7-10 Days in India: What to Do/See
 

Hi,

I will be taking a business trip in India sometime in Late in September-Early November. I have never been to India and I am trying to determine the best trip. I will actually be travelling for roughly 3 weeks. I will be spending 2 weeks working in Gurgaon, and then want to take the final week for vacation. My initial plan is below, and I have a million questions and looking for any ideas/tips. Thanks in advance, and Sorry for the long post!

FYI - I will be traveling alone and I'm a male in my mid-20's

Plan & Questions
1.) Plan to go as late into October as possible (for weather)
2.) Spend 2 working weeks in Gurgaon
A. Will be with my India team while in Gurgaon, so will see everything I can while there, but generally everything there should be taken care of for me
B. While I'm sure my co-workers there will give me plenty of ideas for Gurgaon, let me know of any additional things to see while there
3.) Figure since I am in Gurgaon I will take the weekend between my two work weeks to go to Delhi for two nights (Is two nights enough to see Delhi?)

4.) After my second week I want to spend the next 8 nights/7 days traveling (here's where I really have questions)

5.) Do I spend the rest of the time in India, or since I have to fly through amsterdam and have never been, should I spend Fri-Tue night in India and then Wed - Fri night in Amsterdam (fly back Saturday)
6.) Whether I have 5 nights or 8 in India which cities should I see if I am willing to fly around/travel and want to see as much of India as possible (i assume 2 cities if 5 nights and 3 if 8)
7.) Is there any danger in travelling around India alone
8.) I am looking to see both man-made India and natural/cultural.

9.) If I go to amsterdam, what should I see there?

10.) I could keep going with this, but generally India has always been very high on my list of places to visit, and I am looking for the best time possible. For now I would say I am not limited by budget.

Thanks!

India is such a nice Place here are many places to see like : Taj Mahal Agra, Kerala Backwaters, Goa: The Tiny Emerald, Golden Temple, Poovar: Beach Delight, Kochi: Grand Legacy

Don't know where you are coming from but from the US India is a loooong flight. It's not a place you're likely to find yourself passing through, unless work takes you there. I would spend all of the time in India and save Amsterdam for another trip, since it's so much easier to reach from the US and an easy add on to any European trip.

I agree it makes sense to spend the time you have in India. Your problem will be narrowing down what you want to see. Basically, with 5 nights I'd recommend one area, with 8 nights, two areas. Travel in India is often slow and tiring.

Take a look at a good guidebook, see what reaches out to you. Read some of the trip reports here.

We went to Sikkim a few years ago - a marvelous trip. http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...p-to-india.cfm

We loved Sikkim and very much enjoyed Kolkata. We weren't impressed with Darjeeling after being in Sikkim. Take a look at our photos - www.marlandc.com as that may inspire you.

I've just been reading tons of guidebooks and India trip reports, planning for a 23 day trip in February, but with the time you will have, I suggest you may want to concentrate on the Golden Triangle area Delhi, Agra and Jaipur....but since you will have sepnt a weekend in Delhi, it may only serve as the place you fly home from, so you have time for 3 more stops. Arrange for a car and driver to meet you at the airport in Delhi and drive you to Agra. Stay overnight and see the taj Mahal the next AM. Drive to Ranthambhore for 2 nights and hopefully see a tiger on safari. Then drive to Jaipur for a couple nights and then head back to Delhi for your international flight home. Or drop the safari and use internal flights to see Varanasi. You may want to work with an Indian Travel Agency. I am using VP Singh's Legends and Palaces, which is highly recommended here. There are a couple more folks here also use.

A guide book I highly recommend, particularly as you are a younger traveler, is Moon's "Taj Mahal, Delhi and Jaipur" by Margot Bigg. If you have a tablet, get the e version as you can click on links to things in the Resource section. You may decide on some entirely different activities from just seeing sights, like hiking, for example.

You will have a much different take on India than the rest of us. Working there for a couple of weeks will be a great experience.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

It sounds like I should stick to northern India for this trip and most likely spend all the time there as opposed to a few days in Amsterdam. Both make sense and if I do go back to India again for work there is a good chance I will be visiting our Bangalore office, so I could travel around southern India then.

Anyway I'll start doing my research, and if anyone has anymore suggestions please let me know.

Amsterdam is easy from usa anytime and requires no visa.. india is much further and has an expensive visa which your company will pay for..

a nice hotel in Gurgaon is the Marriott courtyard if you have a choice... I've stayed there a couple of times..

I too would stick with the golden triangle area... you will have done most of delhi in a couple of days--near to G, so go to agra for 2 nights and on to Jaipur, and Udaipur if you can..

hire a car and driver... I like to use castle and king in delhi for this... google them... get the SUV for sure... the best $$ you will spend.. ask for Krishna to be your driver.. i'd have the car for delhi too...

your indian co-workers will have other ideas about travel but there is a huge cultural difference don't forget...

click on my name and read my trip reports to india---the 2006 one probably of most interest to you.

