Are you thinking of traveling to India this year but aren’t sure how to plan your trip to perfection?
India is practically its own world, much of it 3rd world, and it’s almost impossible to travel to India perfectly without the occasionally stressful mishap.
Good news is India is open to travel in 2022 and covid is on the downturn over there – in fact on our last trip locals were overjoyed to see American faces again and we saw no sign of the virus aside from our required testing.
Between DearBlogger and I we’ve been to India 7 times now and created this guide to help you navigate cheap flights to India, awesome hotels in India, top cities to visit and generally how to move quickly and confidently through a country full of endless beauty and challenges.
So if you’ve got as much time as it takes to cuddle with your puppy, grab your coffee and join us as we cover what to do, and what not to do, on your next trip to India.
What’s Inside This India Travel Guide for 2022?
India is full of amazing cities, each bringing its own themes of culture and entertainment. You cannot possibly see them all, for it is a much larger place than the USA or any single country. India is its own world. So, we thought we’d attempt to give you a picture of the 5 cities we visited so you can decide of any of them fit your itinerary.
Flying In India Top Tips
Keep in mind, flying inside of India is crucial, and some routes simply work better than others to keep you in the air traveling for less time and money.
In order to keep your journey moving or in the case you want to quickly get out of a city to add a destination, I recommend you familiarize yourself with the AirAsia, Indigo, and AirIndia websites. If you want to travel within India, you’ll likely book a flight on one of those airlines when searching via SkyScanner.
Additionally, make sure you regularly check the covid restrictions of each airport you fly out of. While your airline may assure you of one set of policies, the airport you’re flying out of can change them at any time.
That said, the cities we will cover here are:
- Hyderabad
- Tirupathi
- Delhi
- Agra
- Jaipur
As I mentioned above, each city comes with it’s own flavor — both literally and figuratively! You will find cities to be totally different, aka you might think that driving is CRAZY in one city and rather normal in the next, or that everyone stays up all night in one city but sleeps normal hours in the next.
Hyderabad
Hyderbad is known for it’s late night vibes and is a huge tech hub of India. You will see lots of cars and people cruising about town at night and everyone seems to have somewhere important to go.
Best things to do in Hyderabad:
- Dosha Truck
- Saari Shopping Downtown
- Giving your photography time around the city and rooftops
Tirupathi
Tirupathi is a religious destination known for locals and travelers from far away who want to climb the mountain to visit the temples at the top.
Best things to do in Tirupathi:
- Walk up the mountain starting early morning, barefoot!
- Temple visits
- Attend a wedding 🙂
Delhi
Delhi is obviously a hugely famous city in India with a massive airport and lots going on in terms of hotels and modern life to see, plus it’s also the best city in India to fly into in order to visit the Taj Mahal.
Best things to do in Delhi:
- Shopping all over
- Attend a Cricket match
- Eat out (they actually have some of the best Asian and PanAsian cuisine in India)
Agra
Agra is the home of the Taj Mahal and a fantastic city to shop for jewelry.
Best things to do in Agra:
- Taj Mahal tour, make sure to start early am and ask DT here for the best guide!
- Jewelry shopping
- Other temples such as Baby Taj
Jaipur
Jaipur is known as India’s pink city and has the Amber Fort, a destination where you can ride elephants to the top of a huge castle like structure fill with ancient history and of course fine shopping.
Best things to do in Jaipur
- Amber Fort tour where you can view (but preferably don’t ride the elephants)
- Scenic tour of the Pink City
- Shop for carpets and bangles, they are the best!
Getting Home From India
When you’re ready to leave India and head back to the USA, Canada, Europe or wherever you call home, you’ll be relieved if the airport situation goes smoothly and you can board on time and simply head out. However, traveler beware, leaving India is notorious for hold ups and the county can really rear its ugly head to keep you there. We mean it.
Issues that can arise when leaving India which either DearBlogger or I have encountered include:
- Airport delays because of any number of issues like pilot issues, sicknesses, or other threats
- Bureaucratic issues like passport issues, covid issues, or other paperwork issues
- Military personal getting in your way
- Cell phone issues – for sure print your boarding passes and charge up fully before airport time!
- Many, many, many security checks and boarding pass checks
- Valuable or prohibited item issues with customs
Any of all of these issues can happen on your way out of (or into) India. Please keep your wits about you, and just expect things to get a little weird at times, so you’ll be pleasantly surprised if things go according to plan.
Have a travel to India experience or tip? We’d love to hear about it in the comments to help our viewers out so please share your wisdom!
The Dosha Truck 🤤