Travel in India

Travel in India and Tibet.

Every week in the shop we have delightful conversations with customers about India - several families have been inspired by our photographs to go there - so I'm starting to compile what I hope will be a helpful information guide. This is it; I'll keep adding to it. There's already quite a lot of descriptive writing & photos in our blogs.

We have plenty of experience of travel in certain parts of India and & always happy to offer advice & share our knowledge & contacts. We have been many times to Ladakh & Rajasthan in particular. Mostly we are interested in getting to the less visited places.

The nuts & bolts of travel in India is deciding where you want to go, how long you've got, how you want to get around & where you want to stay. Finding your own way around in India can be part of the adventure but it can also be hot, tiring, slow & frustrating.

How to travel: train, drive or fly? What level of hotel/guest house comfort do you want?

We make most of our internal Indian travel arrangements with Ramesh Wattal of Welcome Travels in Delhi. I always ask Ramesh to make arrangements when we need train tickets and a car & driver & he's usually the best bet for internal flights.

For hotels I'd recommend checking out the options on booking.com or similar sites. Ramesh can sometimes get better deals but the main advantage of working with Ramesh for all these arrangements is when you need to change dates - that can be easy for Ramesh but a headache for you.

What level of hotel comfort you want is a very personal choice. I'll mention a handful that aren't necessarily brilliant but tick my boxes in one way or another. You can take a look online; bear in mind that places can change.

I'd always recommend trying to do a little less than you might want but that will depend on your energy levels, how you get on with the heat or altitude & how deeply you want to engage.

Thinking of it as a once in a lifetime trip might tempt you to try do everything but the reality is that if you like India you'll want to go again. It's always there & giving yourself a bit more slack in the itinerary is generally a good idea if you want to be receptive what to each day offers. Having said that I usually find myself trying to do as much as possible & tempting the patience & stamina of my travelling companions!

Some specifics:

In Rajasthan north of Jaipur there is an area called Shekawati with scattered small towns and villages famous for the havelis built towards the end of the 18th century by rich Marwar merchant families. Havelis are rather grand town houses & the ones in Shekawati are renowned for their painted murals. The families that own these houses no longer live in them but some are managed by a caretaker & can be opened for you.

Nawalgarh is one of these small towns. It's about 5 hours drive from Delhi & 2 hours from Jaipur. Rajesh owns a small guest house called the Tourist Pension. It's delighful & Rajesh is a superb guide for the town & area. His night-time walking tour of the market is an absolute delight & an experience you wouldn't have without him. I've written about Rajesh several times including this blog: Green Lotus Quilt & a Homestay in Rajasthan. Here's link to his website: Tourist Pension.

I like the idea of a soft arrival in India and making your first journey from Delhi to Rajesh's Homestay can be an excellent way to start your journey. There is some excellent sightseeing in Nawalgarh & the surrounding area. This year, 2025, we drove straight from Delhi airport to the old town of Alwar, about 2 1/2 hours and a stayed a couple of nights at the converted Hill Fort hotel at nearby Kesroli. Quite a fair bit above our usual budget but a very pleasant soft landing. Alwar is a one time important town that get's very few visitors and has a delightful large stepped pond and old palace. An hours drive away is the wonderful old palace and fort at Deeg. Driving on from Alwar it's a couple of hours to Jaipur via the huge stepwell at Abhaneri or about four hours to Nawalgarh.

In Delhi itself, hotels are expensive. They always have been. Over the years we've tried several and gradually dropped quality as prices increased. There is 5 star opulence of course if you want it. My favourite hotel, a small art deco gem with a brilliant restaurant called The Broadway closed during Covid and hasn't reopened. Ramesh tends to book us in to the Siddharth which is dull but has excellent buffet breakfasts and a pool; latterly we've gone a little more downmarket - check the latest with Ramesh & ask him for a range of prices. Finding somewhere near a Metro makes sense unless you retain a car and driver. That can be a good idea but Delhi traffic jams slow you down, except on Sundays.