INDIA: Planning a trip in India.
India & Nepal are a traveller's paradise. There is no easy way to plan a trip to this sub-continent. A few basic guidelines are laid down below which may be of some assistance.
The products offered by S.D.Enterprises Ltd in this site alone is large enough to confuse you. First, identify the kind of product you are looking for.
In broad terms the products can be split up into 2 main categories. They are: Conducted trips (involving a car and a driver for travel between the destinations which can also be used for sightseeing within the destinations) and Travel as you like itineraries for the independent traveller which mainly involves travel by train between the destinations. There are some trips that overlap between conducted and free and easy trips such as a car & driver itinerary covering India's Golden Triangle and then use a rail itinerary to travel between Jaipur - Udaipur - Mumbai - Goa for example.-
- Conducted Trips: Examples of these are listed below:-
- Personalised Road itineraries in Rajasthan and North India. Some examples are as below:-
- Delhi Stopover and India's Golden Triangle.
- Rajasthan Explorer covering India's Golden Triangle, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jodhpur & Jaisalmer.
- North India Highlights covering India's Golden Triangle plus Orcchha, Khajuraho, Chitrakut, Allahabad and Varanasi.
- Personalised Road Itineraries in Kerala and South India.
- Cochin, spice Hills & Kerala Backwaters.
- Cochin, Spice Hills, Kerala Backwaters & Munnar.
- Kerala Backwaters, Cochin , Periyar, Madurai & Kanniyakumari.
- Cochin, Kumarakom, Periyar, Kerala Backwaters, Mararikulam.
- Travel As You Like Itineraries for the Independent traveller. Examples of the same are listed below:-
- Rail itineraries where rail section is booked through our agents. We have just listed a handful below:-
The next item is to decide on where to go within India. Again there is no shortcut here. Each destination is so good that you want to visit every one of them. Our recommendation is to invest in a guide book preferably 2 - 3. Use a library to obtain older versions. They are good enough for planning purposes. Some of the good guide books are: India Handbook by Robert Bradnock, India- A Travel Survival Kit by Lonely Planet, India by Rough Guides, Southern India by Melissa Shales, Indian By Rail : Royston Ellis for Rail travellers and enthusiasts alike, India - No Problem Sahib: for rail enthusiasts and people who wish to glimpse the images of India. Based on our past customers the states of Rajasthan & Kerala have been the most popular.
Rajasthan: A land of Forts, Palaces,
Havelis and very colourful people
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Kerala: A land of natural beauty: Kerala
Backwaters, Houseboats, Spice Hills, Kathakali dances.
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The third aspect is how long to spend in each place. Again, there is no hard & fast rule. On the whole for independent travellers, it is advisable to spend at least 2 days in each destination. The first day would be for orientation and getting a feel for the place. The second day would be for visiting the monuments. For conducted trips this may vary. Also remember, many of the cities have a number of monuments listed. There is no written criteria stating that you have to visit each & every monument listed. For example: If you miss seeing a fort in one city in Rajasthan, there is no need to worry as there is almost certainly another fort which is of a high standard in the next Rajasthan city (unless you are a fort freak like the author of this site).
The fourth aspect would be how much time should you allow for a trip to India. Our only advise is to go through the sample itineraries provided in the pages. You can certainly add time that is provided to the sample itineraries and make up a tailor-made programme. If you wish to cut down the time, you should be prepared for strenuous travel and thus you must be fit enough. The links given above may be of some assistance in this process.
Note: Pl ensure that you have a valid visa for travelling to India and that this visa entitles you to travel to all the destainations on your proposed.
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