India with teens

[Snoopsnoggysnog]

Has anyone done this and could recommend an itinerary? Looking at late March / early April for about 12 days.

How about the 'golden triangle': Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

India is huge. You're going to have to narrow it down a bit
Are you planning to go to the north and do the Golden Triangle? Maybe add in Jaipur?
Or maybe the south and do Kerala's backwaters or the temples of Tamil Nadu?
Or Kolkata in the east?
Or Mumbai in the centre followed by a beach holiday in Goa?

Each one of those is a trip in itself and will cover 12 days. If you can decide where exactly you want to go, then we could help you knock out a plan :)

We've been twice! First golden triangle (tour) followed by goa (to chill at 5) and second Mumbai (tour) followed by Kerala (to chill at 5*).

First option is perfect. Golden triangle you can do in 5/6 days.

India is very busy so would recommend the chill days at the end of a tour!

Flights - For golden triangle we flew to Delhi. Then flew down to goa via an internal flight. Then home from his via Mumbai. Sounds a lot of flights but it was easy!

We have been to Delhi, Agra snd Jaipur with DDs when they were teens. There’s so much to see. We had a private car and driver. Otherwise travel is difficult. We also went to Ranthambhore NP and Bandhavgarh NP. The latter is wonderful. Ranthambhore is easy to get to but it’s busy. You could also look at Udaipur. Lonely Planet is a great resource.

Delhi, golden triangle area will be uncomfortably hot in late spring. You'd be more comfortable further North.

The ‘Golden Triangle’ is quite hard core as an introduction to India. Kerala is much more gentle, and very lovely. And Tamil Nadu has some fabulous spots like Madurai and Mahabalipuram, with amazing temples. The Nilgri Hills, sort of in between, are worth visiting too, with tea plantations and hill stations.

I have been to Tamil Nadu and it’s a lot of travelling! It will be very hot in late March. We saw very few other travellers. We did an organised tour and teens would need a lot of stamina for this and be very interested in Indian culture. There are good beach resorts south of Chennai though. By contrast, Northern India is easier!

Personally I’d go in the Christmas holidays.

PPs make a good point about the weather. April/May is the hottest part of the year in India. That's when schools are closed as it's considered too hot to be conducive to studying

Go during the October half term or Christmas holidays, I wouldn't go at Easter. It's way too hot plus you'll have time to plan your trip if you go in Dec.

Look at intrepid traveller

Unfortunately we need to go at Easter as my husband is already there for work so the idea was to combine our trip with his visit. Thanks a lot for all the ideas

Well Easter isn’t May. So no idea why Pp mentioned May. I would stick to northern India and perhaps add in a tiger reserve. That’s a wonderful experience. Maybe avoid desert areas and definitely use air conditioned hotels. Some of the historic house hotels are fantastic but maybe a bit hot at the end of March. Nonetheless our Dc absolutely loved them.

@TizerorFizz I assume you mean me? I said April/May is the hottest part of the year in India. And Easter is in April. Is there any need to be rude in mice holiday threads?

*nice

The op isn’t going in May. Not rude. Just a fact.

End of March is likely to be cooler than any summer month. The OP can only go end of March and early April. It is likely to be hot anywhere in India but with an air conditioned car and good hotels, the heat is bearable.

We were planning a trip last year (would have just returned in fact) but postponed due to difficultly obtaining tourist visas.
I don't know if it's eased now or if OP is aware of the problems, but so check.

I'd absolutely agree with this. Kerala is perfect for an introduction, there's houseboats, canals, canoeing, tea plantations, great beaches and amazing food. You can get a car and private driver very reasonably.

The Golden Triangle is quite hard core. We were on a quite expensive guided tour so a bit insulated and it was still hard core. Loved it but I was glad I'd been before to Kerala and done quite a bit of other travelling before. We also spent a week in a nice hotel in the middle of nowhere in Rajasthan which was amazing. But very very hot.

And the trains are brilliant fun.

We went to Goa, loved it.
it was a good few years ago,
we met a taxi driver who gave us his number and he took us everywhere.
It was before our children’s prom so we had outfits made for them by a tailor there.
We did boat trips, visits to beautiful markets, so colourful. He took us to a waterfall where we swam and saw monkeys. we went to a reserve and saw old elephants. We stayed by titos lane and spent time on the beach.
An amazing holiday.

Depends what your teens are into?
As it's only a really short trip I'd first decide beach or cities? History? If so, what in particular? Do you want touristy or off the beaten track? Parties and music or temples?
Are you OK with seeing poverty or want to be a bit shielded from most confronting aspects of it all? What's drawing you to India in the first place?

@Ihavekids
The DH is working there. Delhi is in the North. Nepal is cooler but going further North is difficult for tourists. I know. I’ve been. I don’t think it’s too awful in late March in Delhi or Agra. Kerala is not the real India and neither is Goa. They are just isn’t the same as seeing temples, forts and tigers.

Joining this thread as we are looking at doing the same in easter hols with DC 9 & 12

Any recommendations for national parks to visit near Delhi / Agra ?

Somebody mentioned that Ranthambore was busy- that surprised me, we were planning on going there

I've been in north India pre kids at Xmas and it was freezing cold and foggy and there was no heating in many places

'Kerala is not the real India'. Utter stupidity. The north, with it's Mughal monuments and Rajput palaces, is what many people think of when thinking about India, almost a cliche, so the rest of the subcontinent is not real? This is embarrassing dimwittery.

We'll be there at the same time as you. We're seeing family for some of the time but our itinerary of days is roughly:
1-3: Delhi, acclimatise and see family
4-7: Train to Jaipur, stay for 4 nights, mix of sightseeing and relaxing
8-10: Train to Sawai Madhopur for 3 nights at Ranthambhore, tiger safari, nature walks and relaxing
11-14: Train back to Delhi, time with family and seeing the city
15-17: Car to Agra, via an elephant and bear sanctuary, stay 2 nights, early morning Taj visit on day 16
18-20: Back to Delhi, more time with family and sightseeing

We'd originally planned to do the golden triangle in a shorter space of time and then go to Kerala for a few days, but have decided to be more leisurely and build in a combination of activity and rest time as we go. Ranthambhore can be busy although it's possible to book private jeeps which can go in any zone so you can find quieter spots.