Cheap Travel India

Cheap Vacation: How Much Does it Cost to Travel to India

This year, Mrs. Nine to Thrive and I took a whirlwind trip to India that neither of us will ever forget. We traveled all over the northern part of the country, and we were able to do so cheaply. Our trip spanned over 1,200 miles in almost two weeks (12 days). Our travel route looked like this: Delhi->Dehradun->Mussoorie->Rishikesh->Agra->Jaipur->Jodhpur->Delhi

India is consistently ranked as one of the cheapest places in the world to visit, but how much does it actually cost? I’ll share what we spent per day, and show that you’re probably spending more on every day expenses than what your vacation costs would be in India.

Getting There

The largest expense for a trip to India will most likely be getting there. To find cheap airline tickets you can use Kiwi.com or Google.com/fights.

Google Flights has a handy price graph tool that shows when the cheapest flights are. Based on my quick search, the cheapest round trip flight I saw from Seattle was $730.

cheap travel to india

Usually cheaper flights are the ones with long layovers. BUT, you can make the most of this and take advantage of a long layover by exploring another country.

On our trip to India we had a long layover in Seoul, South Korea so we spent the day exploring the city.

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We spent our long layover exploring Seoul

If you want to get out of paying for a plane ticket to India altogether, you can do so by using credit card points or airline miles. You can easily build up enough points/miles in a few months by taking advantage of credit card sign up bonuses.

Start with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. I signed up for this card six months ago, and already have enough points (barley) for a round trip ticket from Seattle to India.

I could Use my Chase Points to buy a round trip ticket to India

Getting Around

Flights

Getting around India itself is CHEAP. We flew into Delhi, and then took a local flight on Indigo Air to Dehradun, located at the foothills of the Himalayas. The total flight cost for both of us was $70.

Town

Luckily, Uber is prevalent in India. After arriving in Dehradun, we hired a driver that took us up into the Himalayas to the town of Mussoorie. After exploring Mussoorie for a bit, we got a ride back down to Dehradun. The total cost was 1000 Rupees, or around $14, for 3 hours of drive time. Compare that to Uber in the U.S. and you’re looking at around $320 (at least in my area).

If you’re wanting to just get around town quickly, you can flag down a rickshaw driver. Be prepared to haggle for a good price, though. Often they try to charge tourists exorbitant prices. A good rule of thumb is if you’re going less than a mile or so, you should expect to spend between 50 to 100 Rupees ($0.70 – $1.40.) I’d recommend an Uber for any trips longer than a couple miles though.

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Words to Live By From this Rickshaw

Every Uber price I saw was cheaper than the prices the rickshaw drivers were giving me. Plus, an Uber car is more comfortable than a rickshaw. PLUS, you can put in the exact location of where you want to go in Uber.

Trying to explain your destination to a rickshaw driver who doesn’t speak English very well is always an adventure. We had multiple instances where we ended up in the wrong place when trying to get around in a rickshaw (but this can also add to to fun depending how you look at it).

Buses

From Dehradun, we took a night bus to Agra. At the time, taking a night bus seemed like a great travel hack because 1) It was cheap. We only spent $30 total for two tickets. 2) We could get to our next destination while sleeping. And 3) We’d save ourselves from paying for a nights stay somewhere.

Looking back it at, I’d advise against taking night buses. It was a very confusing experience. First of all, the bus showed up and left a half an hour before we thought it was going to. Luckily, we arrived at the bus stop well in advance, otherwise we would have missed the bus entirely.

Once we boarded, we realized that there was no bathroom, and we had no idea when the next stop would be. This was not good news for Janene since the size of her bladder is equivalent to a newborn child.

At one point, in the middle of the night, during a traffic jam, Janene and I had to hop off the bus while it was still moving, deal with nature’s call on the side of the road, and then run back after the bus (I don’t recommend doing this in a foreign country in the middle of the night).

Another thing to be aware of in India is punctuality. I don’t think you’ll find that word in Hindi. The bus was supposed to arrive in Agra at 6:30 in the morning, but didn’t end up getting there until 9:30. And that was after leaving a half an hour early.

