Travel tips to India: you should know some of the important information before travelling India, that will make your trip more comfort and hassle free experience.
Travel Tips to India
- Come to India with a confident and open mind.
- Make hotel reservations in advance. Hotels will take a copy of your Visa and Passport.
- Make sure that you have booked an air-conditioned room in your hotel (Different charges for AC / Non AC Rooms).
- Stay in hotel within your Budget.
- Indian Standard Time (IST) is 10 ½ hours ahead of American EST, 5 ½ hours ahead of GMT/UTC and 4 ½ hours behind Australian EST.
- Avoid booking taxis from street, road or hotel (Suggested – Use Apps UBER or OLA).
- Never accept a free ride from anyone, use relevant transport.
- Indians drive their vehicles on the left side of the road.
- Auto rickshaw journeys are memorable, to say the least.
- Be extremely cautious while traveling through Indian trains/metros.
- Be alert on traveling alone at night.
- Don’t always trust travel agents for booking tickets, they overcharge. Book online or at airports and train stations if you can.
- Keep your passport (hide it) with you at all times and keep several photocopies of it.
- You’ll probably have to ride on a bus to your plane at the airport.
- Airports gives you poor currency exchange rates, best check with your hotel or any other foreign exchange.
- Use PayPal or Western Union to send money to India.
- Carry your own medication / first aid. Sometimes fakes are sold in India.
- Don’t drink/eat anything if strangers offer you while traveling, it may not be safe.
- Learn how to use Indian toilets, sometimes you won’t get western toilets while shopping in markets.
- Always carry soap, gel, toilet papers, anti-bacterial wipes, and a small towel.
- Be prepared to wait in ques India has more than 1.30 billion population.
- Stay calm, India is a hot, crowded place and tempers can easily boil.
- Acknowledge while a visit to at Historical Monuments / Museums that Indians and Foreigners have to pay different entry fees and tariffs.
- You can always bargain with the prices while buying something. taking guides, etc.
- Bargain with the guides at historical places. Normal charges Indian Rupees 100-300 Per Hour.
- Be very careful with your money and valuable gadgets / Do not show or flash your money in the public area.
- Keep your money in various pockets that will help you in case if your money gets lose or stolen.
- Politics are really big in India. Try to be calm or neutral.
- Don’t wear too much gold that will attract attention.
- Wear a cap to avoid the heat on your head.
- Drink bottled water to stay healthy.
- Don’t eat too much if you are not used to spicy food. If you are expecting to eat beef curries and pork sausages, forget it.
- Family home dining is a pleasure but takes precautions.
- Learn How to Eat With Your Hands (You can’t eat some Indian food with Fork / Spoon-like Naan, Chapati, etc).
- Take care of kids to avoid abduction, avoid crowd areas.
- Goa is the epicenter of tourism in India. Tourists arrive here for marijuana, stay away from drugs it’s illegal in India.
- Avoid timeshare scams in Goa. Beware of scams and touts.
- Women tourist should be careful in Goa many rape incidents have been registered. Cover Yourself and Dress Conservatively.
- Don’t get cheated by overcharged or forced to buy something.
- Try to understand more about the place where you are.
- Learn some important words in Hindi (spoken by 60% of the population) or the local language. India has 22 official languages.
- Walk like a pro, show or pretend that you know the place. Don’t let anyone know that this is your first trip to India.
- Avoid local buses (not coaches), take taxis or autos instead.
- Don’t Expect Things to Happen On Time.
- Take off your shoes before entering a temple in India.
- Bathe in holy rivers at your own risk.
- If you are planning for trek mountains alone make sure no rescue services above 3,000 meters. (only the Indian Air Force can rescue you).
- India is not disabled friendly. There are very few facilities at airports, trains, However Indian people are generally very helpful in this regard.
- Tourists who leave India will not be allowed to re-enter India again for 2 months.
- Emergency phone numbers are 100 (Police), 101 (Fire) 102 (Ambulance).
These are some of the best Travel tips to India which you can keep that in your mind throughout the trip. Be safe.