# Going to India, but where?



## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Hi,

i am thinking about going to India. But which city should i choose? I would go in February, March or April next year for 5-6 nights. 

The advantage of Dehli over Mumbai is that Dehli has a metro. This is very important for me. I learned in Bangkok and Dubai that nothing sucks as much as spending holidays in the traffic jam.


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## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

Go to Mumbai and Goa.


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## Imperfect Ending (Apr 7, 2003)

I say if you want to visit a country, avoid the cities...

Only go to cities if you're interested in seeing the city itself


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

Imperfect Ending said:


> I say if you want to visit a country, avoid the cities...
> 
> Only go to cities if you're interested in seeing the city itself


I want to expirience the extrem Indian urban life and the big changes happening right now.


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

Tom_Green said:


> I want to expirience the extrem Indian urban life and the big changes happening right now.


Mumbai and suburbs (thane, new Mumbai) , Delhi and suburbs (gurgaon, noida, dwarka). 

You won't find much change in the Mumbai or Delhi city centers. To see new developments you'll need to travel out.


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## zenith_suv (Apr 18, 2008)

Tom_Green said:


> Hi,
> 
> i am thinking about going to India. But which city should i choose? I would go in February, March or April next year for 5-6 nights.
> 
> The advantage of Dehli over Mumbai is that Dehli has a metro. This is very important for me. I learned in Bangkok and Dubai that nothing sucks as much as spending holidays in the traffic jam.


Delhi is good place to start , quite an amalgamation of cultures from Mughal , British and contemporary india . As marathaman added you could visit the suburbs of Gurgaon and Noida which should give you a perfect picture of urban India.

Apart from that if you don't want to travel West till mumbai then a short tour of the state of Rajasthan is definitely recommended with the cities of Jaipur , Jaiselmer and Udaipur. The weathers good there and in Delhi if you plan to go around Feb. especially.


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## Delhirocks (Jun 18, 2009)

Yeah Delhi will rightly give you the correct picture of INDIA... as its called " INDiA in One City"

it wud work as u'll get to see the changes happening and the urban development to the best possible extent in whole india...but yeah try to visit in the month of december or january...best time..

enjoy ur stay


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## Mahratta (Feb 18, 2007)

India's an awfully hard country to characterize by one city. Possibly the hardest country, actually.

Delhi would be the city I'd recommend - it's got history, development (Gurgaon, NOIDA) and isn't quite as shocking for the tourist as Bombay.


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## Philly Bud (Jun 8, 2009)

I have been to India four times in the last dozen years. On one trip I was there for 3 months, and for another 1 month (the other two were shorter stays).

If you're only going for a few days, I suggest you go to New Delhi and do the "triangle tour" of Delhi, Jaipur (in Rajastan), and Agra. That way you can see the Taj Mahal. I can recommend a tour agent in New Delhi who can get you anything from a car and driver to train tickets.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Probably a stretch to do Mumbai and Delhi in one shot. Taj Mahal can probably be a day trip out of Delhi. Mumbai has a lot of nice architecture in the city centre. The mix of styles is quite interesting, although staying at a decent hotel may be a bit more problematic these days as the key 5* hotels in the city centre were bombed last year. They're open now but I still feel a stigma attached to it ... considering I lived in the Oberoi when I visited there. Can't imagine thinking some of the people who served me may be dead now.


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## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

hkskyline said:


> Probably a stretch to do Mumbai and Delhi in one shot. Taj Mahal can probably be a day trip out of Delhi. Mumbai has a lot of nice architecture in the city centre. The mix of styles is quite interesting, *although staying at a decent hotel may be a bit more problematic these days as the key 5* hotels in the city centre were bombed last year. *They're open now but I still feel a stigma attached to it ... considering I lived in the Oberoi when I visited there. Can't imagine thinking some of the people who served me may be dead now.


If you'd posted this about 5 days earlier, I'd have said "lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place"...and then the Jakarta bombings happened.


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## Unconsciousfocus (Nov 19, 2007)

hkskyline said:


> Probably a stretch to do Mumbai and Delhi in one shot. Taj Mahal can probably be a day trip out of Delhi. Mumbai has a lot of nice architecture in the city centre. The mix of styles is quite interesting, although staying at a decent hotel may be a bit more problematic these days as *the key 5* hotels in the city centre were bombed last year*. They're open now but I still feel a stigma attached to it ... considering I lived in the Oberoi when I visited there. Can't imagine thinking some of the people who served me may be dead now.


