Travel to and within India

International Flights

British Airways flies direct to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Virgin flies direct to Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Air India flies direct to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Kochi, and Goa and has extensive connecting domestic networks to all parts of India.

Many airlines fly indirectly to India and the journey involves changing flights at the airline’s hub airport. For example, many European airlines fly to India but this would involve changing flights at a European airport such as Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt. Similarly, there are a number of Middle Eastern airlines such as Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways with frequent services to India from the UK involving a change of flight in their base country. Although these indirect flights can be cheaper, the change of flights means a much longer journey. These flights can, however, provide the opportunity for a stopover if you want to extend your holiday.

Domestic Flights

India has a number of domestic airlines which offer a reasonably priced way of travelling long distances as an alternative to a long train journey. The main airlines are Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Vistara.

Indian domestic airlines allow a checked baggage allowance of 15kg. In addition, a cabin bag is allowed together with small personal items such as a hand bag, an overcoat, an umbrella/a walking stick, a reasonable amount of reading material, a small camera or binoculars, infant’s food or laptop.

Due to airport security regulations, no cabin baggage is allowed on any flights originating from Jammu, Srinagar and Leh Airports. A small bag is allowed to enable small, high value items such as passport, money, jewellery, camera or laptop to be carried as hand luggage.

If you are arriving on an international flight and connecting to a domestic flight then you will be allowed the international flight baggage allowance for the domestic flight but only if the domestic flight is on the same ticket. If your domestic flight is booked separately, or is on a separate ticket, then you will only be allowed 15kg as checked baggage. Similarly, if you are taking a domestic flight to return to a city for an international flight, you should ensure your checked bag is no more than 15kg or be prepared to pay the excess baggage charges (unless the domestic flight is on the same ticket as your international flight).

The cabin bag allowance is usually 7kg but please check the allowance and bag dimensions for your airline as these can vary between airlines and types of aircraft.

Trains

A journey on an Indian train is an experience not to be missed and many of our itineraries incorporate either a short daytime or a longer overnight train journey.

There are seven classes of travel on Indian trains. For daytime journeys AC2, Executive Chair Class or Chair Class are recommended. For overnight journeys AC2 or AC1 are recommended. We do not recommend AC3, Sleeper Class or 2S seats.

Air-conditioned first class (AC1 or 1A) – AC1 is a comfortable way to travel, although it’s only found on the most important long-distance trains and costs twice the price of AC2. It consists of lockable 4-berth & 2-berth sleeper compartments with washbasin.  All bedding is provided and berths convert to seats for daytime use.

Air-conditioned second class (AC2 or 2A) – AC2 is relatively clean, comfortable and not crowded, a good choice for most visitors to India. It is found on almost all decent long-distance trains, and is the class typically used by middle class Indian families. AC2 provides padded leatherette seats by day, convertible to flat padded bunks at night.  AC2 coaches are open-plan with berths arranged in bays of four on one side of the aisle (two upper, two lower, transverse across the car width), and in bays of two on the other side of the aisle, arranged longitudinally along the coach side above and below the windows.  Each bay is curtained off for privacy and an attendant distributes pillows, sheets and blankets in the evening.

AC Executive Chair class (EC) – AC Executive Chair class is only found on the most important Shatabdi Express trains.  Seats are arranged 2+2 across the car width. Food with drinks is included in the fare, served at your seat.

AC Chair class (CC) – AC Chair class is comfortable and air-conditioned with seats arranged 2+3 across the car width. It is a good choice for daytime journeys. AC Chair Class is found on the Shatabdi Expresses and a number of other inter-city daytime trains.

If you are planning to make multiple train journeys, then it may be worth obtaining an Indrail Pass which allows foreigners (and Indians residing abroad) to travel anywhere without any route restriction within its validity period.