India? For honeymoon?

Glowing

Hi all,

I'm trying to decide on a place to visit for our 3 week honeymoon next September.

We've packpacked for months all around Asia a few years back and absolutely loved it, but we never ventured into India for a number of reasons.

Since then, i've read a lot about India, watched documentaries and movies, and have really become interested in the country and the culture. This will probably be my last opportunity to visit India, and am not sure if we should take the plunge. I think I may have an idealised idea of what India is really like ....

Have you been there, what do you recommend? I know nothing about the geography of the country, so where would you visit if you only had about 2.5 weeks?

My biggest fear is that i'll get sick, and spend most of my precious holiday days in a hotel room not far from a toilet :P Is it worth the risk, or should we play it safe for our honeymoon?

Thanks for your advice!!!

Glowing

Shamelessly bumping

dory

Pardon the delay, I usually only check Independent Travel.

My first thought was 'wtf, India for a honeymoon??', but since you've done a good bit of backpacking before you should be alright.

It's not true (I don't think) that you'll get instantly sick just from being there. I've spent a hell of a lot of time in India now and I've never gotten sick unless I've done something stupid. Play it safe and you'll be fine. Not drinking enough water has always been my downfall. Be careful with meat and salad - only eat in a place you trust.

For 3 weeks you could split the time between North and South. Maybe start in Delhi and head west to Rajasthan. Or else start in Kolkata and head west to Delhi via Varanasi.

Then the second week you could either fly or train it to Kerala (would be a hell of a train). There you could relax in a posh resort and take a boat down the backwaters.


There's loads of things to do. It would certainly be an excting honeymoon. The only thing is, especially the travelling around bits, can be a bit stressful. It's not 3 weeks of chilling out certainly. But I think it'd be a great trip, especially as you know what backpacking is about and you've been watching the movies and stuff.

KavEnn

Hi Glowing,

Congrats on the imminent wedding and India for a destination is a fantastic idea!
I have just returned from a 2 week holiday in India in January and it was great. Myself and a travel buddy went with a tour comapany and a travel agaent in Dublin organised it all for us. There was 11 on our tour from all over the world and all ages. We did the North India tour, so maybe you could do this for 2 weeks and then head to Karala or Goa after for a week of chilling on the beach??
Gap have 2 levels of travel-standard and comfort and we opted for comfort with 3 internal flights, our own private bus and lovely hotels.
The tour brought us to all of North Indias highlights-Delhi, Varanasi (The Ganges), Agra (The Taj Mahal), Rajasthan (Jaipur and Udaipur) aswell as some little villages and out of the way places-Oracha and Kadjeraho.

But beware, his is not a relaxing holiday and we were up early every morning and it was all go every day-but very worth it!

We had a fantastic experience and India is such a beautiful place and the people were so lovely to us. I would recommend, however, that someone visiting India be prepared for the poverty and people begging. It is heart-breaking, but you cant help everyone.

September, however, is the end of their monsoon time, so the weather may still be wet and hot hot hot!

But enjoy the experience if this is where you plan to go!

THEFRIDGE

Do it!!! We went to India for 3 weeks last year and had a ball. Goa is just Santa Ponza but it does have beaches. But yes i recommend a bit of tavel especially up around the Himilayas.

Enjoy

leonardjos

Northern India can be more congested and stressful. I've recommend finding a few nice places in Southern India. I would highly recommend Goa - much more chilled out, great beaches and great seafood!

It all depends what kind of trip you want.

Glowing

Hi!

I'm back - a married woman now and trying to urgently plan a holiday in India this September!

After looking at Nepal and Africa and a million places inbetween, my eyes were still drawn back to India so now I need your help!

We've only got 2 weeks, and am considering taking an organised tour?! I know this might be a cop-out but with such a short trip, I'd like to get as much as possible out of the time we have there.

