obersee1

Need some help within the next day to plan a week in India in February. I will be in Bangalore and have 6 nights to spend after. My first time in India. I'm tempted to stay in the South and want to see as much as possible. Should I go to Kochin and Kerala? As I have limited time to plan and no experience with this country, are there good tours you can recommend? Already checked Intrepid/GAP and didn't find anything suitable. Thanks.

holikurry

You can do the following

Option One
Bangalore / Mysore / Coorg Via Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement / Chikmagalur Via Belur & Halebid / Hospet / Badami / Goa and exit from there...

Option Two
Bangalore / Mysore / Wayanad / Calicut / Cochin

Both are interesting options with some of the best kniwn and off the beaten track experiences...

All the best ...

obersee1

Thanks. What do you think of the following tour I figured out on my own? Should I pay a tour operator to book all of this for me with a driver, and what is a fair price range?

-Leave Bangalore and see Mysore, 2 nights at Windflower
-Leave Mysore for Wayanad, 2 nights at Tranquil Resort (excursion to Muthanga park and Jain Temple)
-Leave Wayanad, and go to Alleppey for overnight on houseboat back to Kumarakom
-the next morning, go to Kochi for 2 days

dogster

You won't do this, I bet - but here's an expensive option that, for a first timer, would give you an amazing experience. I've done it - on the maiden voyage and on MY first trip to India. I've been back many times since, in many different ways - but I'd still recommend it for someone in your situation. It leaves from Bangalore.

www.theluxurytrains.com/india/the-golden-chariot

But it's big bucks.

Here are some other options you may not have considered - much less expensive, self-contained and stress-free. All you have to do is book your hotels. Look here for a whole new way of doing it:

http://savaari.com/user/car-packages...ages-india.php

just write in Bangalore as your pick-up city. There are three pages of options, from 1 to 7 days. Remember you can get off anywhere you like - the car has to go back to Bangalore, so that's why everything seems like a round trip. You could easily make your own plan, too.

I'd REALLY consider this as an easy way to solve your problem.

As for your above plan - you could book this easily yourself on the net.

If you feel up to it, you could have an adventure and catch a daytime train from Bangalore to Mysore. It's not all that long.

Get a pick-up from the station with Windflower to avoid stress. Here's a way of booking Windflower. There are many others. Of course, you could do it direct - but it'll be more expensive.

http://www.wego.com/hotels/india/mys...Spa+and+Resort

You could get the hotel to do a car and driver to show you Mysore. There are some great things to see and you'll not be at the mercy of local taxi drivers. [I'm bearing in mind you're new and, if you're like me, may have trepidation till you find your feet]

The above Savaari site will give you a very good idea of what a car and driver should cost. You could use them - but there are many others. Look here:

http://savaari.com/user/step1.php

Follow the steps and you have all the info.

I could continue thru your plan - but let's see where this new info leads you. This is all about your stress levels. Remember, I don't know anything about you. India isn't easy the first time.

Let me know what you think.

obersee1

Thanks for the help! As I'm traveling alone, I have concerns about spending so much time with this one driver. If we don't get along, being stuck with this person for 7 days, may be very taxing. This is why I avoid tours. Savaari quoted me about $400, very reasonable. Is it possible to just have the hotel at each location find me a driver to the next place, or is this too much hassle?

Also, I'm thinking of skipping Wayanad, so I can drive back to Bangalore after Mysore and fly to Cochin. Or would it be a shame to miss out on Wayanad? Can anyone advise on travel from Wayanad (near Sultans Battery) down to Cochi and how long it is. Are there any points of interest in between? Confused about Munnar/Periyar/Kovolam. Are these must sees, or will Mysore/Cochi/Alleppey/Kumarakom be more than enough in a week?

dogster

I understand that driver concern. I travel alone too. I can't answer that, other than to say that's why I suggested Saavari = any issues and you call them, change drivers. He probably won't speak English, anyway. He's a driver, not your buddy. I actually don't even know if you're a man or a woman, old, young - anything much, really. But I can see you've been around. [lol - you know what I mean]

Here's a way to answer some of your questions: Google maps. Just type in Mysore to Wayanad, Wayanad to Kochi etc.For example:
maps.google.co.in/maps?hl=en&tab=wl

Then double the travel time. lol.

