.

If you look at my website in my signature there are a lot of India pictures. If you pm me with some that catch your eye I can see where there were shot.

Hi worldwidedreamer and a very warm welcome to Flyertalk. I hope you find this site as useful as I have over the past several years.

I am also planning a trip to India 'unplanned' (so to speak) - but for August, although i am likely to postpone that as it is monsoon season at that time in the north and very very wet!

A good starting point is to go to a travel agent and ask for some brochures on India. They will give you a whole range of 5, 10 and 14 day tours.

You will see that the tours all cover the 'essentials' of India, and if you don't want to formally join a tour then you can plan your own based on the destinations in the tour.

For 'classical' India, most tours start in Delhi - then work their way to Agra, take in the Taj Mahal and then continue on from there to cover things such as Jaipur and various palaces etc etc.

I looked for accommodation on Expedia, a three star hotel is looking at around USD30-50 per night. The very best 5 stars are about USD180, but the three stars look fairly good.

To travel around you can take the train, there is an Indian railways website that can help you with fares and I believe bookings as well (you need to book well in advance otherwise you will miss out). Looks like the best idea is to book the highest airconditioned class available for your journey (don't be confused with booking First Class, as that is actually the fourth best class to travel!!)

I found this website to be really helpful:

http://travelindependent.info/

There will be lots of other posters that have far more experience than I do - so I will leave it over to them to provide their inside tips!

Regards

L/M/E FF

There are a few private airlines offering low fares in India now. Many of these fares were even less than the train fares (till they were reduced yesterday). Spicejet, deccan air, kingfisher etc are all new low fare airlines and they do not seem to charge foreigners 2x the fares like (Indian Airlines or Jet do). I would suggest that you do your longer journeys by plane and the shorter once by train. And do book the train tickets well in advance!

India can be very hot (temperature wise)during april. Its peak summer time in india then.
1. I would suggest you try Kerala's back waters. They are just beautiful. You can rent a boathouse for $30 - $50/day and that includes the boathouse with amenities, food.
2. You can find the tickets try the "Palace on Wheels" which is a 7 day train ride through 7 different cities of Rajasthan. The tour starts and ends in Delhi. The train is a virtual palace. You would visit the places during the day and take the train ride during the night. Most of the passengers on the train are foreigners and other tourists. I am not sure what the cost of the tkts is.
3. India has lots of National Parks and Game Reservs. Remember hunting is prohibited in India. Just to name a few... Ramthambore Tiger Reserve, Gir Lion Reserve, Corbett National Park, Kazi Ranga National Park. You can try one of them.

I'm partial towards Kerala which is very beautiful and green. A trip through the Kerala Backwaters is a must. Enjoy yourself in India.

You'll find tons of useful information at IndiaMike and Holiday-Truth

Take a look at Pondicherry, close to Madras. While Goa was portugese, almost all of the rest of india british, pondycherry was french. It was an interresting place to go, but I was there last in 1992. So I wouldn't know about now.

Just don't try to go to India without a visa, if one is necessary. If you are American, you will need a visa - and can get one in one day at the Consulate General of India San Francisco 540 Arguello Boulevard, S. F. CA 94118 - Tel: (415) 668-0662 | Fax: (415) 668-9764. The link will show you the visa requirements and possibilities, and you can download the requisite forms as well.

OK, I am out of here - to India!

Bon voyage.

About visas, for the second time this year I've seen a young woman get deported from DEL for not having a visa in her passport. Back to Europe she was sent, tears and all. Lesson: crying isn't a visa.

While others have mentioned Rajasthan, Kerala, Pondicherry, Goa, I think only one poster mentioned Khajuraho. If you do get the time, try visiting some of the temples in Southern India. The architecture you will see in Northern India/Rajasthan - dates to between 1400 and 1900 - the Mughal/British Raj period. There is a layer of India that goes earlier than that.

A few examples include Hampi (a UNESCO World Heritage site), Belur/Halebid near Bangalore in Southern India. There are tons of places in Tamilnadu, as well. The Thanjavur/Tanjore/Chidambaram area has many classic examples from about the same era (or a bit later) than the Angkor Wat temples.

What strikes me is that some of these temples are probably the longest continuously used places of worship. If History interest you, pick one temple to visit. I'd recommend either Hampi or Tanjore's Brihadeeswarar temple.

If you like to visit temples, then the Laxmi Narayan Temple in Delhi is convenient plus you can see the sites at Agra, Delhi and Jaipur within a week.

