[live360]

Originally Posted by ak916

Yes definitely bearable compared to rest. You can try going into the jungles of bandipur/nagarhole/wayanad. And you can include the heritage/nature belts of udipi, karkala, hassan. Throw in a beach or two and you have a nice holiday. I can put an itinerary if you need help with that.

Thank you so much for the post and I really appreciate if you can put together basic itinerary for 7-12 days. You are spot on with heritage/nature as those are the things we always try to squeeze in any trip. We really want to visit lot of places in Karnataka few at a time based on weather, prime time to visit the places (like Mysore for Dussehra etc).

Thanks

[live360]

Originally Posted by satan's_valet

Delhi --> Amritsar --> Dharamshala --> Dalhousie --> Manali --> Shimla (if possible) --> Delhi.

Wow, lots of useful information. I love this forum and appreciate all your posts.

We'd love to visit Amritsar and like to see the country side and farming in Punjab/Haryana. Do we need to go too much away from the route you've posted to do that? If you suggest any other route that covers county side, can you please post it?

Thanks

[satan's_valet]

Originally Posted by live360

Wow, lots of useful information. I love this forum and appreciate all your posts.

We'd love to visit Amritsar and like to see the country side and farming in Punjab/Haryana. Do we need to go too much away from the route you've posted to do that? If you suggest any other route that covers county side, can you please post it?

Thanks

Delhi to Amritsar is a long journey. We travelled in a Tempo traveller and it took 8-9 hours. You are right. We thoroughly enjoyed the countryside and the food available at every dhaba is amazing. The route that we took for Dharamshala from Amritsar had nice roads and lots of Dhabas. Same can also be said for Delhi-Amritsar route.

The Wagah border closing ceremony is a must see, though crowded.

[ak916]

Originally Posted by live360

Thank you so much for the post and I really appreciate if you can put together basic itinerary for 7-12 days. You are spot on with heritage/nature as those are the things we always try to squeeze in any trip. We really want to visit lot of places in Karnataka few at a time based on weather, prime time to visit the places (like Mysore for Dussehra etc).

Thanks

Some of the roads particularly between mangalore/coorg and coorg/Banasura are prone to breaking down and turning really ugly. So do a bit of checking before you embark.

Day 1 - suggest you stop at Bangalore, but dont enter the city. Book a room online at Nandi hills. See my own review at tripadvisor for more details on Nandi pinetop.
Day 2 - Belur/Halebeedu, again no need to touch the city. There is a highway running from Nandi to Belur.
Day 3 - Dharmasthala
Day 4 - Udipi
Day 5 - Mangalore (this will the hottest part)
Day 6 - Coorg (I prefer the virajpet side of coorg for some reason)
Day 7 - here if you want, you can move to mysore and on day 8, head back directly to hyd.
Else on Day 7 - Go south to Banasura dam
Day 8 - explore rest wayanad/muthanga sanctuary
Day 9 - Stay at bandipur (or go to ooty). you can go to ooty, and do a safari on the way back at bandipur as well. But ooty is particularly tiring, given all the driving you have to do. not sure if you like to drive a lot during your holidays
Day 10 - Mysore
day 11 - head back to Hyd directly. break the journey if you wish to.

There are quite a lot of tourist places on this route and one month is not going to be enough to visit all of them. So pick things you like or mix it up. The route I suggested has beaches, Jain n Hindu temples, hill stations, dams, jungle safaris, waterfalls and coffee plantations. Plus it is a rather leisurely drive so you are not doing more than a few hours of drive daily. You might already know that the blr-hyd route is long but least stressful.

And if you are vegetarian, kerala will be a bit of a struggle for you. if you are non vegetarian, then you are in paradise in kerala. Rest of the places have awesome vegetarian fare.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by live360

ampere,
Thanks for the post. Can you please elaborate 10-14 day plan in Himachal (places to see and stay) as I've never stepped beyond Mumbai.
I'd love to do Leh but is it a good idea to do together with Himachal?
Is it a good idea to do Leh with couple of other spots around Delhi?

For Himachal: Take a flight to Chandigarh.

And then the circuit is :
Chandigarh-Manali-Dharamshala-Dalhousie.

3 days at Manali, two at Dharamshala and 2-3 at Dalhousie.

South India you can cover end to end by road. But still it would be hot while driving across the country. (read 4-lane NH4).

