Almost every traveler we’ve met has either been to India or wants to visit India. Talking to people who had visited India, we got many differing opinions and recommendations. Some people loved it and were shocked we were only spending 3 weeks in the country. Others were less fond and had some interesting tips. After 3 weeks, we were on the “love India” train.
Two of our favorite fellow travelers joined us on this part of our adventure. We spent a few days exploring Delhi and then joined an Intrepid tour.
Delhi
Delhi is an adventure. It is a massive sensory overload with car horns constantly going, pungent smells from one direction and delicious smells from another, crumbled buildings to the right with a beautiful temple to the left, and smog so hefty it looks like a consistent morning mist. We really enjoyed our time in this city and learned a lot.
Prior to joining our tour group we hired a driver to help us navigate the city. Delhi is massive, the 2nd largest city in the world after Tokyo, and while the metro system is great, it is faster to navigate via car. Our driver, Jai, was one of the highlights of our time in Delhi – he helped us see the sites at the right times, shared his opinions on the best vegetarian food, and took us to a lesser-known temple during one of their major celebrations.
We loved our driver and were incredibly grateful for his expertise. Driving in Delhi is an art. We’ve confidently rented cars in multiple foreign countries, but there is no way we would have been able to navigate the traffic of Delhi without a lot of help.
Safdarjung’s Tomb was our first stop. It was built in the 1700s and was a beautiful, much less crowded area to appreciate the amazing architecture.
We ventured to Humayun’s Tomb next. Humayun’s Tomb is one of the most famous sites in Delhi. It was built in the 1500s and is the first garden tomb in India, ultimately leading to the Taj Mahal. The tomb consists of multiple famous buildings, including a beautiful mosque.
Pandara Road is famous for butter chicken. We tried one of their stops for lunch and the butter paneer was delicious!
Ugrasen ki Baoli is a historic stepwell. It is relatively small, but was fun to see and was close to some beautiful street art. One of the things I loved most about Delhi, and hiring a car, was getting to see all the street art. It is everywhere!
Rajghat is the memorial for Mahatma Gandhi. It was beautiful to see and appreciate the major differences between cultures. Memorials in most western countries are quite large. Gandhi’s was simple and elegant. People removed their shoes before entering and lovely music was constantly played over speakers.
The India Gate was where I first started to feel just how many people were in Delhi. It was a gorgeous and CROWDED place.
One of the top restaurants in Asia is in Delhi and we managed to get a reservation. We went to Indian Accent for dinner and got to enjoy their tasting menu. The food was a delicious, contemporary take on classic Indian food, but the thing I appreciated most was the fun stuff they threw in. One course was basically a fancy (and Indian-style) jalapeno popper. Our palate cleanser was brought out in the form of a popsicle. Another course was set up like a hot dog.
The next day, we checked out the Lotus Temple. The temple is a Bahรกสผรญ house of worship built in the 1980s, but is meant to be a welcoming place for people of all religions.
Our driver recommended stopping by a somewhat random temple called Iskcon. We took his advice and are so glad we did! The temple was celebrating its 50th anniversary and we got to take part in some of the celebrations.
We did not realize Akshardham was a day-long experience and only planned to spend an hour or two. Akshardham is one of the largest Hindu temples in the world. No electronics of any kind are allowed so we don’t have photos, but it is gorgeous. If you ever visit Delhi, worth a visit and allot at least four hours.
Tour Time
The world is full of good food, but Mexican, Thai, and Indian are my absolute favorites. Intrepid offers a food tour of India that covers a lot of land which seemed like a great choice for four people wanting to enjoy some delicious food while seeing the sites.
Our tour started with dinner at a restaurant we never would have found on our own. We had some of the best dosas I have ever had, a lovely coconut chutney dish, and a bunch of other delicious things our guide ordered and we enjoyed.
The next morning we went on a breakfast street food tour in Delhi. Our main breakfast was spicier than any other food we’ve had so far – made me very grateful for the back-alley chai!
After eating, we visited the Jama Masjid mosque. The mosque was built in the 1600s in the Mughal style. It was interesting to see the combination of Indian and Islamic architecture.
We then got to visit a Sikh temple, one of my favorite things we did in Delhi. The music was mesmerizing and the temple serves vegetarian food to anyone who enters and asks. It is part of their faith that everyone should be treated equally and this is one of the ways that manifests.
Delhi is not a pedestrian-friendly city. Cabs, the metro, and rickshaws are the best way to get around. To get to the Spice Market, we grabbed some rickshaws which was delightful.
All of Delhi is full of distinctive smells, but the Spice Market was a whole other level. The spicy peppers are an especially interesting experience.
Agra
Agra is about 2 hours from Delhi by train. Trains are our favorite way to travel and we loved getting to try India’s train system.
Agra is home to the Taj Mahal, Indiaโs most famous site. The Taj is a mausoleum built in the 1600s to show a man’s love for his wife. The architecture combines Islamic and Mughal styles and lives up to the hype. Usually, we find ourselves underwhelmed by incredibly famous places, but the Taj Mahal was an exception. It is truly awe-inspiring, even bringing one member of our tour group to tears.
While in Agra, we also checked out the Agra Fort. It was built in the 1500s and was the main residence of the Mughal rulers until the mid-1600s.
This part of India is well-known for handmade carpets. We visited one of the cooperatives to see the process and designs.
That evening, we visited a local home for a Mughal cooking class. Mughal cuisine is a fusion of Central Asian food and ingredients from India. It is absolutely delicious! Korma, biryani, and Indian kebabs are part of Mughal cuisine.
