wlbox

Wanting to book a tour for northern India and Nepal. How is the weather for January - March? crowds and festivals?

or should I wait until November 2010?

Cicerone

The weather is generally excellent in both places at that time, sunny dry and temperate; check guidebooks and sites like weathebase.com or weatherunderground.com for information. It is also the high season for travel because of the good weather, so hotels can be booked out and some places can be crowded (e.g. the Taj Mahal); however November is also part of the high season so you may not find much difference. The most crowded is probably around Christmas/New Year. In any event it’s not like spring break in Ft Lauderdale or anything, “crowds” are not huge and certainly can be handled, it’s the somewhat higher hotel prices you may pay that may be the issue. But I would certainly say to go between mid-October and March if you want the best weather, otherwise you are dealing with extreme heat and/or monsoon rains. If you can avoid it, I would do so, esp on a first trip to India.

As for festivals, Diwali, a huge Hindu festival (the new year) is generally in late Oct or early November (this year it starts October 17). Republic Day is Jan 26 in India, but other than parades in some of the cities (including a big one in New Delhi) it is not widely celebrated. Most Buddhist holidays tend to be in the spring months of April and May (Visak Day, etc). Holi, the spring festival in India, is generally in early March. The Puskhar camel fair is generally in November (this year I think it starts Oct 30 or so.) So November or March may be slightly better months if you want to see some festivals in India. That being said, you are sure to find regional religious festivals going on virtually every day in both India and Nepal, so check website calendars, guidebooks and mostly ask when you arrive at a place. Also bear in mind that something like Christmas or Easter in Goa would also be a religious festival time, as there are many Catholics in Goa.

holikurry

Weather is excellent and one of the best times to travel to India....

If you wish to incorporate festivals into your schedule than opt for Late January arrival into India.

The festivals around that time are

Nagaur Festival - At Nagaur - 22-25 Jan - this is one of the vest cattle fair and more rustic and less touristy than Pushkar Fair.

Desert Festival - Jaisalmer - 28 - 30 January - great time to be in the forntier desrt outpost.

Baneshwar Fair - near Dungarpur / Udaipur - Very good place to see the gathering of tribals from across Rajasthan and Gujarat.

All the best - hope the info helps.

jessmanuel

If you want to come to north India in January /February, the best time will be later part of January . The weather is lovely then. All the festivals are also towards the end of January.
Baneshwar Fair is from the 26th of January to the 30th of January. If you are anywhere near Udaipur at this time this fair is worth a visit as all the Bhil tribals come to worship Lord Shiva.
Desert Festival at Jaisalmer from 28th to 30th January is great for keen photographers.
Nagaur Festival is a smaller version of Pushkar but more rustic.
We celebrate our Republic Day on the 26th if January. If you happen to be in Delhi dont miss the Republic Day Parade.
If you want more information i will be happy to help.

vp_singh

Northern India would also mean the Himalayan Foot Hills...January / February is certainly no time to be there, for it could be bitterly cold. The best time in the foothills would be 15 March onwards or in the months of late September onwards.

lude_mg

Jan - Feb is generally cold in the northern india... within northern india, rajasthan would be a great option as the weather would just be great for that time. Delhi and up north would be pleasant to cold. Nepal would be great in jan-feb....