Bond, India is a developing country, at its greatest. This means no matter where you go and however first class you travel, poor people will see that you are white (doesnt matter if you are American) and beg you for money and may not leave you alone. There will be tons of dust, dirt, grime, and you will see poverty unlike you have ever seen it before. Open sewers? Better believe it. Rivers of it? Yep. Continuous delays? Yep. Still want to go to India? ;) If you don't you'd be missing out.

Keep an open mind, Americans are not hated there, nor are they in Syria, Iran, or the Southern Phillipines (knowing people from all places, but having never been, though they'll ask you questions but I get this in W. Europe too). Mindanao is unsafe for everyone, not just US citizens, since it's a civil war zone, and it's not just US citizens who have been kidnapped by groups there. Iran's just a tough place to get back from since US immigration might give it a good hard look. Let's say that given my complection, religious beliefs and middle name, I probably will not be going to Iran anytime soon. There is also no US embassy in Tehran so if you run afoul of the law, the Swiss (who represent the US) might not be able to do much. I have heard of Americans living and working in Iran though, and doing just great... Syria has a host of historical treasures (lots of it being Christian) with welcoming people (it's been highlighted in Travel and Leisure or Conde Nast this past year).

All of this being said, wherever Indians aren't safe, you wont be safe, aside from that use common sense. You're American citizenship does not make you some walking target. Would you really go to certain parts of major US cities at night? Probably not.

Common sense: be polite, be open, don't expect everything to be like the US, be patient (sometimes painfully so), drink bottled water everywhere (if not get soda/beer, boiled water is ok too, but make sure its hot), make sure food is fresh and hotly prepared everywhere, fruit: peel it yourself, take plenty of immodium/ pepto/advil etc just in case.

places to see.. hmm.. too much in India. If its your first time, You can't go wrong with Red Fort and India Gate (?) in Delhi, Taj Mahal and Agra fort in Agra, Mumbai, Goa (if you want some nice beaches), Chennai (Hindu religious monuments and southern culture, I'm biased, my family is Tamil) and of course, Kerala (never been, but have heard) for beaches, different southern flavor, hill station river rafting where you sleep, eat and live on a raft while slowly floating down a river in the middle of the forest with a guide and staff (incredible I hear) and other things..

Then there is Jaipur, Simla, Rajasthan. All of this makes me want to see so much more of India rather than seeing the same stuff over and over again (visiting relatives). Some great tips on this board from people who know India a lot better than I do...

Cheers

I recommend November through end of March. It rules out the northern mountain areas except for winter-type activities, but it's the most pleasant period to visit most of India (albeit a bit cold in December and January at night in Delhi and surrounding states there).

Personally, I like November and mid-February to mid-March. If you like it warmer then you'll prefer the beginning or the end of the November-March period (i.e., first two weeks of November, last two weeks of March).

This way you can check out Northern India and Southern India when both are reasonably comfortable temperature-wise.

What kind of activities do you and the family like? Prefer urban site sight-seeing or semi-adventure kind of stuff?

GUWonder has already addressed the time of the year. Ideal time is Nov to mid Feb. Most annoyances that you will face have already been pointed out. Beggars, touts, vendors chasing you around to sell their wares etc. Public toilets in many areas will churn your stomach. Many monuments, not all, have been built Muslims. In Delhi alone, there is
the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, Firoz Shah Kotla, Humayun's Tomb, the Old Fort, Sfadar Jung, Qutub Minar, Tughlaqabad, Lodi Gardens all tribute to the Muslim rule in India. The Presidential Garden, called Mughal Garden, is best visted in mid-February. In Rajasthan, Udaipur, Jaipur will have mostly Hindu monuments, including forts and palaces. Agra has the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri and the Agra Fort (Red Fort), all Muslim monuments.
How long will you be in India?

