Several women are considering a tour to India in February. We have all traveled a great deal but mostly with our spouses. The tour we are looking at from Friendly Planet is excellent, however, provides only breakfast. The question is "How sfe is it for women alone at night, and are the restaurants safe eating for tourists.

Thanks and looking forward to the reply.

I couldn't tell you anything about the safety angle, but in five weeks we ate in upwards of fifty restaurants, and exactly the same conditions applied to pour selection as would apply if we were in any other country, including our own. We ate where the environment looked clean and where there was a busy trade. We ate fresh-cooked food and avoided salads. We had no problems with sickness, and I have never tasted better food in my life -- I still dream about some of the tastes.

I have travelled alone in India quite a bit. It is generally a very safe place and you should have no special concerns. Some larger cities like Delhi and Mumbai have bad areas, of course, but as a tourist you would not be going there. I would take precautions like you do in any where else as to your wallet, camera etc. (I live in Zurich and was in a shop yesterday where a women tourist got pick pocketed, so really it can happen anywhere.) But violent crime is extremely rare.

As for restaurants, in cities like Delhi and Mumbai there are lots of restaurants, and more every day, offering all types of cuisine. As noted above, use your judgement like you would in choosing a restaurant anywhere. In smaller cities and towns like Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur, you are probably better off in hotel restaurants (of which there are many) rather than stand-alone restaurants, as good hygiene is likely to be more strictly observed in a hotel catering to western tourists. Also, some of the better restaurants in larger cities are in hotels, like Bukhara and Dumpukth which are both in the Sheraton in New Delhi.

Run a search here for restaurant suggestions, as myself and others have posted on this in the past.

I agree. Stick to the better hotel restaurants for hygenic reasons.

U will have no problem in large cities like Delhi and Mumbai. In smaller towns I agree stick to hotel restaurants. Is safe don't worry. Post nearer date re actual city recos.