Going to India for my first time in Feb, alone (female). I have a friend in Mumbai but she is only available to spend the weekends with me, my flight gets in Tuesday night, thinking to see Mumbai Weds, Thurs, and Friday, Friday evening I am flying to Goa for 3 nights, the remainder of my trip is still open, the place I am most excited about is Varanasi, and I also need to check out Delhi, and of course Agra for the day for the Taj. After leaving Goa I will have the remainder of that week, the following weekend, and 3 day of the following week before leaving India. I would love to go to a tiger reserve but am overwhelmed with deciding which one is most convenient to the locations where I will be, since I only have 2 weeks and a few days I am trying to minimize my time spent traveling between destinations by doing over night sleeper trains or shorter flights. Any suggestions that anyone has is appreciated.
Posted by
17 posts
traveled to India for 2 weeks a few years ago
We used a company called Enchanting Travel that arranged driver/transport/airlline in the country and local guides
relatively inexpensive for two people from Boston
Variansi and Sarnat were wonderful
stay overnight in Varinasi
Try to wake and see the Ganges at sunrise
It was a long and boring ride from Varinasi- take a plane back to Dehli
In Dehli -Sikh temple, Ghandi house
It's worth going to mosque
I enjoyed just wandering around old city
Arrive in Agra in pm, see the Taj Mahal stay overnight and go in early am to Taj Mahal also was empty in early am
We also went to Jaipur- as colorful as movie "Exotic Marigold Hotel", camels in city, snake charmers ,charming but you would need a flight to get there
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Fantastic, thanks for the tips! This is what I have settled on since posting last, after my 3 nights in Goa I am going to fly to New Delhi and head directly for Jim Corbett National Park where I will spend Monday and Tuesday night for safaris. From there I will go back to New Delhi to stay for a couple of nights, thinking I will just do a day trip to Agra or possibly take the train from Delhi to Agra for the day and do an over night to Varanasi. Would you suggest at least 2 nights in Varanasi or is 1 sufficient? I am planning on being back in Mumbai by Saturday evening via flight, so just not sure if I am planning too many different locales for the time I have. Thanks again, Ryan
Posted by
4518 posts
If you are looking to see a tiger, Corbett is not likely to provide the oportunity. It was light on wildlife when I went there (ages ago) but is very scenic.
Check out this article for places to see tigers, I can vouch for Bandhavgarh as being good for tiger sightings http://www.naturalworldsafaris.com/destinations/indian-subcontinent/india/info/faqs/what-are-the-best-national-parks-in-india-to-see-tigers.aspx