Family Holiday to India - any tips please?

Doshwaster

I would echo the DIY approach to keep your options open then you can arrange tours and day trips as you go depending on your mood and the weather.

You can get "Delhi Belly" anywhere in the world no matter how careful you are but I've been OK in India (the worst I ever had was from a dodgy paella in Spain) but you just have to be prepared to write off a day or two while you recover. You don't want to be spending the time on an 8 hour coach tour.

Lines

Did a few trips with our son with Explore.
They do specific trips for families and we had a great time.
Did a trip to Morocco when he was 10 years old. All the organising was done by the tour leader and so just turn up and go. Tour leader was great with the kids too.
Most hotels that we used had a pool, which was great for the kids as it was very hot.
As has been mentioned, there can be a lot of time spent in buses or trains that we used as rest/downtime.
It was so good we went on another to Jordan (thoroughly recommended).

Look online for "Explore Worldwide Families" and see what catches your eye.

Ballard

You can easily hire a car and driver to take you around the golden triangle and it needn’t cost an arm and a leg. It’s been years since I last did it in India but it cost something like £15-20 per day. We bargained to get that price and they would probably have gone lower but we felt that it was a fair price.

The driver was given an allowance by the company for accommodating but opted to sleep in the car and pocket it. It didn’t bother us and the car was always clean and fresh.

If you did go this route then you’d need to ensure that it covered everything (such as road tolls). The roads are pretty good in that area but the locals don’t follow and road rules so be prepared to be scared senseless until you acclimatise.

Doing it this way would give you a degree of freedom. If you wanted you could get the driver to drop you off in Agra and get the train back to Delhi.

We hired the driver for this trip in Connaught Circus and from memory there were a few options there.

It is likely to be very hot at that time of the year so you should do some research.

You obviously know your kids. They could either hate every second of it or find their lives enriched by the experience.

Snozzle

Hi - you asked about the company Intrepid Travel. My husband & I went with the on A Taste of China and had the most amazing time - probably one of the best holidays we have had.


The information on their website is very accurate for each holiday and the actual holiday was way above expectation. When we arrived and met our rep he checked immediately what food people did / didn't like and then he sorted every meal out for us. He took the hassle out of everything - literally and we got to do far more than we could ever have on our own. There was 12 in our group and we traveled around on all sorts of transport as the group was small. He would stop the bus at the side of the road and let us try the fruit that the stall holders were selling, we traveled 3rd class overnight on the train - to give us the experience - he was by our side the whole time. He took us into what I would describe as a shanty town and we were wondering where we were being taken and in through a beaded door was a restaurant (if you call it that) that has served aromatic crispy duck to all the famous people you could think of. The last place we thought we were going to.


He often deviated from the itinerary to let us do extra things - a circus show - he got us the tickets one evening, he got tickets for 3 of the guys to go to some sort of boxing / fighting (famous) and arranged taxis for us there and back. He even organised for us to do things on our day off if we wanted.



There was plenty of chill time and the fact that he organised everything made it just an unforgetable trip. I have been dreaming of taking any child I had to India to see the tigers in India (don't know if that trip is still available) but our youngest is now nearly 7 so can't wait.


I would say go for it - the groups are small, the leader was amazing and nothing was too much trouble. People have brought us the health issues - I think one of the guys needed to see a doctor for something which he arranged with no trouble and the trip wasn't affected.

TwinMum79

I must thank you all for your honest feedback.


My husband and I have discussed it at length and have decided, as Easter is so late it means parts of India are on the cusp of approaching the wrong season for visiting. We just can't justify spending a huge amount of money when the conditions are as optimum as they could be. So again, India is still on a back burner.


Just need to decide where in the world we can go at Easter with good weather and that wow factor - more research coming up...


Many thanks all!
x

Voyager2002

TwinMum79 wrote: »

My husband and I have discussed it at length and have decided, as Easter is so late it means parts of India are on the cusp of approaching the wrong season for visiting.

Up to you, but...


India is vast, a continent rather than a country. No-one would enjoy visiting all the regions in the space of a single holiday, and the weather in a region that you are not visiting makes no difference at all to you. So surely you could choose a region where the season was conducive, and concentrate on that part of India.


Alternatively, there are a number of countries that offer an India-like experience: Sri Lanka and Nepal are the most obvious, but Malaysia has a significant Indian population and lots of temples, Hindu holy sites and of course great Indian food.

TwinMum79

Something like the Golden Triangle, we wanted to pair up with some down time on a beach such as in Goa as we are going with kids and think we would appreciate some chillout time too after seeing so many sites.



I think I want it all but in the limitation of Easter Hols. As I work in a school, I have to be back in so extended hols are a no go. Can't do 6 week holidays as the wrong season weather wise, plus husband can only have so much time off too.


Another downside to long haul holidays. Thinking caps at the ready...

Voyager2002

TwinMum79 wrote: »

Something like the Golden Triangle, we wanted to pair up with some down time on a beach such as in Goa as we are going with kids and think we would appreciate some chillout time too after seeing so many sites.



I think I want it all but in the limitation of Easter Hols. As I work in a school, I have to be back in so extended hols are a no go. Can't do 6 week holidays as the wrong season weather wise, plus husband can only have so much time off too.


Another downside to long haul holidays. Thinking caps at the ready...

I have never been anywhere near the Golden Triangle, but have found plenty of wonderful historical/cultural sights in South India. I would suggest that if any region of India has acceptable weather at the time you are able to travel, you will not be disappointed.

While Goa is famous for offering relaxing beach experiences (although parts of it have been ruined for this by insensitive over-development) there are plenty of other beaches: personally I would prefer to visit Pondicherry or Kerala rather than Goa. So again, it is likely that you will find what you want somewhere within India.

And no need to envy the long-term travellers: most visitors get really fed up after a few weeks in India.

happyandcontented

Have you considered Japan? Very culturally different to here but lots to see and do.

thegreenone

I know you've decided not to go now but I'd just like to add: do NOT DIY on your first visit to India. We were considering it in 2016 for our big birthdays but my husband's work colleague advised against it and we were glad we booked a tour. Yes, a tour is busy but you can opt out of certain things. We were pleased we did it and will now DIY to the south of India with confidence. My husband has been travelling to New Delhi, three or four times a year for the past three years and only once has he had an upset stomach (not Delhi belly). I've been twice and not been affected. What about Morocco? Not to far to fly. Adventure into the Atlas Mountains and beach at Essouira?