april weather considerations for india trip?
 

as i plan a rather spontaneous trip to south asia, i wondered where fodorites would recommend spending mid-april to mid-may in india? i'm locked into a week in calcutta for an event at the beginning and delhi/agra/udaipur for first week of may. other than that, it's wide open and it would be lovely to base the rest of my trip on geography as well as weather...any thoughts?

Your post is a little unclear but it seems you have two spare weeks.

One between the event in Calcutta and one after delhi/agra/udaipur.

I would head out from Kolkata to Darjeeling and Sikkim - you might have to return to Kolkata to fly to Delhi but a week is long enough.

For your last week I would again suggest going north. It will be seriously hot in Rajasthan then. But if you have been north from Calcutta, maybe you should go south from Delhi.

The monsoon will be coming, but I still think you could head down to Kerala or Tamil Nadu.

Need more info on whether cost is a factor. You can get up to Darjeeling cheaply from Calcutta. You can get up Shimla cheaply from Delhi.

But to go down south will cost you.

thanks for the prompt reply (again!), chimani. cost isn't really a factor...not in a stay at the oberoi or imperial every night kind of way, but certainly a willingness to spend on airfare to get around (and good food, though my understanding is that isn't one of the major expenses).

from calcutta, sikkim and bhutan are a great trip...
likewise after the delhi/rajasthan trip consider an hour's flight into ladakh, north of kashmir... peaceful, very himalayan, great landscapes and ancient buddhist monasteries.Also much cooler than the rest of the country.

brufen: those suggestions sound fantastic...many thanks. any experiences to share about bhutan? have been dying to go but understand it can be a very expensive and bureacratic proposition. thanks again for the inspiration...

sorry for being tardy, haven't been to bhutan but the flight into thimpu is rumored to have a great landing approach.
would have loved to visit bhutan before the rest of the world caught up with it...seems like internet and soccer have started to trickle in....