Holy cow! India’s incredible highlights

Three weeks of India’s tastes, temples, and traditions

India can seem like a daunting country to plan a trip to, given its immense size, population (1.5 billion!), number of languages, and chaotic reputation.  However, with the right guides, a lot of research, and an open mind, traveling to India can be an incredible experience. I planned a three-week trip over my Christmas holiday from school and found India to be incredibly vibrant, welcoming, and delicious (of course).

India Itinerary Overview

Days 1 – 3: Delhi

Days 4 – 5: Agra

Days 6 – 8: Jaipur

Days 9 – 13: Mumbai

Days 14 – 20: Goa

A few general notes: 1. With the exception of Goa, I booked guides in every city we went to. Guides offer so much historical knowledge, are often talented photographers, and are helpful with the language barrier (if you don’t speak Hindi, Marathi, or one of the other 22 recognized languages of India). 2. I would recommend against going to India December – February when the smog is at its peak. January was our only option with my school schedule, but the air quality was at its worst and obscured many of the sights. October/November or March are much better times to go. 3. India is not a country I would travel through alone. I didn’t have any issues while there, but I think traveling with my spouse definitely prevented harassment solo female travelers often run into.

Day 1: Delhi

Stay at Le Meridien New Delhi: Not surprising that we chose another Marriott property, but we did find that this one was centrally located in New Delhi, just 1.2 miles from the Presidential Palace, Parliament House, and Connaught Place.

Cocktails at Hoots’: Hoots’ is a cocktail bar located below the wine bar Perch and offers really interesting cocktails, like an Old Fashioned twist incorporating miso and a Whisky Sour topped with chamomile foam.

Dinner at Gulati Restaurant (Pandara Road): There are many opinions about where to find the best Butter Chicken in New Delhi. While I can’t vouch that it’s the best, Gulati did it pretty darn well!

Day 2: Delhi

Take a guided walking tour: We took this Private Full Day Old and New Delhi City Tour and had a great experience with our guide Shailja. The tour covered many of Delhi’s highlights: Jama Masjid (pictured below; the city’s largest mosque built between 1644 and 1658), India Gate, Lotus Temple, a rickshaw ride through the alleys of Old Delhi, and Akshardham (one of the largest Hindu temples in India).

The highlight for me though was Gurudwara Bangla Sahib (pictured below), one of the most prominent Sikh temples in New Delhi. Shailja was a regular volunteer at the temple in her personal time, which granted her unique access to show us parts of the complex that are usually restricted to tourists. The most shocking part was the kitchen. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Gurudwara Bangla Sahib feeds 30,000 to 40,000 people every day for free. During religious holidays, that number can swell to well over 100,000. The Sikh religion has a strong tradition of providing free meals to anyone, regardless of their income, religion, caste, or social status. This practice is known as “langar” and is an integral part of Sikh philosophy and way of life. It was so inspiring to see the massive kitchen operation, which was supplied, funded, and run entirely by community volunteers.

Cocktails at Sidecar: Sidecar is known and loved as one of New Delhi’s quintessential neighborhood bars… but with outstanding, creative cocktails. Cilantro lovers (that’s me!!) will LOVE Sidecar’s cilantro cocktail. Tequila, coriander, chili, and fresh tomatoes go into a sous vide, and the mixture is washed with house made lassi. This spicy-savory concoction is then balanced with mango and topped with cumin-coriander foam before a final rim of freshly ground coriander salt. I couldn’t get enough!

Dinner at Indian Accent: The best dinner we had in India! I made a reservation here months in advance before even booking our flights and hotels because I knew I wanted to experience their New Year’s Eve tasting menu (and it was SO worth it). The food was outstanding and service phenomenal.

Day 3: Delhi

Old Delhi Street Food Tour: One of the best parts about visiting India, and the major draw for me, is the food. You’ve probably heard many horror stories about people getting sick in India; unfortunately, it can happen even in decent restaurants. So perhaps I was a little insane for wanting to risk it even more by sampling as many different street foods as possible. I fully understood the risk and was armed with all the necessary digestive medications. Knowing very little about Indian street food, I decided to take a street food tour with a local guide. Not only would he know the safest and best places to eat, but he could also help us navigate the labyrinth of Old Delhi and actually explain what we were eating. We did the Old Delhi Food and Heritage Walk, and our guide Stanley was phenomenal. He gave us a few rules of thumb when picking street food: nothing raw or cold (skip any raw or uncooked fruit or vegetables, avoid fresh herbs on the top, etc.), look for disposable plates and cutlery (paper plates, newspapers, disposable wooden spoons, etc. were likely fine because they aren’t washed in the water), and fried anything is your friend.

