India- what do you suggest?

[AccidentallyRunToWindsor]

DH And I are planning next years holiday- not sure if India counts as long haul but there we go!

Has anyone got any just see places? We don't do resort type holidays and have travelled around quite a bit by booking it ourselves so are happy with interval flights of trains.

Thanks Dora. Will definitely give that a go if we return.

Oh edge, I feel like we missed out now!

I'm not adverse to a tour @BubblesBuddy but not for the whole trip. We're relatively house trained so we do get on with others, I'm just thinking back to sone of the characters we endured a ha long bay cruise with!

We would look to fly rather than get a train, for time as much as anything else though the 1st class sleeper carriage does sound lovely, hence the ask for suggestions as it's such a huge country- I'm not sure where to begin planning an itinerary. We will only have 2 weeks to cram as much in as possible so it's trying to plan something that sees as much as possible of what we want to see.

What we don't want at all is just a beach. A few days of beach yes, but we would go potty sat in a resort for 2 weeks. Our one and only holiday like that was Cuba and both of us were bored- there's Only so much rum that can be drunk.

Thankyou all so much for your suggestions- certainly cheering up these wet evenings looking up all the places you have mentioned.

I've spent 9 weeks travelling in India, over 2 trips, and probably haven't visited even half of the places suggested. My first tip would be don't try and cram too much in!

I would probably start with deciding either north or south and not trying to do bits of both in a fortnight. I've never been further South than Aurangabad in Maharashtra or further East than Tala in Madhya Pradesh. The longest I've stayed in one place was 4 days at a time and the only places I've felt 'done' with are Jaipur (after, I think, 6 nights over two visits), my second least favourite city, probably much more to see and do but I'd had enough of the place; and Bhopal (3 nights) my least favourite city. That should give you an idea of how much there is to see and do. And of course the people you meet along the way make all the difference as well.
The time of year you're visiting might be your deciding factor, or your flights into the country or something specific you want to see/do/eat.

If you decide on the North I have a few tips and recommendations. I would definitely try and have at least one train journey though - it's all part of the India experience!

Two weeks isn't really very long for a country the size of India - I know that is not very helpful.

I think the advice to try to stick to one area is quite sensible. The only trouble is that if you stick to Rajastan/Agra you will see some amazing sights, but also experience mass tourism Indian style which isn't for everyone. If you go elsewhere you may feel you have missed out on the famous sights.

For what it is worth, my favourite areas of India were Tamil Nadu, Gujurat and Darjeeling/Sikim.

You can fly into one city and fly out of another one - take internal flights if needed.
But you need to choose which part of India you want to travel. You could combine TN and Kerala. Or Delhi, Agra and Rajasthan..

Darjeeling is stunning. You can stay at some of the tea gardens. Or there is a hotel in Darjeeling town itself called the Windermere, which is like stepping back in time.

Grab a motorbike and travel through Goa and it’s surrounds, staying in local B&Bs, it’s a lifechanging experience. Just remember to bring your UK driving license.

TN is a different experience- generally people are nice, huge temples, good infrastructure and not many tourist.
Fly into Chennai- BA flies direct, 2-3 days, sleep your jet lag, good beach resorts , famous Mahabalipuram nearby.
Overnight train to Madurai - spend a day or so, Thanjavur has a beautiful temple... All these places have good hotels, can be easily booked. Pm me if you need any help with this.
Fly from Madurai to Goa - spend the rest of the holidays to child out and fly back or fly to Cochin - taxi to Allepey houseboat ( went last August and I was a bit meh..,) before heading home.

Makes me want to go back.. planning to take my children in a years time - for Delhi and Rajasthan( have family in Delhi and we keep postponing to visit them ).
OP- wherever you decide to go you will have a good time!
Make sure you take all the precautions when you are there

@ProfessorLayton1 that's what we plan to do, we did the same in Vietnam when we went, flew to one of of the country, travelled down and left the other

With two weeks you are limited to one area if you want a beach as well. Personally, I would do the beach bit around Chennai (Fisherman’s Cove?) but in my honest opinion, I wouldn’t go to India for a beach. The sea isn’t great in many places. Beeches are best left to the Carribean!

We have done several 1st class sleeper trains - with our children. Trains are India and at least one should be included if you are doing a bespoke itinerary.

You also have to decide if you want to see amazing temples, less visited towns, or the main sights of Rajasthan and other well known areas. There will be more people there but I do think the sights of Tamil Nadu make a perfect trip. There are several companies that organise them and then you can have a beach session at the end. Cox and Kings for one. Definitely don’t try and do everything. You cannot. Stick to what’s manageable. Indian cities can be less spectacular than you think. The rewarding sights are sometimes not in cities at all.

I need to rephrase: there will be more people in Rajasthan! Less in Tamil Nadu.

You could go to Pondicherry from Chennai - Former french colony, Google Auroville in Pondicherry...
Fisherman's cove is good resort and beaches in Pondicherry are good as well

i am just back from 2 weeks in Goa and the Golden Triangle, there is plenty to do in Goa apart from the beaches and tourist area (we stayed inland) spice farms, Old Goa, boat trips to see the birds and crocodiles, back water house boats, ayervedic/yoga retreats .... we spent 6 days between Delhi, agra and jaipur, have been before and didn't see everything possible but had a wonderful holiday. we flew indian airlines from goa to delhi which has a generous baggage allowance. its nice to split it up as goa is a lot more chilled out than the north

I would definitely recommend some train travel. Sitting in the doorway of the cheap section watching India go by was memorable.

I'm not sure I'd recommend a sleeper. It was a few years ago when I went, but the 1st class was not exactly luxury, and the sexes were segregated.

Go to one of the Hill Forts. I went up to Ooty (Udhagamandalam). The narrow gauge railway up to the summit was spectacular (although the town itself wasn't particularly beautiful).