TIPS FOR TRAVELING TO INDIA (AND NOT FALLING IT)

Traveling to India is a dream for many. But it is a dream that can scare a lot, and rightly so: when it comes to organize a trip to India A thousand and one doubts arise. We know from experience. In this article we will give you 30 tips for traveling to India (and not screw it up), a few tips that we would have loved to know before starting our great trip in the Asian country.

When planning the trip you will have a first choice to make: Free travel or organized trip? We explain each option:

- By Libre: we were touring India for 3 months completely to our roll and the experience was brutal. Move by train whenever you can and for medium or long routes, for short ones you can do it by bus. Of course, trains reserve them with time! Here is a tutorial on how to do it. As for accommodation, in the most tourist places (which will most likely be the ones you visit), there is a lot of accommodation, and you don't even need to book in advance.

- Organized trip: if you prefer to go to the safe and with the help of professionals, cool! There are local companies that do an excellent job like Masala Travel (one of my best friends just went with them and came back enchanted from life) or Panipuri Travel (where Carmen and Antonio, great travelers and experts from India work). And recently they have recommended a very professional place with packages at very good prices, Mahendra Singh. A middle way you can choose to hire a driver to take you to the visits.

You need visa to travel to India and you will have to process it in advance. Here we tell you more.

North or south? If you only have two or three weeks to travel and it is your first visit, we usually recommend focusing on the north: Delhi, Rajasthan (Jaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Jaisalmer ...), Agra and Varanasi. Although the south also has a lot of charm, so come back!

You don't want to see everything: India is considered a subcontinent... and it is immense.

Eye to the weather: India is not only a huge country, but also has quite different climates depending on the area and the season. In general, the monsoon season runs from July to September (in the south it runs until November), being the best time to visit India between December and March. To travel through the mountains of the north end, the best months are summer. More info.

In India the Indian Rupee (INR), so it is necessary to change your euros. We always recommend using a card when traveling. Both for payments and to get money. But watch out for commissions! Here we tell you the solutions to have money abroad. For some time, the most interesting solution we have found is to use the Bnext card first, but also carry the N26 card for payments and if the first fails. We carry two each to extend limits, they are free and allow you to save money and go quiet.

The indian cuisine It is one of our favorites, but prepare yourself psychologically if you don't like the hot spicy... because most things sting and a lot! Of course, in the most touristy restaurants they usually prepare dishes that are proof of western palate. The dishes that don't fail are the butter chicken and the malai kofta. In this post we tell you more about food in India.

You are vegetarian? India will be your paradise: most Hindus are too, so you will have thousands of dining options available!

As we anticipate, if you decide to travel for free you will have to deal with Indian trains soon... an adventure! We experienced the experience, in fact we always traveled in sleeper (less on one occasion), many journeys of more than 12 hours and we did not have a problem (we slept very well!). In this post we tell you more about the different kinds of trains in India.

The most common problem regarding transportation in India is that it is a country with a lot of population and millions of people move every day. So it is best to book your tickets in advance. But do not sing victory ahead of time: in India almost nothing is simple and you can not book tickets as well as welcome to the wonderful world of IRCTC! In this post we tell you how to book your tickets.

I'm in wait list and now that? Now to wait: the wait list is a waiting list where they put you if the seats of the train you want to take are full. And why a waiting list? Because often (very often), agencies buy sack tickets and if they fail to sell them they return them. You will magically go from the waiting list to have a seat. Tip: if you are on the waiting list with number 653.194, you better go looking for alternatives ... but if you are only a few dozen numbers from having your seat, then almost certainly you will get a place. The best thing to avoid the burden of the wait list is to book your tickets in advance.

Scan your documents (passport, travel insurance, reservations ...) and upload them to drive or send them by email. If you lose the originals (we touch wood), at least you will have a copy always accessible. Well, it is best not to lose them!

Open your mind: The vast majority of Indians are lovely people and will show you what true hospitality is. However, there are many hustlers who will try to deceive you: the most typical thing is to suggest a travel agency where they take commission or tell you that some temple is closed to take you where they want. If you see that they are very insistent, distrust.

