Things to Know Before Visiting India
I recently returned from my first trip to India — and it definitely won’t be my last! I was visiting India for a close friend’s wedding, and I traveled around the country with some other friends beforehand.
These are some of the most important things to know before visiting India for the first time.
India is an amazing travel destination, and I really enjoyed my time there. I was a little apprehensive before I went, because India can be a very divisive destination. People seem to either love it or hate it.
Luckily, I fell into the first group! And I want you to have the same experience too. These are some tips to know before you go and things to keep in mind so you’ll be prepared and have a great time in India.
1. It can be overwhelming.
The first thing to know about India is that it can be very overwhelming! Even as an experienced solo traveler who’s been to 65+ countries around the world, I’d never traveled anywhere quite like India.
Everything you’ve probably heard is true: it’s loud, crowded, dirty, and chaotic. But this is all just part of the experience. And India is a lot of other things too: colorful, historic, vibrant, and beautiful.
Because I expected India to be overwhelming, I decided it was a better idea to book a guided tour for myself and my friends rather than trying to plan our travels independently. Tours are an excellent idea in India because they reduce the major friction points of navigating around the country on your own.
We did a tour of the Golden Triangle (one of the most popular tourist routes in India) and it was the perfect introduction to the country. Tours in India are also very affordable, so it’s not like you’ll save a ton of extra money by planning everything on your own. And a tour makes everything less of a hassle.
It’s definitely possible to travel in India independently, but you’ll need a lot of patience, and it will be a lot more overwhelming. But as long as you’re prepared for this, you can still have a great time.
2. You might feel like a zoo animal.
This was a shock for some of my friends I was traveling with, but I’d experienced this elsewhere (especially in Egypt) so it wasn’t as crazy to me. But you might feel like a zoo animal while traveling in India.
If you are visibly foreign, expect to be stared at a lot. You can also expect people to constantly take photos of you, or to walk up to you and ask to pose for a photo. This mainly happens in touristy areas, where there are many Indian tourists who come from small villages and rarely encounter foreigners.
As a group of five foreign girls (two with lots of visible tattoos, which are really uncommon in India), we drew a lot of attention. This got old really fast, but there’s not really any way to avoid it.
A few times, we agreed to take photos (if it was women or girls asking), but we always declined if it was men. The worst was when a random man would walk up to our guide and ask him for permission to take a photo with us as if we were just objects. (Our guide would always tell them no and to move along, ha!)
It’s up to you if you want to pose for photos, but feel free to decline or ignore if you aren’t comfortable.
3. Prepare for stomach issues.
Stomach issues are so common when traveling in India that there’s a nickname for it, “Delhi belly.” Even my friend who’s originally from India has gotten super sick from street food in Delhi before.
To avoid stomach issues while traveling in India, you should be really careful about where you eat. Hotels and highly-rated restaurants are usually a lot safer than hole-in-the-wall spots or street food. Food hygiene standards are not the best in many places around India, which can cause an upset stomach.
You should also never drink the tap water in India; stick to bottled or filtered water only.
It’s also a good idea to be very careful about fruits and vegetables (unless you can peel them yourself, like a banana or an orange — but things like strawberries and salads are best to be avoided.)
Meat can also be questionable. I’m a vegetarian (along with one-third of India’s population!) so I didn’t have to worry about this, but you might consider sticking to vegetarian foods while in India.
Even if you’re really careful, you might still experience stomach issues in India. I recommend bringing plenty of Pepto-Bismol and Imodium with you in case you need them while traveling.
4. The air pollution can be very bad.
Air pollution in India is no joke! It tends to be the worst in bigger cities. The air quality was extremely poor when I was in Delhi, but it was still pretty bad in Agra and Jaipur too. Air quality worsens in the winter months in India, since it’s the driest season of the year. It lets up at the start of the monsoon season.
While I wasn’t personally affected by the air quality, some people are.
