I am planning to travel from the south to the north of India. I'm planning to stay in "lower-cost" hostels along the way. I have heard it is best to keep travel plans flexible and not have a set-in-stone itinerary. However, I am afraid this will leave me without reservations in a hostel/place to sleep. Can one expect to show up in a city in India without planned sleeping arrangements and make arrangements that day?
I am typically one to plan and organize most things ahead of time, so it is a little stressful to not have these kind of details planned out. I am not certain if reservations need to be made weeks in advanced or can be done in person the same day. I do not have fancy needs and plan to find the most basic places available to stay at.
Many thanks,
Ryan
Reply to this Hi Ryan,
You can keep your travel plans flexible while you are in India. Its quite easy to find hostels or lodges or even cheap hotels almost everywhere in the country.
Since you are not particular and looking for a basic inexpensive place, you'll find them quite easily everywhere you go.
Reply to this Tanya - thanks you very much for the input. I really have no idea what to expect. I hope to have at least one place in mind per city as a backup plan. However, I really just plan to ask around as to what is available and go off of people's recommendations. I'm hoping they are sort of located together groups and are easy to find.
Thanks again,
Ryan
Reply to this If this is your first time in India, do be prepared for a lot of crowd, noise and pollution. It takes a while to get oriented to it. Most cities here have prominent railway and bus stations where you will find 'Agents' who will help you with transport and hotels/lodges.
These guys dont charge you - so dont pay anyone. They can be aggressive, so stick to your price, they will eventually give in. Dont leave any valuables or luggage with them, though most of them can be trusted, its always better to be skeptical and hang on to your own stuff.
If you already have a list of cities that you want to go to, I could help you with places that are in the center of the city and economical and clean.
Reply to this Tanya,
Thanks for the reply. These are the cities I'm planning to visit:
-Chennai
-Bangalore
-Goa
-Hyderabad
-Varanisi
-Jaipur
-Agra
-Delhi
I would greatly appreicate any and all advice you might have.
Many Thanks,
Ryan
Reply to this Hey Ryan, Can U tell me wat is inexpensive for you ? I am assuming 10-20 US dollars a night for accomadation ? Well then u are in Luck. All places U have asked are reasonably urbanised and so U wil find Lotsa Hotels in that range. DONT DEAL WITH THE TOUTS. They Usually rip u off.Best thing would be to Look in the central Business districts in the smaller towns But In cities U wil Find Hotels every second kilometer as long as you are not in the outskirts. Just Look Near Bus stands and Railway stations u shud find the kinda hotels u looking for. In fact in Bangalore U wil find A bunch of Budget hotels Right in front of the City Bus Stand and Railway station. In Goa I know one Place "Nelmar Nest" . Its in a Town called Calangute near a Restuarant called Midas Touch.Its About 300 Rupees a night.{I am Just tellin cause I had stayed there once}
AGAIN DONT DEAL WITH TOUTS THEY ACT AS IF THEY ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS BUT THEY ARE THE WORST THING ABOUT INDIA.
Reply to this Just To Add to prev post if inexpensive means Less Than Ten Dollars , the above post still holds good. Just Look in The more Dirtier Roads.
Reply to this Some nice places to stay in these cities:
Chennai - Adyar/Besant Nagar. These are very close to the beach. City center would be Anna Nagar/Indra Nagar or Nungambakkam. There are local buses that you can use or 'Autorickshaws' that you can use for internal travel.
If you are traveling to Chennai, do travel to Pondicherry & Mahabalipuram, its a couple of hours drive from Chennai and very beautiful. You'd find blogs written on it too here.
Bangalore details are posted above.
Goa - Goa is a very large state and divided into North and South Goa. North Goa is more touristy and happening - more shacks, lounges and clubs.
North Goa - Baga/Calangute/Anjuna/Arambol
South Goa - Colva/Palolem/Agonda - very calm quite serene beaches here
Hyderabad - In & around Hussain Sagar lake - its like the heart of the city
Varanasi, Jaipur and Agra are smaller cities, you can commute easily by Bus or Autos here.
Delhi - Its very cheap to stay in Paharganj, its the toursit place of stay in Delhi, clean and cheap. But please be careful bcoz they try to con tourists specially on their first visit.
You can try the CouchSurfing site, if you want to stay with local people while you are traveling in India.
Reply to this Suragh - I was budgeting for less than $10/night. Hopefully I will be able to stay in that range.
Tanya - Thank you for all of the information. It is really helpful to get recommendations on these different places. I had never heard of the couchsurfing site, but I plan to look at it some more - it looks like a great way to get a different experience for one or two nights!
Thanks again for all the replies and information!
Ryan
Reply to this Yup, the Couchsurfing is a good experience. While it saves cost, it gives you an amazing insight into lives of local people - customs, habits etc and also most of them are willing to show around the city, so saves you from getting cheated.
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