I found on the net an interesting offer from The Oberoi hotel group. It's a summer sale, stay 12 nights and pay 7. I just would like to know if it's advisable to go to India in the summer. How's the weather. Also, if I decide to go, which of the following places should I really visit and which aren't quite special:
-Jaipur
-Udaipur
-Agra
-Ranthambhore
-Shimla in the Himalayas
-New Delhi
and Mumbai.

Another thing I worry about is the transport. Should I rent a car with driver or go by train/plane?
I hope you guys can help me out cause I don't know a lot about India

Its usually incredibly hot in India in the summer beginning May through August. Shimla is the one place in your list where it wont be that hot, but keep in mind that every other North Indian would be planning a visit there!! Its a summer destination for many locals so be ready for tourists galore!! Jaipur/Udaipur, Agra and New Delhi would be the hottest; since these cities are closest to the desert, it will be VERY hot there!! Mumbai is hot and muggy beggining end of May to August...if you can get these rates in April you may still get lucky with the weather. If you do choose to go, I would say an overnight trip to Agra would suffice. I prefer Udaipur over Jaipur. Mumbai is a great city for people who like big cities...not a big fan of New Delhi but worth going once and its a good base for travelling to Jaipur, Agra and Udaipur. Never been to Ranthambore so cant comment on that.Shimla like I mentioned would be pleasant but busy. So to sum it all up, if the weather is something you're willing to put up with, I would suggest
Mumbai, Udaipur, New Delhi then on to Agra and Shimla as an itinerary.
Look into the jet airways 2 week airpass which allows you to travel across the country for 2 weeks for around $600 USD...

I completely agree with nks67 that it is not advisable to travel to north India in the summer months. Temps average in the low 90s F and temps above 100 and even 110 F are not at all unusual. Take a look at weatherbase.com for average temps. If it is after the monsoon it is a wet heat, if before a very dry heat. Both are exhausting to travel in, IMO. I often had to go to Delhi in those months for work and simply stepping between the hotel/office and car would make you sweat; I can’t imagine trying to walk around in that heat and dust and be a tourist. Travelling in India is hard enough and adding 100 plus temps to the mix would not make for an enjoyable experience, IMO.

The Oberoi is offering those great rates because it is very much the off season. As noted above, Shimla would be an exception, but nice as Shimla is, going there alone does not make a lot of sense. Mumbai is not as much affected as north India, but to just go to Mumbai is a total waste of time, IMO.

A possible itinerary could include the southwestern beach area states like Goa and Kerala and then maybe a trip to Shimla, but IMO, I would save India for the great “winter” weather when it is in the 70s F and sunny every day. Bangalore has pretty temperate weather all year so is another choice, but again, not as interesting as north India, IMO.

Distances in India are vast, and a plane or train are the best ways for long distances. For tours of concentrated areas like Jaipur/Agra/Ranthambore, a car is fine and preferable in that you have some flexibility to make your own schedule.

India is a huge country geographically and offers a range of things to see and do. It is a lot like planning a trip to the US or Europe, you need to know what is on offer. Go to your local library and get some travel books, the outdated books don’t matter so much as basic info like weather and transport do not change all that much. When you have an idea of what you might want to see and do, then buy the most recent editions of guidebooks for the latest info.

Bear this in mind: India is as big as Alaska plus California plus Texas plus Montana plus New York (minus Long Island). In summer, it's hotter than Arizona. Oberoi is trying to sell you a dead horse.

OK, is India really as bad as it looks on Amazing Race??

While I tend to agree with the others on the weather, at no other time will you get the exclusive Oberoi properties at a reasonably affordable rate. In addition to Shimla, I don't think Ranthambore will be that hot either.

BigJim,
I'm in India right now and I must say that what you saw on the Amazing Race gives you a good taste of what to expect. My limited exposure to India (just a few days in Bombay and Goa)has shown me it is an interesting place, but also very depressing to me. There are 'nice' houses surrounded by shacks and people living in tents made of tarps and pieces of wood. I was reading in the paper that 50% of Bombay's population lives in slums and you see many examples of this on the drive from the airport. I thought Jamaica looked like a paradise compared to what I saw in India.

Even the snall towns/villages in 'beautiful' Goa are sad to me. They consist of rows of tiny square painted concrete stores (with no glass windows but metal pull down doors) and some houses varying from wooden lean to's to actual homes behind gated walls. Every place has the look of poverty. The interesting thing is that the local people always look nicely dressed and clean. I'm not sure how someone living in 3 foot high teepee like structure made of wood around the base of a tree can look well showered and clean, but they do it.

If you do go to India, be aware that you will experience culture shock. Even the 'gorgeous' Goa Marriott was a let down for me. This hotel is very similar to an average hotel in Cancun (maybe worse). I have mold in my shower and the metal soap rack is rusted and falling off the wall. That's not 5* quality in my book. My room looks nothing like the beautiful rooms they show on the Marriott website for this location.

Hopefully I won't get flamed too bad, but this is just my perspective on things. Luxury and beauty in India are defined much differently than they would be in the US. If you expect that, you won't be shocked if you visit there.

I think India is an experience and it needs to be aproached with the right mindset. India will be HOT in the summer - exactly which months are you talking? Ranthambore Park closes May onwards so the attraction of going there diminishes. Between Jaipur and Udaipur choose one - both thre Oberoi properties are gorgeous. If you do Delhi for say3 nights, Agra for a night (try to time it during the full moon viewing nights), Jaipur or Udaipur for 3 nights, Shimla for 3 then Mumbai you should be good. This is assuming Ranthambore Park is closed hence you skip Ranthambore. In terms of an ininerary you could consider flying into Mumbai, spending couple nights, then fly to Udaipur, Udaipur-Agra by train as I think there may be no flight but check, Agra to Delhi by train,then Delhi to Shimla and back to Delhi by air or train and out from Delhi. In the summer flying and trains are preferable to driving.

This is in response to "talltraveller."

"Even the 'gorgeous' Goa Marriott was a let down for me. This hotel is very similar to an average hotel in Cancun (maybe worse). I have mold in my shower and the metal soap rack is rusted and falling off the wall. That's not 5* quality in my book."

I have a difference of opinion. The Goa Marriott is a superb hotel with exceptional service standards. The physical structure is not contemporary modern, but it is charming with a deliberate design to incorporate some of the Portuguese touches. The problems with the shower you cite point to a slackening of maintenance standards and are regrettable. I wrote to the hotel's General Manager and his reponse was prompt promising to investigate the matter.


"Even the snall towns/villages in 'beautiful' Goa are sad to me..."

and

"Hopefully I won't get flamed too bad, but this is just my perspective on things. Luxury and beauty in India are defined much differently than they would be in the US."

This is not a flame. Directly comparing the physical quality/material comforts enjoyed by the American middle-class with the Indian middle-class will, of course, present a very skewed picture. But that would be a stupendously silly way to look at things. The physical comforts that an average suburbian middle-class American family enjoys are accessible to only a small slice of Indians. But thank God that life can be lived, indeed enjoyed, despite those handicaps.

I don't quite know what to make of the comment about Goan towns being 'sad.' Having spent over a decade in Silicon Valley, I am convinced that the life of leisure lived by a Goan villager would be the envy of a Silicon Valley high flyer in some of the latter's honest, reflective moments.