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Taj Mahal, India

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Travel to India

Flying to India

Flights to India are available from several national and international carriers. The major national airline in India is Air India (AI) (www.airindia.com) which merged with Indian Airlines in February 2011. There are also several commercial Indian airlines that have added international destinations to their schedules such as Jet Airways (9W) (www.jetairways.com), Kingfisher Airlines (IT) (www.flykingfisher.com) and IndiGo Airlines (I9) (www.goindigo.in). Flights to India maintain their prices throughout the year but become more expensive in peak season June and July and in December.

Air notes:

A new state-of-the-art terminal building opened at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International airport in 2010. Terminal 3 boasts available Wi-Fi at no cost with 24/7 support and power charging stations. There is a procedure to access the Wi-Fi which may be elusive so check how to on the airport’s web site.

Flight times:

From London to Delhi is 8 hours 30 mins; to Kolkata (Calcutta) is 11 hours 45 minutes; to Chennai (Madras) is 11 hours, and to Mumbai (Bombay) is 9 hours. From New York to Delhi is 14 hours; to Mumbai is 15 hours.

Departure tax:

Rs500 Departure Tax is normally included in the price of the air ticket - check with your booking agent.

Travel by rail

Indian Railways (www.indianrail.gov.in) run most international services.

Connections to Pakistan: From India you can cross into Pakistan at the international Attari/Wagah border. There are bus and train services between India and Pakistan. Approaching the border away from the official crossing point may be dangerous.

Connections to Nepal: The most practical and popular route to Nepal is by train to Raxaul (Bihar) and then by bus to Kathmandu or by train to Gorakphur (or bus if coming from Varanasi) and then by bus to Kathmandu crossing the border at Sunauli; also, by train to Nantanwa (UP) and then by bus to Kathmandu/Pokhara, or Bhairawa to Lumbini for Pokhara. It is also possible to make the crossing from Darjeeling and Sikkim by bus to Kathmandu across the southern lowlands.

Connections to Bhutan: The best way of reaching Bhutan by land is by bus/train to Siliguri, then bus to Phuentsholing.

Connections to Bangladesh: The most convenient route to Bangladesh is Kolkata (Calcutta) to Dhaka by bus. Another route is from Darjeeling via Siliguri, then train or bus from Jalpaiguri to Haldibari, or bus to Changrabandha.

Currently, no land frontiers are open between India and Myanmar or between India and China (PR).

By rail note:

Be prepared for long queues at ticket windows in train stations. Services are almost always busy, especially overnight trains, so it pays to book in advance.

Getting to India by boat

Most people arrive in India by air or overland. Seaports levy the following departure tax: Rs500 (for journeys to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka); Rs750 (all other destinations).

Cruise ships:

Indian ports are also served by several international shipping companies and several cruise lines. There are, however, no regular passenger liners operating to South East Asia.

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