So considering we're planning the Maldives for some relaxation after India, we can rule out Goa or any of the beach resorts. Where would you recommend we try see? I think the Taj Mahal is a must, but apart from that, I know nothing about the country. We're both young (ish) and active and are not afraid of a bit of rough either ... a bit of hiking would be great, as would some of the hussle and bussle of the cities.

Looking forward to your suggestions, thanks a mil

dory

Some great places up north are Udaipur, Rajasthan in general, Amristar, Manali (mountains), Varanassi, Darjeeling, Kolkata. Then you could get a cheap flight down to Kerala and take a trip on the backwaters.

The Taj is great and a definite must see, but it can be stressful with all the touts in Agra. Although it had improved the last time I was there.
I wrote a little report on it here

Glowing

Thanks a million dory!

Given we have only 2 weeks, would you recommend going independently or through a travel company? Bear in mind we've done a lot of backpacking before .. but are also open to the idea of going with a group .... I think my husband is afraid of missing our connection to the Maldives!

dory

Yea, a group could be fun. I've often thought about it as I travel alone a lot.

You could always get the itinerary of a group and follow that independently.
India is easy enough to travel in, for what you'd pay for the group you could easily rent a jeep in a few places with a driver. I know people who rented them in Delhi, and were driven down to Agra and up to Manali.

That said, I also have heard of people having trouble getting train tickets.
If it were my honeymoon I'd go with the tour just so you can relax. It takes a lot of organizing as you probably already know, over and back to the train station to get a ticket before you travel. Then you have the touts, who after a few years I barely notice but at the start they really bothered me. And nothing pisses you off more than knowing you're paying 10 times more for a taxi that you should be.

Sorry I'm not more help, when I go to India it's for work, all the places I think are good are places I've heard my colleagues talking about. I've only been to Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Shillong with a whistlestop research tour of rural Karnataka. I hope you report back after so I know where to go.

fourjmktg

yep, kerala would be fantastic with backwater houseboat stay...try to get good deals with hotels though

Glowing

Thanks everyone for your suggestions - unfortunately you can't see it all so we had to just make a decision and go with it:

So here were are; booked for October Can't bleedin wait!!

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/essential-india/AHEH/

KavEnn

Glowing wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your suggestions - unfortunately you can't see it all so we had to just make a decision and go with it:

So here were are; booked for October Can't bleedin wait!!

http://www.gapadventures.com/trips/essential-india/AHEH/

Hi Glowing,

Congrats on booking your honeymoon. Your trip in very similar to the one that I took in January. I went with Gap also, and our guides name was Aparna (Anna)-she was fabulous... I hope you get her also.
We too started our tour in Delhi and visited Jaipur (The pink city), Agra (the amazing Taj Mahal-bring spare battery for your camera as it is so beautiful), Orchha (beautiful little village where you stay in an old ex-emperors palace hotel and it is beautiful with very welcoming staff), Khajuraho (temples believed to be the origin of the Karma Sutra..this place blew me away and is a little off the beaten track, so there weren't too mant tourists there. Which is a little bit of a shame, as it is amazing!), and finally Varanasi, which is extremely interesting. The Ganjees is huge, the vats are full of people bathing, washing, and in the process of funeral ceremonies. If I can help or answer any quesions, please feel free to PM me, but I thought the Gap tour was very well run and a most enjoyable experience. I certainly saw more on that tour than I could have organised myself on a 2 week holiday.

Have a ball!!:)

cutymonalisa

Hi Glowing - i've been looking at the exact same GAP trip over the last week and will book soon for March '11 - would really like to hear your opinion and experiences after you get back in Oct!

Glowing

Hi KavEnn, that's deadly! Delighted and relieved that you enjoyed the tour. Am really looking forward to it ...

Do you have any suggestions or recommendations for me? What to bring, what to wear, what NOT to bring - would be much appreciated!

nickkohl

Shamelessly bumping to ask Did you go to India for your honeymoon?