Travel Tips
Below are a few tips for travel in India for first time visitors. Even Indians can benefit from the below tips while traveling to unknown Indian destinations. Foreigners may find India a little peculiar because the lifestyle and culture here is totally different from what they find in the West.
- Plan well in advance. Ask all possible questions to your travel agent.
- Take proper travel and medical insurance before visiting.
- Insist on getting encashment certificate while exchanging money
- Keep a photocopy of your passport, Indian visa and flight ticket separate from the originals when travelling, in case these get lost or stolen.
- Use licensed guides for sight-seeing.
- Use strong suitcases/baggage, in case mishandling occurs at airports/stations.
- Prefer trains and buses over flights as they are the cheapest option if you are on a long holiday.
- Be careful about your luggage while you travel in train or in bus.
- It is always better to arrive one hour before scheduled departure at the train station and one and half hour before any domestic flight.
- Always chain and lock your luggage under your berth in a train. Do not keep anything valuable near the window. Always carry plenty of water, and fruits in trains.
- Do not eat anything offered by fellow travelers on train or road travels. Always travel reserved class in trains.
- While choosing car as an option for transportation make sure that your driver is trained and speak basic English.
- Avoid self driving in India unless you have been trained on Indian roads.
- Do not trust strangers on the street. Trust your hotel and travel authorities, but not people you do not know of.
- Always drink safe bottled water and take well-cooked food.
- If driving between cities, have your hotel pack a lunch for the road.
- If possible, carry proper maps with you of the places proposed to visit in India.
- Try to reach a station during daytime if traveling on your own.
- Beware of touts and taxi-drivers at airport/stations/bus stand to help you find your hotel. Always use tourist assistance desk for proper advice.
- Do not leave your cash and valuables in your hotel rooms.
- Keep your cash divided in different pockets.
- Do not accept offers of visiting anyone's home unless you are confident of the person.
- Tips are not necessary. If at all you do, do not tip unreasonably and unnecessarily in a hotel.
- During monsoon season, avoid night stay in the desert while you do camel safari.
- Buy from genuine shops only. Bargaining is a popular practice in India, however do not bargain in shops that display "Fixed Price" signs
- Do consult proper authority before buying any ayurvedic medicines, because it might not be allowed to carry them to your home country.
- Do not ever enter a temple, mosque, tomb, dargah or Gurudwara ( Sikh Temple) with shoes on and/or scantily dressed. One should cover his/her head with a cloth while in a Gurudwara or Dargah. Pradakshina or walking around the sanctum should always be done in clockwise direction.
- Do not shake hands with ladies. The “NAMASTAY” is a local form of greeting. It involves the joining of your palms as during prayer in church – but with the fingers not folded up).
- Be careful of cultural and social sensitivities of the regions. There is no single rule for that, the best way is to observe and follow.
- Do not encourage beggars.
- Do not photograph women without permission.
- Avoid visiting extreme north and north-east Kashmir. Foreigners, especially West Europeans and Americans, are at risk to hostage-taking by terrorists in those areas. The rest of India is safe haven for everybody.
- Avoid keeping narcotic substances with you. The punishments are severe, if caught.
- Women travelers should avoid traveling alone at odd hours.
- Do not checkout of the hotel in hurry. While checking out it has been noticed in some hotels, the extras are unreasonably charged which the guest hurriedly pays without cross-checking.
- Plan well in advance about your departure. Try to arrive your destination station well in time, to avoid any last minute hassles.