Frankly, I think you need to bite the bullet pretty soon, here - decide whether you want to travel by car at all, whether you want to see Karnatika or Kerala and choose one or the other. Or do it as a road journey. You're playing it REALLY safe on those hotels so you're likely to be trapped in a bubble of tourist assumptions and bland food anyway.

What is a point of interest to you? Scenery or culture? I can't read your mind. You're heading into scenery, bird watching, rain forest, jungle safari, eco Tourism, elephant safari - stuff like that. Pretty - but boring as bat pooh to me. It has about as much to do with INDIA as a trip to the zoo.

'...My first time in India. I'm tempted to stay in the South and want to see as much as possible...' Well, you're gonna see hills and what Indians think is jungle.

Why not just fly to Kochi and be done with it. Then you don't need a car or a driver, you can sort transfers out easily on the spot.

Go here for hotels in Kerala:
http://www.sawdays.co.uk/search/list...rala&submit=GO

or here:
http://www.i-escape.com/country_summ...ndia%3A+Kerala

or, far more interestingly, here:
www.mahindrahomestays.com

Or search in Fodor's on Kerala. Look for trip reports. But life is short - I've given you a LOT of options, none of which you look like using. I'm a bit over it now.

obersee1

don't reply if you are over it, was not a question for you specifically! thanks again for the advice, but don't understand the attitude at the end. You have no idea what I'm doing. The point of these forums is to help fellow travelers, not insult them and act all high and mighty

dogster

I give up. Now abuse. I'll take care not to be so generous again. I'd advise anybody else not to bother either.

garybear

Fear not Obersee, a bite from the dog is not fatal. But if you want good advice, then you need to give us some idea of what your interests are. "want to see as much as possible" is not very specific. India can/will overwhelm you with sights, sounds, smells, etc. So if you want a pleasant remembrance of your journey, be specific about what interests you. Dogster is not interested in wildlife parks, however I am and have a great time there. So here is what I did for ten days in November from Bangalore. Three days in Mysore, including side trip to Somnathpur (a must see, unless you are going to Hampi which is spectacular but much further away in a different direction). Three days in Coorg area (two would have been sufficient). I stayed at the new Windflower near Madekeri. It was my first time staying at a spa. The Windflower was a beautiful place, but I found it rather boring. In other words, I am too active to laze around a spa for three days and do nothing but eat. The Bylakuppe Tibetan Settlement is worth seeing as is the nearby Durbare Elephant Camp (elephants go back to their stalls after 11:00 a.m.) Then three days at Nagarhole National Park. You can arrange for driver pickup from BLR airport or take taxi into town and then the train to Mysore, depending on your preference. Meru Taxi is fairly priced and reliable, and they actually use the meter. You can make reservations in advance and if your cell phone works in India, you will receive a text message confirmation. Mysore is more pedestrian friendly than most Indian cities and you can walk to the palace from most hotels in the city in 10-15 minutes. Being your first trip to India, be advised that roads are not to the same standard as Europe or America. What looks like a short drive on the map can often take 6-8 hours. Driving from Bangalore to Kochi will probably be a two-day journey. As Dogster suggested, recommend flying if you want to go to Kochi. In case you are wondering about my 10th day, it was spent on the road from Nagarhole back to Bangalore, a six-hour journey, then another hour to the airport. Bon Voyage.

puttakka

Don't knock yourself out trying to see as much as possible. You will be exhausted. It is HOT in February.

Try to spend a few days in Mysore. The Bangalore-Mysore train takes three hours and it is a show - school children, coffee/tea salesman, families, business people, what-have-you. It is an entertaining three hours!

In Mysore, eat dosa at Dasaprakash. Go see the Mysore Palace lit up on Wed or Sunday night and get some roasted peanuts. Make sure you see the palace during the day as well, and Chamundi Hills. Srirangapatna, which is on the outskirts of Mysore, is interesting historically.

Hit Hampi or Belur/Halebid. Or, for a complete change of pace, take the train to Mangalore. I have not been but my father, who grew up all over Karnataka, went to college in Mysore, and travels in the area every year, always suggests Mangalore as a place to get away.

My family who live there all speak English and schools are taught in English so the language barrier may not be as hard as you may think.

NJ2Italy

considering it will begin to get hot in Feb, and since you're around Mysore area, may be you can spend a couple of days in Coorg/Mercara. It is a sort of hill stationy, lots of plantations, great food and stuff to see.