Come on, let's talk about the scams. If they can, they strain it! But in small things (they sell you a more expensive train ticket, they ask you for more money than usual for a tuk tuk), they will never dock or force you. How to avoid it? Inform you and don't trust strangers who want to help you at all costs. And beware of the Connaught Place area in New Delhi!

Learn to haggle: in India, bargaining is the daily bread. How? In this post we give you some tricks to negotiate prices in Asia.

¿Is India a safe country? Our experience is that yes: we never had problems. In fact, I (Lety) was traveling alone for a few days in the country and some women saw me waiting for a train and decided to "adopt me". If you travel with common sense, chances are you don't have major setbacks. If you are a girl and want to travel alone read this article.

Now ... you have to prepare for something: the looks. The Indians are voyeurs, but we believe they do it more out of curiosity than malice. If it bothers you, don't pay much attention and they will soon forget you. But often all they want is to start a conversation.

¿You are married? It is one of the questions they asked me most. The answer: a lie ... "yes!" Westerners have a reputation for easy (This is also thanks to Bollywood where, the ones who teach more, are western dancers and actresses). If you say yes, in principle they will leave you alone. Many women who travel alone are made with a ring (although they have no boyfriend).

Check out the free tours... there are in almost all destinations, yes, always leave a good tip 🙂 Here, for example, you can book the free tour of Delhi (

¿Backpack or suitcase? We have it very clear: backpack. Think that in many cases (well, almost all jiji) there are no sidewalks, and having to carry a bag between cows, food stalls, thousands of people ... is not the best. The backpack gives you much better mobility.

There is 3 things we recommend taking yes or yes to India: a sarong, pareo or towel (you know what we mean), to use as a blanket on trains or to cover your shoulders / head in temples, earplugs (India is a very noisy country) and a basic medicine cabinet (where the fortasec is not lacking).

Of course don't even think about going without travel insurance. In India, hospitals are not the best, with insurance you at least make sure that you will be treated in the most prepared. Here we tell you more about how to choose your travel insurance.

And what about the vaccines? There is no obligation, but if you are going to feel calmer, you can ask your GP to refer you to an expert in tropical countries. Most likely, they recommend you get hepatitis A and B, typhoid, rabies and tetanus vaccines.

Important: if you travel to Agra to see the Taj Mahal... keep in mind that Friday is closed!

India is a parallel universe and you won't be able to understand it until you're really inside. But if you die of wanting to meet her, even from the couch, we recommend this book: India inside (Álvaro Enterria). For us it is the best and most complete. And well, if you want to read something very reassuring, a few years ago I wrote this "book": I'm leaving.

Never lose the patience. You will often hate the country, want to teleport home and decide that the next vacation will be in Benidorm. India is demanding, will test you and take you to your limits. But believe us: it is so peculiar, it has so much personality and it is so cool that in the end you will fall asleep before its charms. Because he has ... and many!

However, there are many travelers who have not been able to adapt to the country, and they returned within a few hours of arriving. Although it sounds selfish try to enjoy, you will see many unfair situations, poverty, dirt, chaos ... Help as much as you can, and have fun.

Tip: take some socks always on top. To visit the temples you have to take off your shoes and put on some socks to avoid stepping on very hot ground (the sun hits hard) and it is also more hygienic.

Download the map of the cities you are going to visit in the appmaps.me, in this way you will have access to the map even without an internet connection.

Get ready to feel a star and have paparazzi behind you: Indians love to ask Western people for photos (and especially Western ones). If you are a girl, maybe they will try to put your hand on your shoulder when you take the picture, as they told us, it is a symbol of having a relationship, say, deeper. For us, it is best to keep the distances.

Eye with the monkeys... that they are not always so cute. Do not get too close if you do not want to risk living the experience of a good bite!

If you travel in the summer season, it is essential to catch a accommodation with air conditioning. In the end it will be money well spent, so as not to spend the heat of life.

Come back: India is such an incredible country that it is worth being discovered several times although one thing is clear ... it would take several lives to understand it.

Sunset in Amritsar, one of the best experience in India

So far our Tips for traveling to India and not shit it, although surely we forget something. Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Video: My Travel Anxiety Tips. Zoella (April 2024).