:lol::lol::lol:


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

But hotels weren't bombed. They were attacked by Pakistani gunmen.


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## Kanishka (May 15, 2008)

India is HUGEEEEEEEEEE and diverse. You will need to visit it several times or for a longer period to do justice.


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## India101 (Jul 22, 2008)

Its really hark to choose. Both Delhi and Mumbai a beautiful. It depends what you want to see. If you want to see stuff in the south of India choose Mumbai. If you want to see stuff in the north of India choose Delhi.


_______



Marathaman said:


> But hotels weren't bombed. They were attacked by Pakistani gunmen.


F**K Them! Hope they rot in hell!


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

I think i will go to Dehli first because this city has already a metro.

Is this map correct?









Mumbai will come later.

Which city is the skyscraper capital of India?


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## India101 (Jul 22, 2008)

Tom_Green said:


> Which city is the skyscraper capital of India?


Mumbai. It is the skyscraper capital of South Asia.


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## KB335ci2 (Aug 19, 2008)

Delhi's a good city to visit if you're looking to take a history lesson in Indian architecture. The city's got great food. Good road infrastructure and of course the metro, makes it relatively easy to get around. Agra (Taj Mahal) isn't far away, neither is Jaipur.
If you're looking to soak in all that India has to offer (for the most part) in one place, I'd choose south Asia's most cosmopolitan city, Bombay. The city has an efficient railway network running the length of the island but its nowhere as clean or comfortable as Delhi's metro services. Getting around by black-and-yellow taxi and other car service companies is cheap and uncomplicated. Goa (which most people would highly recommend) is a 45 minute flight away.
South Asia's most vibrant metropolis has tons to keep you busy, and yeah, Bombay is the region's skyscraper capital! 

Have fun in Delhi, but don't give Bombay a miss on your next trip to India.


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## hkskyline (Sep 13, 2002)

Here are my Mumbai photos in the India section : 
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=453729


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## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

I haven't been to Delhi, so I can't comment on it, but if you're looking to be a bit adventurous (i.e. not eating at luxurious hotels) with food, then Bombay and Goa is certainly the place to go. Even the McDonalds is worth a try for local tastes.

But be prepared, it's probably not the "Indian" food you're used to.


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## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

3 Marathis walk into a bar...?


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## Skyprince (May 2, 2006)

Tom Green, why not be adventurous abit and travel by public minibuses/shared vans in India instead of taking metros etc. ? That would be a better way to explore a country, I think.

If you ask me which city I'd love to go in India, my first picks wd be places like Trivandrum or Madurai , instead of Delhi or Mumbai.


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## Mahratta (Feb 18, 2007)

_00_deathscar said:


> 3 Marathis walk into a bar...?


the bartender turns to them and goes

"why the long face?"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


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## Delhirocks (Jun 18, 2009)

3 marathis......uhhhh time to run....i m north indian u see


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

Mahratta said:


> the bartender turns to them and goes
> 
> "why the long face?"
> 
> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA


That's not too bad actually.


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## _00_deathscar (Mar 16, 2005)

I like!


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## Philly Bud (Jun 8, 2009)

*My suggestion*

If someone would say to me "I only have 4 days in India and can visit just one place. I want to see the _REAL_ India, not a huge metropolis or a touristy beach resort. Where should I go?"

My answer: *VARANASI*, formally known as *Benares*.

A holy city on the Ganges River. Pious Hindus taking their ablutions in the sacred river. Hundreds, maybe thousands of temples and shrines. A city thousands of years old. Interesting narrow little streets and weird shops. Good restaurants and lodgings of all types and price ranges. Gorgeous traditional architecture. 

Enjoy!


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## Marathaman (Jul 24, 2007)

^Sorry, but Varanasi is nothing but a symbol of the slow death and decay of Indian civilization. 

I fail to see what's so wonderful about that place.


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## Geborgenheit (Sep 9, 2005)

I would go to Kolkata alias Calcutta. It's a big city with nice architecture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolkata


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