Lnoch when in Delhi you might want to consider hiring a guide to show you around. My daughter had a wonderful guide and driver for her and 3 of her friends. They had been in Dharamsala doing volunteer work and had one full day in Delhi before returning home. They wanted to see a few sites and experience some of what the city had to offer but were not sure how to go about it in such a short time. His name is Ranajit Roy [email protected]

Gurgaon is a suburb of Delhi, so you don’t necessarily have to stay at a hotel in Delhi to see Delhi. Espeically if your company is paying for your hotel in Gurgaon over the weekend, I would just say to make day trips to Delhi. You can hire a car and driver quite cheaply, or from Gurgaon you can take the subway into Delhi, this will take longer and may not be as convenient. From Gurgaon to the main tourist areas of Delhi is about 1 hour by car.

You could also theoretically go in to Delhi for an afternoon or evening if you want to see some of the night views in the Raj Path area, or go to a restaurant or an area like Haus Khaus Village. However, most sights like the Red Fort are not open in the evening (they do have a sound and light show at night). But if you get an afternoon off, you could go into Delhi. Traffic may be a bit heavy on weeknights going in.

Gurgaon was farmer’s fields until about 10 years ago, so there is little to see there. There are a good number of malls, corporate parks and apartment buildings. Your colleagues can take you to the good restaurants and advise on any shopping if you feel the need to go to a mall.

You could also take your weekend to go someplace like Agra and see the Taj Mahal. That may be a good use of time and will let you go to other areas of India during your 7 days. Agra is 2 hours by superfast train and would lend itself to a weekend visit. You can go early Saturday morning, spend the day seeing things and then Sunday morning go to the Taj for sunrise and then go back to Delhi. Or go down Friday night and return late Saturday, giving you time to see the Taj at sunrise (a must IMO) and then have Sunday in Delhi to see some things.

Delhi actually offers a lot, as there are several good museums, and then the Red Fort and other sights.

I agree that Varanasi may be worth including. It is a cultural highlight. Rajasthan is quite interesting, but I would say to pick one city (Jaipur, Udaipur, Jaiselmer or Jodhpur). You don’t have time to see all of them.

Or go to Rikisesh which has a little bit of the Varanasi vibe and then you go also see the mountains and do hiking. It should be possible to go to Rikisesh or Varanasi for a weekend, so you may want to do that over your weekend.

South India is compeltey different from north India, and worth seeing, but if uou think you may make a trip to Bangalore in the future, then you can save the south for another trip.

There are no real safety concerns, of course take care of your wallet and valuables like you would anywhere else. Generally speaking, India is quite safe.

If you have a good hotel budget, then look at the Oberoi hotels(http://www.oberoihotels.com) and Aman (http://www.amanresorts.com/) as they may influence where you want to go on this trip. Another good local chain is the Taj group (www.tajhotels.com ), they can be uneven so some are much better than others. There are also boutiques like the wonderful Ananda in the Himalaya in Riksesh (http://www.anandaspa.com/). There is a small Indian chain called Neemrama which operates a number of unique hotels in palaces and other old buildings and could be something to consider if you want a different experience. Go to http://www.neemranahotels.com.

A very useful website for hotels in India is http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. You can also buy the book, <i>Special Places to Stay India</i>, but the website will give you a very long list of hotels to start with. A lot of these hotels are in the budget range, and all seem interesting and several, like the Imperial in Delhi, are outstanding (but it ‘s not a budget hotel by any means).

For short distances you can drive, hiring a car and driver is generally not expensive. I generally do not like to spend more then 4-6 hours on any day on an Indian road, no matter how good, and generally would avoid driving at night on any Indian road. Trains are also an excellent option, I like day trains just because you can see the countryside; overnight trains are possible and generally comfortable and quite inexpensive, but if you are not on a tight budget, for longer distances flying would probably be preferable. One or two overnight trains for the experience may be fun. For train schedules look at www.indianrail.gov.in., the state railway of India.

Cicereone,
I'm not sure why, but when I use the sawdays website, I don't get an option for India. Even when I do a separate search for India, nothing comes up. The site is definitely not providing the information on hotels that you have. Too bad, it looks like great info.

Paule

Progal- I acutally have the book (about 2008 edition), and have not used the website in some time, and now when I try I see that India is no longer on the list of countries. He must not be covering India currently on the website. Sorry for the confusion.

Sawdays used to have a wonderful list for India online, but it sadly went away a couple of years ago.

you may use your working weekends to visit Agra & Jaipur.
1st weekend for Agra and 2nd to Jaipur, Jodhpur,Ranakpur,Udaipur and proceed to Mumbai/Goa..

I agree with Cicerone see Delhi from Gurgaon. I like Neemrana Fort Palace for a weekend away from Delhi

I'd suggest searching for trip reports here there's lots of great ones. I like Udaipur and driving through the countryside to get there, stopping a small hotels on the way, exploring forts and temples etc. then flying back to Delhi on your way home. There are lots of good suggestions above but if you're interested in wildlife consider the tiger reserve at Ranthambore.


A resource I like for boutique properties in India that may compensate for the lack of Sawdays online would be i-escape. They feature lots of nice heritage properties http://www.i-escape.com/india/boutique-hotels

Hi

A visit to India won't be disappointing. There are several places that you can travel to. As you will be in Gurgaon, I'll suggest you drive down to Ajmer, Sariska, Jaipur, Udaipur. These places are certainly worth a watch.