If you find yourself suffering from the poor air quality, with a sore throat, congestion, or dry eyes, there are a few things you can try. Wearing a well-fitted mask over your nose and mouth can help, as can using eye drops and nasal spray to fight irritation. Staying hydrated is also key to feeling better.
5. You won’t be able to see it all.
Since India is an absolutely massive country, you won’t be able to see it all in one trip. In fact, you could easily spend several months traveling in India and still only scratch the surface of the country.
I recommend picking just one region to focus on for your trip to India if you have limited time.
Don’t try to visit the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur (in the northern part of the country) and then fly down to the beaches of Goa (in the southern part of the country) if you just have one week. It’s better to visit fewer destinations and take your time, rather than to rush around trying to see it all.
6. Travel times can be long.
Speaking of not trying to pack too much into your India itinerary, I also want to point out that travel times between destinations can be long. Every journey in India will take longer than you expect it to!
Driving times on Google Maps are often inaccurate, not taking into account traffic and road conditions. If you’re in a city like Delhi, it can easily take an hour just to drive ten miles. So be prepared for this too.
7. Get used to haggling.
I’m not a big shopper normally, but since I was in India for a wedding, I did need to do a bit of shopping while I was there. And one thing that’s really big in India is haggling, so get your negotiation skills ready.
You can’t haggle everywhere in India, though. Just like in other parts of the world, there are some shops and boutiques where the prices are fixed, and it would be very impolite to try to haggle. But in places like markets and souvenir stores, haggling is fair game, and if you want a good deal, you’ll need to do it.
When you ask the price for something, you can generally pay less than half of the initially quoted price. So let’s say you’re quoted 900 rupees for a cheap bracelet, you could probably negotiate that down to 400 rupees. It might take a few rounds of going back and forth on the price first, though.
You can always start to walk away if you aren’t happy with the price (and that will usually get the person you’re haggling with to come down even further.) And that’s pretty much all there is to it!
8. Always carry plenty of cash.
It’s a good idea to have cash on hand at all times in India. Many places in India are cash-only. Some places take digital payments through a system that’s only available to Indians, and some places take cards.
However, it can be a pain to use cards. I encountered some places that theoretically took cards, but didn’t actually want to use their card reader because of the card processing fees they’d have to pay.
The currency in India is the rupee, and at the time of writing this, the exchange rate is 1 USD to 90 INR. So it’s a good idea to have several thousand rupees on hand at all times for travel expenses.
9. And toilet paper.
Another good thing you’ll always want to have when traveling in India is toilet paper. It’s pretty uncommon to find toilet paper in public restrooms or even in the restrooms at restaurants or other locations.
Instead, you’ll often see a handheld bidet sprayer only. This can be a bit of a culture shock, so be sure to have plenty of toilet paper or tissues in your bag at all times when you’re traveling in India.
10. Plan your trip at the right time.
Generally, the best time to visit India is from November to March, when the weather is likely to be the most pleasant and dry. April through October are much hotter and wetter, ushering in the monsoon season.
I visited India in December and found the weather to be perfect! Every day was sunny and dry, and while it was warm during the day, it was never hot. It was also quite cool at night when I was there.
However, May and December are the two most popular months for Indians to travel. So when I was there, everywhere I went was crowded with domestic tourists traveling for the holidays. In the future, I’d like to return to India in January or February to avoid these crowds but still enjoy the good weather.
The worst months to visit India, weather-wise, are May through September. These are the rainiest months and also the hottest months, when heat and humidity can soar to truly unbearable levels.
Things to Know Before Traveling to India
These are some of the most important things to know before visiting India.
As I mentioned at the start of this guide, India can be a divisive destination, and people have strong opinions on whether they loved it or hated it. For a lot of people who didn’t like India, I think they went into their first visit unprepared or with the wrong expectations, leaving them with a bad impression.
Hopefully, these tips will help you know what to expect when visiting India so you love it as much as I did.
Enjoy your trip to India!
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