On our way back to the hotel, we saw at least 10 different weddings. We were visiting shortly after Diwali, one of the largest Hindu holidays, that marks the beginning of the main wedding season in India. There were 1500 weddings scheduled in Agra that evening. A “small” wedding in India has about 800 guests, but weddings can have up to 25,000 guests.
Jaipur
The next day we drove the Jaipur, the city I was most excited to explore. Jaipur is known as “the pink city” and the second most iconic building in India is found here – the Hawa Mahal.
We started off our time in Jaipur by visiting a lovely food market for lunch. Our guide introduced us to an amazing, wide range of street food. The chaat aloo was fantastic! One of the many things I love about the food is that the default is vegetarian. You have to work harder to find meat than to find good vegetarian food which is just such a lovely change from our norm.
After filling up with great food, we went to the local theatre for a classic Bollywood movie. The theatre was incredibly elaborate and everyone cheered, booed, and sang along.
In true Bollywood style, our movie lasted about 3 hours so it was dinner time when we left. We headed to a local house for a Northern Indian food cooking class. The cauliflower was some of the best I’ve had in my life.
The following day, we got to wander Jaipur and see the major sites.
Hawa Mahal, the iconic building of Jaipur.
Patrika Gate – Built about 15 years ago, it is an incredibly popular photo spot for weddings. We saw about 5 couples while we were there.
Jal Mahal – Not only a beautiful building, but a park full of birds for Carey to enjoy.
Shopping time! We got to explore a block printing shop and found our Hindi copy of Harry Potter.
Amber Fort – Built in the 1500s, the Amber Fort is one of the main sites in Jaipur. It is outside of the main town on a hill and is truly stunning. My favorite area was the hall of mirrors. It is the second largest hall of mirrors in the world, after Versailles.
Bijaipur
Bijaipur is out in the countryside. While visiting, we stayed in a historic castle and enjoyed our views, games of cards, and some Kingfisher.
During the day, we visited a local farm and tried the traditional food. Local drivers paint their cars with colorful decorations which turned into one of my favorite things about India.
Udaipur
While we were all looking forward to Jaipur, Udaipur became our favorite city. Our guide was from Udaipur and helped us really get to know the city. Udaipur is known as “the Venice of the East” and is the most beautiful of the cities we visited.
The day we arrived our guide took us to his friend’s housewarming party. He had mentioned how welcoming people were and we didn’t truly believe him until we went to that party. Everyone was so kind, inviting us into their conversations and offering us some of the best food we had on our trip.
After the party, we got to go on an orientation walk of the city. One of the many things I loved about Udaipur was its size and walkability. It was one of the few cities we could truly wander.
A few other Udaipur highlights –
We got to take a sunset yoga class on the water.
Udaipur is famous for miniature paintings. Carey and Nik took a class to make their own and had a lovely time.
Our tour guide’s family runs a cooking class and we got to learn some delicious recipes from them. We may even be able to make legit chai tea (to be determined – we have yet to try unsupervised by an expert).
After our cooking class, Cali and I got henna.
The City Palace is a palace from the 1500s. We got to explore the beautiful, ornate architecture.
Rooftop restaurants are incredibly common in Udaipur and have gorgeous views.
Mumbai
Mumbai ended up being another favorite during our time in India. We took the overnight train to get to Mumbai. It was type two fun – honestly not my favorite in the moment, but glad we had the experience.
A few highlights from Mumbai –
Mumbai has some of the BEST Indian food. Our hotel’s vegetarian restaurant was home to one of the most amazing meals of our trip. We ordered eleven or twelve dishes and shared them between the five of us – all were fantastic. The best were the paneer bao buns, pani puri, and paneer naan balls.
We did a street food crawl in Chow Patty, the famous beach area. The food was delicious and the area was fun. It solidified pani puri as one of my favorite dishes of all time.
Our guide took us on a walking tour of the city. Produce is India is amazing. We visited multiple produce markets and the produce being sold looked better than any we’ve seen in the States (grocery store, farmer’s market, etc.).
We visited the famous Taj Hotel and tried their iconic drinks.
Mumbai is home to some of the best restaurants in Asia. We managed to get a reservation at one of them, Ekaa, and had a fantastic dinner.
Goa
Goa is the famous beach state on the western coast of India. While Northern India had been a lovely 70 degrees, Goa was pretty toasty (95 with 55% humidity). A few highlights –
We visited a spice farm. Carey and I buy all of our spices from India so it was fun to see how and where some are grown. I had never seen a cinnamon tree or a peri peri plant.
Our guide took us to Old Goa to see a famous church and we all quickly realized something was happening. We found out later we were there during a major pilgrimage as well as the first Sunday of Advent. Our guide had known about both, but it had never been this busy before. The crowds seem to be a result of Covid being less of an issue in India this year.
Goan food is delicious. I had never had it or seen anything like it on a menu. It is heavy in coconut, a special coconut vinegar, and traditional Indian spices. Many of the dishes include fish. While in Goa, we took a cooking class that included going to the fish market. It was one of my favorite things we did in Goa.
Leaving India
We loved our time in India. It is a country full of sensory overloads and surprises. After saying goodbye to Nik and Cali, we caught our first business class flight. Carey had found a good opportunity to use airline miles and got us a flight on Qatar’s business class, ranked the best in the world. It was the most fun and least stressful flying experience we’ve ever had.
We’re now back to economy class and on to another country for the holidays, but are grateful for the opportunity to explore such an amazing place with friends.