[live360]

Originally Posted by ak916

Day 1 - suggest you stop at Bangalore, but dont enter the city. Book a room online at Nandi hills. See my own review at tripadvisor for more details on Nandi pinetop.
Day 2 - Belur/Halebeedu, again no need to touch the city. There is a highway running from Nandi to Belur.
Day 3 - Dharmasthala
Day 4 - Udipi
Day 5 - Mangalore (this will the hottest part)
Day 6 - Coorg (I prefer the virajpet side of coorg for some reason)
Day 7 - here if you want, you can move to mysore and on day 8, head back directly to hyd.
Else on Day 7 - Go south to Banasura dam
Day 8 - explore rest wayanad/muthanga sanctuary
Day 9 - Stay at bandipur (or go to ooty). you can go to ooty, and do a safari on the way back at bandipur as well. But ooty is particularly tiring, given all the driving you have to do. not sure if you like to drive a lot during your holidays
Day 10 - Mysore
day 11 - head back to Hyd directly. break the journey if you wish to.

Thank you so much for the very detailed and time consuming post. I truly appreciate it. It was very late in the night when you posted that too. Thanks again.

I'm zeroing on this KA trip for one my two trips. If I push it to 15 days, where would you add days. I'm thinking Coorg and Udupi or at some beach may be, please share your thoughts.

Also, can you please advice on stay options or any place I can do research about? If it's not a must (unless it's high season), I've always short listed places to stay and booked them based on where I'm so that I have flexibility. Do you think that is a good idea for the summer?

Thank you.

[//M]

I think April is a good time if you want to see the snow. Its time when the snow melts and there are amazing places up north that will be pleasant during the summer months.

1. Kashmir: Srinagar, Patnitop, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonmarg
2. Ladakh: The amazing Nubra Valley and the lakes
3. Spiti: Kaza, Chandratal
4. Kinnaur and Shimla: Sangla, Chitkul, Thanedar, Shimla
5. Uttarakhand: Chamoli, Auli, Harsil
6. Sikkim: Kaluk, Yumthang, Gangtok
7. Arunachal: Tawang, Bomdila

Another option you can do is a trip to the mighty kingdom of Bhutan. You may drive into Bhutan or decide to take a flight upto Paro and then explore the kingdom of Bhutan. The Bumthang Valley, Punakha Dzong, Thimphu, Paro, Ha Valley all are amazing places in Bhutan. If you choose to drive all the way, maybe you can cover a few more places like the beautiful Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary and the deep forests of Dooars in North Bengal. Also you might spend a night at Mandarmoni or Puri or Gopalpur to enjoy the sea.

[live360]

Originally Posted by ampere

For Himachal: Take a flight to Chandigarh.
And then the circuit is :
Chandigarh-Manali-Dharamshala-Dalhousie.
3 days at Manali, two at Dharamshala and 2-3 at Dalhousie.
South India you can cover end to end by road. But still it would be hot while driving across the country. (read 4-lane NH4).

ampere, Is it a good idea to rent taxi for the whole trip from Chandigarh? Also, is late May or early June a good time weather wise ?
Please do share the stay options if you know any. Doesn't need to be fancy. Any decent, safe place with clean bathrooms will do.

Thank you.

[live360]

Originally Posted by //M

I think April is a good time if you want to see the snow. Its time when the snow melts and there are amazing places up north that will be pleasant during the summer months.
1. Kashmir: Srinagar, Patnitop, Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonmarg
2. Ladakh: The amazing Nubra Valley and the lakes
3. Spiti: Kaza, Chandratal
4. Kinnaur and Shimla: Sangla, Chitkul, Thanedar, Shimla
5. Uttarakhand: Chamoli, Auli, Harsil
6. Sikkim: Kaluk, Yumthang, Gangtok
7. Arunachal: Tawang, Bomdila
Another option you can do is a trip to the mighty kingdom of Bhutan. You may drive into Bhutan or decide to take a flight upto Paro and then explore the kingdom of Bhutan.

Thank you for the post,
Of all the places you listed, which ones you'd group together for a 10-14 day trip to go at a leisurely pace? I'm planning to do couple of trips to nonth so, there is no need to cover all in this one trip.

I've been dreaming about doing Leh, Bhutan for quite a while. My stick shift driving/dealing with off road conditions is little rusty (not too bad though) after driving ATs for the last 15 years. Will wait a year or two to go to Bhutan, but it's in my bucket lit.
By the way, I know car is only a small part of the equation which can only be as good as the driver, but do you think Innova is an ideal option for Bhutan?
Thanks

[satan's_valet]

Originally Posted by live360

ampere, Is it a good idea to rent taxi for the whole trip from Chandigarh? Also, is late May or early June a good time weather wise ?
Please do share the stay options if you know any. Doesn't need to be fancy. Any decent, safe place with clean bathrooms will do.