I don't generally classify monuments by the religion of the ruler of the area at the time the monument was built. I don't think you do either. :D

Looking at them as purely religious monuments or monuments to religiouns wouldn't do most of the monuments justice and wouldn't do justice to the unnamed peoples of history who contributed to building them in small or even large measure or even the rulers who built quite a number of them. That said, there are certainly religious aspects to many monuments or religious monuments that are often integrated into such sites (or are the sites themselves). There are certainly many purely religious monuments that are definitely worth checking out. In India this includes monumental religious places of worship for many of the world's major religions -- bahai, buddhist, christian, hindu, jain, muslim, sikh, zoroastrian ... and the list goes on.

For people who haven't been to India before, it often times come across as hyper-stimulation of all the senses. It's really hard to imagine an American's first time trip to India not being memorable. :D

amazing how quickly a simple thread on "Visiting India" turned into a political, profiling thread in a matter of a few hrs...

Some people are just so sensitive.....

The OP is just trying to go somewhere new....he wants as much info as possible and wants to be safe....

Perfectly reasonable question and which only requires a very simple answer....

I remember a thread "Is Mexico City safe"....for a person who has never been there and heard all the stories...it is a perfectly reasonable question....

can't leave post count at 666...so here is one to make 667...

My first padded post....

This doesn't have to do with "sensitivity". It has to do with helping the OP and helping the OP do as he attests: "When in Rome do as the Romans do." Going to India and operating on the presumptions of religious stereotypes will offend a good number of people in India, regardless of their faith, and not do much to help understand safety issues. (Last thing I'd like to see is the OP get hurt. And peddling religious stereotypes or operating on them won't provide sanctuary; it might even invite trouble in more extreme circumstances, unlikley as those are. :eek: ) For example, Nagaland is overwhelmingly baptist christian .... and it's one of the more dangerous places in India, for Indians and non-Indians alike, regardless of religion.

again, he was asking if it was safe to go to India for Americans....I don't think he started discusiing religions...just places that are unsafe to visit for Americans....Probably because of our Cowboy way of doing things in the INTL arena...

BTW, I am Indian (hindu) and even I feel unsafe in certain parts....Dharavi to name one...

And before that:

So that's that.

Visiting slums -- a good part of Dharavi is one -- is a special kind of vacation, not one we are sending the OP on, right? :D

Unless working for an NGO or being taken through a slum with someone who knows the area, wouldn't using common sense pretty much rule out a foreigner's wandering deep into a slum?

Visiting slums -- a good part of Dharavi is one -- is a special kind of vacation, not one we are sending the OP on, right? :D

Unless working for an NGO or being taken through a slum with someone who knows the area, wouldn't using common sense pretty much rule out a foreigner's wandering deep into a slum?[/QUOTE]


No...that would be one hell of an adventure....

I have had a number of debates with the OP and I was really tempted to begin lecturing about this whole "is xyz safe for americans" comment, when the world is and has been quite unsafe for many people throughout history. However since he wants to go to India for the first time, which is not only admirable, but a seemingly daunting undertaking, I decided against it and only gave whatever advice I could.. Plus this is not OMNI ;)

Once again, regardless of where he goes, patience and an open mind will be the most important things to have on such a trip. India (much like China) is 24 hour sensory overload and it can be a very sink or swim place. It hits you the minute you leave the plane...

I praise the OP for being un-american and actually travelling to a place so different culturally....most of my friends refuse to travel outside TEXAS much less leave the US....

disease, sickness comes to their small ignorant tiny brains....but they are good friends as long as I live here...

I have noticed this behavior amongst a huge number of amercians.....us FT'ers of course are not John Q. Public and Joe Six Pack....

People that are out to convert you aside, you have to admit that Texans are amongst the most sincere, friendliest and most hospitable people around. When you take that into account, comments such as "Gee, you have [houses, roads, cars, hospitals, call centers, etc] there?"

Well, DrBond, I suggest that, whenever/wherever you go, you head to Fatehpur Sikri and reflect upon the respect for the common humanity of cultural differences.

Also, big points to the other posters in this thread for responding seriously to someone with a signature like that. Hopefully, I'm just missing the joke, but with the additional context of the posts on this thread, I doubt it . . .

we sure are are'nt we !!! even though some people in TX think that El Paso is not part of Texas....