Robert_Brandywine

I've made one 12 day trip to Indian and saw the most popular and famous sights. My favorite stop was at the temple complex in Khajuraho.

I'd like to return and concentrate on just two things, 1) ancient indigenous architecture -- temples and palaces, and 2) the southern mountain range(s) (whatever they are).

Is it possible to hire a car and driver to take an extended trip going from site to site? I had in mind something like driving to the town nearest a sight, spending the night at a hotel there, seeing the sight the next morning, and then driving on to the next town and hotel. In some cases the drive might be so long that I'd have to spend two nights at some places.

And then for the mountains, I'd probably want to spend a couple of nights at a lodge in or near a national park, and tour the park. But also I'd like to do some extensive driving, just driving (or should I say riding) over and through the mountains to see some vistas.

Finally I don't want to miss any must sees in southern India, if there are any.

Is this doable? How expensive are private cars/drivers?

Robert_Brandywine

Here's the web site I was looking at:

http://www.indiatimes.com/culture/tr...me-231535.html

Kathie

"Finally I don't want to miss any must sees in southern India, if there are any." You must be kidding! If your interest is in temples and palaces, you couldn't visit all of the must-sees in southern India if you had months. It is easy and relatively cheap to hire a car and driver.

You need to do your research first and decide which ancient sites are must-see for you. You can organize this by asking a local company to do it for you - supply a car and driver, make hotel reservations, etc., or you can organize it yourself, just having the company supply a car and driver.

Robert_Brandywine

I'm saying that I could do an entire vacation consisting of ancient non-Moghal temples, shrines, fortresses, and palaces + mountain viewing and drives BUT if there are some must-sees that don't consist of those two items, I could shorten my time on those two items to see those must-sees.

Are there any such must-sees and what would they be?

MmePerdu

Borrow from your local library or buy a couple of guidebooks. You're asking for information you'd be far more successful answering for yourself, combining places and sights that appeal to you most. The options are endless so begin narrowing them by doing the work.

dgunbug

On our recent trip to southern India, we concentrated on the Kerala area and the temples of Tamil Nadu. We were not big fans of the Cochrin area and backwaters, as it was too laid back for us, but the mountainous region of Munnar has stunning vistas of tea plantations and the temples of Tamil Nadu took our breath away. There is no lack of temples and each is special in their own way. The people of southern India were welcoming and we enjoyed our interactions with them along the way. A driver and car is highly recommended for getting around.

Kathie

My must-sees are not necessarily yours. MmePerdu is correct, you will need to do your own research to determine this.

Robert_Brandywine

I am doing my own research. Asking questions here is part of the process.

MmePerdu

Clarifying is part of the process here. Planning the trip is your job. When Kathie, the most helpful of souls, says so, believe it.

theloststory

You can hire a self drive car from Zoomcar. You can rent a car with driver for Rs 13/18 per km, plus toll, plus a little for the driver, perhaps Rs 500 a day or so.

There are temples spread over a vast vast area, and you must be knowing of most of the "must sees": Hampi, Halebid, Madurai, Srirangapatna etc.

kja

Asking questions is, indeed, part of the process. Asking truly ill-informed questions is a great way to turn off the experts who could be most useful when you want their help to fine tune a trip. (I'm not saying that will happen, just noting the risk.)

IMO, asking about “must-sees” is a great way to flash a huge neon sign that suggests that you haven’t done a stitch of homework. Asking whether you can see a huge portion of a country in 2 weeks is another great way to do that. Saying that you “saw the most popular and famous sights” in India in “one 12 day trip” screams that you have no idea about India or the many things it offers. JMO.

The best advice you’ve been given is, IMO, to consult some good guidebooks. You'll find a wealth of information in them, and as already noted, none of us can say what YOU will most want to see and experience.

Good luck!

Robert_Brandywine

That's good info about the cost of renting a car with driver.

Perhaps I didn't express it too well, but what I was trying to say is that I've been to India before and took the "standard" tour that most people who go there do: Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra plus I added on Khajuraho, Varanasi, and Corbett National Park. I was just trying to make the point that for my second trip I won't need to see those and can explore more to the south.

You are correct, I haven't done a stich of homework -- yet. This trip is for 2 + years from now and I'm just getting into my researches.

Kathie

The info above about a car and driver is actually not very practical. No one in their right mind would rent a self-drive car, and even the idea of renting a self-drive car and adding in a driver is a bad idea. When you are ready to make arrangements for this trip, you'll want to choose one of the many excellent travel agencies to arrange a car and driver for you. If you have a car and driver from a reputable company, the company will trade out the car or the driver if something is not working out. If you have rented the car yourself, you have no safety net.

In addition to picking up and reading several good guidebook, I'd suggest you read some trip reports here. There have been a couple of recent ones specifically on south India. Go to the top of the page and choose "View by country" and choose India. The look for trip reports.

Happy planning!