Thank you.

You have multitude of trains running from Kalka (25 kms from Chandigarh) to Shimla. Please see the link below,

http://indiarailinfo.com/search/kalk...ml/1982/0/2862

The routes are supposed to be scenic and enjoyable. You can stay in Shimla for a couple of days and rent a car from there to visit Manali. You can use the same trains to return back to Chandigarh. It will be a different experience and won't hurt as your wallet as well.

Please check Tripadvisor for the hotel details. They have honest reviews and you can choose either an homestay or a resort based on your requirement.

[Gannu_1]

Please avoid Amritsar if you can. It is going to be terribly hot during summers! I had visited Amritsar experiencing two extreme climates - January when it was very cold (around 2-3'C) and June when it was extremely hot. Hot as in it feels like an oven around you the moment you step outside the hotel room!

There are 3 good places worth visiting in this place which can always be planned for a later visit during a more pleasant climate - the Golden Temple, Jalianwala Bagh and Wagah Border. These places can be covered in 2 days' time. But that's about it.

During my second visit, we had driven down to Dalhousie as well. It was a short 4 hour drive.

[//M]

Originally Posted by live360

Thank you for the post,
Of all the places you listed, which ones you'd group together for a 10-14 day trip to go at a leisurely pace? I'm planning to do couple of trips to nonth so, there is no need to cover all in this one trip.

I've been dreaming about doing Leh, Bhutan for quite a while. My driving stick shift driving/dealing with off road conditions is little rusty (not too bad though) after driving ATs for the last 15 years. Will wait a year or two to go to Bhutan, but it's in my bucket lit.
By the way, I know car is only a small part of the equation which can only be as good as the driver, but do you think Innova is an ideal option for Bhutan?
Thanks

Yes absolutely. The roads in Bhutan are very good. I was there in my Classic 500 in June this year. Infact the roads in Bengal and Jharkhand are to be worried about. However, I got rains in few occasions in June specially in the Dooars and in some parts of Bhutan too. But the roads are good and are doable in almost any car.

About the options that I gave you, you can club Sangla Valley and Spiti or you can do the circuit of Chandigarh-Shimla-Manali-Rohtang Pass-maybe upto Chandratal or Kaza-back to Manali-Dalhousie-Chamba-Chandigarh.

[ak916]

Originally Posted by live360

Thank you so much for the very detailed and time consuming post. I truly appreciate it. It was very late in the night when you posted that too. Thanks again.

I'm zeroing on this KA trip for one my two trips. If I push it to 15 days, where would you add days. I'm thinking Coorg and Udupi or at some beach may be, please share your thoughts.

Also, can you please advice on stay options or any place I can do research about? If it's not a must (unless it's high season), I've always short listed places to stay and booked them based on where I'm so that I have flexibility. Do you think that is a good idea for the summer?

Thank you.

If you are adding more days and want to see more places, go directly south from Mangalore. Dont stop at mangalore, instead go to kasargod n stop there. Keep the next halt at kannur n then Kozhikode. Then join your previous plan at wayanad/banasura. Move up to coorg from banasura and then to mysore. The heat will be too much but there are some good beaches including a drive in beach, great food and the bekal fort to see.. In this plan you have to skip bandipur.

But if you don't want to see more places, then add extra days at coorg, wayanad. They are relatively cooler than the rest of your itinerary. Another good place to add a day is chikmagalur. But that would be on the day after belur/halebeedu.

Also, strongly suggest this for the pre election time. The only sensitive area is the kannur/kasargod belt. This is prone to political murders and hartals. But no thievery in the name of elections. Nobody will impound your vehicle saying they need it for election duty.

[carzealot]

I suggest you Try Mount Abu-Udaipur-Jodhpur. That ways you get too see Hill station, city of Lakes and then the Desert. At this time the days are just pleasant and not warm/Hot. Kids will enjoy boating in Lakes @ Abu and Udaipur and camel safari in Jodhpur. In case you are interested I can send a detailed itinerary.

[kippu]

Originally Posted by nagvasireddy

Hi,

I am planning a family vacation during summer holidays - probably between Apr 4th week and May 4th week.


Size of touring party: me, spouse and my 6 year old son (I would, of course, be very happy if any families from Hyderabad Team-BHP could join us on this tour)
Budget: Rs. 50-60K

I have so far shortlisted Nilgiris (Kodaikanal) and Himachal Pradesh.

Now let me hear from you guys...

i might join you with my family , if it all works out