How to travel around India
What’s the best way to get around a country that stretches from the Himalayan peaks to Kerala’s beaches; from Amritsar’s Golden Temple to Assam’s tea plantations? Gill Charlton provides a steer
BY CAR Though the escorted coach tour may be first choice for ease and simplicity, an alternative is to take a private car and driver. Most tour operators can arrange this. The itinerary is worked out in advance and priced on kilometres driven. Always ask the tour operator to build in an extra 50km a day in case you want to go off-piste.
Travel on Indian roads is slow. Allow an average speed of 50km/h when planning a route, because cars share the road with animals, pedestrians and road-trains. On many highways, there are no interchanges outside cities, so drivers wanting to exit move into the oncoming lane: a common cause of accidents. Touring India by car is not for nervous passengers.
Drivers have generally done their apprenticeships as taxi drivers in a big city and learnt English on the hoof. The best are wonderful guides and may become lifelong friends.
Tourist drivers are paid about $125 a month, hardly enough to house and feed a family: their employers expect them to make up a living wage in tips.
Some will also get commission for taking you to shops. Tip a good driver about $20 a day. BY TRAIN The best way to see the countryside and meet the locals. Mark Smith’s railway website seat61.com has excellent advice on what to expect when travelling on Indian railways.
Long-distance trains are civilised affairs, with fierce attendants to make sure only those with tickets get a berth. There are three classes of airconditioned sleeper carriage. All provide clean linen and blankets.
AC1 comprises four berths in a couchette with a lockable sliding door. As these are usually occupied by grumpy politicians and businessmen whose phones go off all night, I prefer AC2 Tier: one long carriage with bunk beds, each with a privacy curtain, rather like in the film Some Like it Hot. There is also AC3 Tier, comprising triple bunks with no curtains; not a choice for claustrophobics.
I have successfully booked individual train GETTING THERE malaysiaairlines.com tickets through the Indian Railways agent Cleartrip ( cleartrip.com), using my credit card. (Indian Railways’ online booking service does not accept foreign cards.) Tickets can be bought up to 120 days in advance. For a timetable and route map see indianrailways.gov.in.
For a railway touring holiday, it is worth buying an Indrail Pass and booking trains. A 15-day AC2 railpass for unlimited travel costs $225, double in AC1.
The luxury Palace on Wheels is a good choice if you dislike changing hotels each night.
There is a choice of four one-week itineraries. The best trip for first-timers is the Golden Chariot from Bangalore to Goa, which visits quieter towns containing some of the most impressive medieval palaces and temples in India: $3900 a person for a week, including all meals and excursions (flights extra). BY AIR If time is a factor, flying between cities is preferable to long drives because trunk Travelling by rail is a great way to see the country. Mark Smith’s railway website has excellent advice on what to expect. roads tend to pass through monotonous countryside. The disadvantage is that local drivers will be second-best, sometimes with poor English. Many hotels can also arrange transfers and excursions using their own cars.
For internal flights, I favour Jet Airways ( jetairways.com), which flies to 52 destinations within India. Air India ( airindia.com) also has a large domestic network.
Most airports have desks where you can pay in advance for taxis into town and avoid having to bargain.
When venturing downtown, take a card from your hotel to show drivers who may not understand your English pronunciation.
Delhi has an excellent metro-rail service connecting places of interest much more quickly than it’s possible to drive between them.
All trains have women-only carriages (stopping point marked on the platform), which avoids harassment. — Telegraph Group Ltd