I really appreciate all of your suggestions, and spent several hours over the weekend investigating various options. This is my first experience with FlyerTalk and it is heartwarming to to see the sense of community here. I decided to visit Kerala on the recommendation of several people here, along with some friends at home.
It sounds like the Indian Train System is memorable, but perhaps not in the same way as in Switzerland. Indian air fares seem to be rather uncompetitive relative to the US and Europe...even a low cost airline wanted to charge nearly $500 for a round-trip between Delhi and Cochin. Fortunately, I have plenty of AAdvantage points in storage and cashed in 20,000 for a ticket in Air Sahara.
My preference is to keep my hotel rooms relatively low-fi because this has served me well in similar developing countries especially Thailand, China and Mexico. I will probably splurge and spend my first night in Kerala at the Hilton, just so that I can clean up after the long trip. I'm looking into doing some sort of backcountry excursion in Kerala, but I am a little hesitant because I will be travelling alone in a new country.
The Indian Consulate in San Francisco is actually on my way from home in the Presidio to work in Silicon Valley, so dropping my paperwork off is no problem at all. I have my Visa form filled out in Adobe Acrobat at this moment, but it asks the curious question about a reference in India. I have sent email out both to former co-workers in India and to my friends with family in India, so hopefully someone will vouch for me. Has anyone had any complications with this in the past? If I have no Indian Reference, will my application for a Visa be denied?
Finally, although they are not rated well online, I hope that as a Presidents Club member, Continental will give me a lounge pass for one of the lounges in New Delhi. Does anyone know whether the Admirals Club has any reciprocity with the lounge operated by Air Sahara?
Assuming that I can have relatively easy access to the internet, I will try to make blog postings once I start my trip. Again, thanks for all of your helpful suggestions. I look forward to sharing my knowledge with other travellers on flyer talk in the future.

You'll get a visa to India.

Presidents Club members will get a lounge pass in DEL for international flights, at least if flying a SkyTeam airline.

Admirals Club membership does not provide access to Air Sahara lounges or any other lounges in India. (If flying American Airlines -- not British Airways or any other OneWorld airline -- then perhaps American Airlines ground staff will provide Admirals Club members with a lounge pass when departing from DEL on an international flight, but they are not required to.)

Enjoy the adventure.

Some of the lounges will allow you in if you have a Dinersclub card. I believe the lounges in MAA and BOM display the info. Check with Diners. Some Citibank cards also offer this perk in India (though in this case the Citibank card may have to be issued by Indian affiliate).

I think AMEX Platinum also offers some perks though I've never really needed to use it.

Here is a list of sites related to travel within India
and some of my notes.

Bus service:
http://www.rajnationalexpress.in/

I've used them between Mumbai(Bombay) and Pune. their service is
excellent. It can put a lot of airlines to shame.
You can book your tickets online and the prices are very reasonable.

I've heard good things about other similar operators, but this is the only one
I know that allows you to book online.

Airlines:

www.spicejet.com
They are economical, but they enforce a strict
30 minute checkin rule. They will even SMS you if the flight is
delayed. they serve snack (chips etc) and water.

www.airdeccan.net
Similar to spice jet, but I believe you need to check-in atleast
40-45 minutes prior to departure. they fly a lot of ATR - prop planes, but
I think they are pretty good. Seats on their Airbus are horrible though.
you can purchase drinks or snacks on board.

www.jetairways.com
I found them to be excellent, relatively expensive though
but i've seen them go out of their way to help you.
They serve some good meals.

www.flykingfisher.com
I've heard good things about them.. havent
flown them yet.

If your point of entry is Delhi, just make sure you allow enough time
between the international and domestic connections.

They have hourly shuttles between international and domestic terminals
and it takes about 20-30 minutes each way. Show your itinerary to use the
free shuttle service.

Domestic airport is about 10 kilometers away from outside if you need to
take a taxi.

Make sure you can get a pre-paid taxi. I think they charge about
200 INR from international to domestic and about
100 INR from domestic to international.
Their counter is just outside the customs/baggage claims.
Please allow 20-45 minutes via Taxi.

Here is a list of airlines and some general information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...lines_in_India
(if someone has a better list, please post it here)

Major GSM operators (prepaid/post-paid)
http://www.airtel.in/ (1800Mhz)
http://www.hutch.in/ (900Mhz)
They have roaming coverage through out the
country and world based on your plan.
I prefer these two over others available.