Trains

Trains are a great way to get around India. We took the following route by train: Agra -> Jaipur -> Jodphur->Delhi.

The ticket classes are confusing though. We booked tickets in 3AC, 2AC, and 1AC. This post gives a good explanation of the different types of tickets you can get.

You can get your tickets on this booking site.

If you’re going to take the train, I highly recommend getting the app “Where’s my Train”. This will tell you if your train is on time or delayed, as well as what train compartment your seat is in. The first time we got on a train, we were in the wrong compartment, in someone else’s seat. The person whose seat I took was using the “Where’s my Train” app. I asked him about it and immediately downloaded it. We never had another issue taking someone else’s seat!

We purchased 3AC tickets from Agra to Jaipur. The total cost was $13 for fairly comfortable seats in an air conditioned compartment.

From Jaipur to Jodhpur we bought 2AC tickets. For this trip we each had a comfortable bed as a seat. The total cost for these tickets was $23.

Finally, the trip from Jodhpur to Delhi, I bought 1AC tickets since it was the end of our trip and I wanted to splurge. The total cost for these tickets was $65. This was a night train and these tickets were supposed to get us our own private room and bathroom. However, when the train showed up, it didn’t have a 1AC compartment so we were stuck in 2AC again. Ugh….but hey, that’s India for you.

Lodging

Our initial thought when we were booking our trip to India was that we’d be staying in hotels. However, from our experience, Indian hotels don’t really have a reservation system. You don’t get anything in paper saying you have a reserved room. It’s just a verbal over the phone “Yes, you’ll have a room”.

Some people are okay with this, but for me not having a confirmed place to stay for the night gives me anxiety through the roof!

Luckily, AirBnB (referral link) is prevalent in India.

We spent 11 nights in India and booked an AirBnB for 9 of those nights. For 9 nights we spent a total of $413 for lodging or an average of $46 a night. I’d say we definitely splurged a bit for some places we stayed. Even by “splurging,” we kept our average under $50 per night.

The View from the AirBnB we Stayed at in Jodphur. We paid a whopping $25 a night for this place

Food

As you might expect, food is also very cheap in India. A plate at a nicer restaurant will be around $5 per person. While you can get a bite to eat on the street for as little as $0.25. But be careful of what you eat in India, make sure that it’s something that’s fully cooked and only drink bottled water.

What to Expect in India

Being in India is a total sensory overload experience. The sounds from the cars honking, the smells from all the street food, the colors of buildings and clothing. Everything is extreme in India.

When driving around, you’ll notice nobody stays in their lane. Drivers will constantly honk to alert other drivers of their presence. I also don’t recall ever seeing a speed limit sign.

If you’re walking around town and want to cross the street, don’t expect to see a cross walk. You’ll have to jump out in front of traffic. This is terrifying at first, but cars and rickshaw drivers will slow down for pedestrians crossing the street.

Also, you will be approached on the street by EVERYONE. Either people wanting to sell you something, or people just wanting to take a picture with you.

Janene taking pictures with a family

Cash is king in India. Nobody accepts credit card. Make sure you exchange your money for Rupees before leaving the airport. Also make sure when buying things that you get the correct change back. I had multiple instances of buying water or something at the market and not get the correct amount of change back.

Many people speak English or know some English, so I didn’t feel like there was too much a language barrier. You can learn a few phrases in Hindi before you go like “Hello, what is your name?” and the locals will love it!

Breaking Down the Costs

Shown below is a breakdown of the total costs for our 12 day trip to India.

Because cash is used, I don’t have an exact number for meals, so I conservatively estimated that Janene and I spent $2.50 each per meal or $15 a day. You can easily get by on much less than that though.

Our cost per person was $35 per day. Pretty reasonable for a trip to the other side of the world. Most people spend more than $35 per day just on groceries, coffee, entertainment, etc…

So what do you think? Given the costs to travel to India, would you make the trip?

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