Cocktails at Lair: Lair has an extensive cocktail menu featuring unique and creative drinks like the Thai Passiflora Punch made with Aperol, lime, passionfruit, and blossom water, as well as the Sumerians with chocolate bourbon, salted truffle maple, walnut, orange bitters, parmesan, and honeycomb. Yummy!

Dinner at Bukhara: Bukhara’s menu has remained largely unchanged since it opened in the ’70s. It serves cuisine from northwest India, with a focus on tandoor-cooked kebabs, breads, and dals and has played host to many world leaders and celebrities over the years (there’s even a menu item for Hillary Clinton’s order). It’s a little touristy but a must-not-miss for the famous Dal Bukhara (slow-cooked creamy black lentils) – SO GOOD.

Day 4: Agra

We opted to only spend one night in Agra because, beyond the Taj Mahal and a few other smaller monuments, there isn’t much to see. Since we only had 24 hours there, we knew we needed to maximize our time by booking a guide. If you take nothing away from this blog but one recommendation, it’s this: hire Nitin Singh as your tour guide ASAP. He was one of the best guides I’ve ever had, in any country I’ve visited. More on him below.

Car transfer to Agra: The best way to get from Delhi to Agra is to drive, and depending on traffic, it’s an approximately 3.5-hour trip. After seeing the chaos that is driving in India, we opted to hire a driver to take us there (and would strongly recommend!). We booked most of our car transfers through Viator and had a good experience. We used this one to get to Agra.

Stay at ITC Mughal, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Agra: There are a handful of nice hotels in Agra and this was one of them

Tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah (“Baby Taj”): Nitin picked us up from our hotel and we headed to the first stop, the Tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah. The locals affectionately refer to the tomb as “Baby Taj” because it looks like a smaller version of the Taj Mahal. Nitin was a wealth of knowledge on Baby Taj and helped us capture photos of the stunning marble inlay (pictured below). All of the marble inlay on Baby Taj and the Taj Mahal was done by hand, and the intricacy is mind-blowing.

Tour Agra Fort: Agra Fort was the main residence of the emperors of the Mughal Dynasty until 1638, when the capital of India was moved from Agra to Delhi. I think “fort” is a bit of an understatement; the Agra Fort can be more accurately described as a walled city. The line to get in was hours long and wrapped around many street blocks, but enter Nitin. He had called ahead to a friend who was working the fort that day. We skipped the entire line, and our tickets were waiting for us with the ticket scanner. We literally didn’t stop walking from the time we got out of the car to the time we entered the fort. Nitin explained the history of the fort while showing us the best places for photos (and often taking and editing them for us on-the-spot).

Dinner at Peshawri: Agra isn’t known for its sprawling restaurant scene and, we were exhausted from the day so we decided to have dinner at Peshawri, the restaurant in our hotel. We didn’t know it at the time but Peshawri is the sister restaurant to Bukhara in Delhi so the menus were very similar (and just as tasty).

Day 5: Agra

Tour the Taj Mahal: While you can visit the Taj Mahal on your own, I can’t recommend going with a guide enough. Nitin’s driver met us at our hotel and drove us to The Oberoi Amarvilas, the nicest hotel in Agra. Nitin also has connections with the Oberoi that grant him access to their fleet of golf carts, which we used to drive to the Taj Mahal (felt very much like a VIP). We knew the views of Taj in the morning would be hit-or-miss because of the thick January smog. While it was definitely foggy, we felt super lucky that we could see it at all.

Seeing the Taj Mahal in person is one of those once-in-a-lifetime, pinch me, bucket list moments, and I was truly in awe. It was far bigger and more intricate in person, and we spent a couple of hours walking around and through the tomb. I can’t wait to go back again one day because I will definitely find new features to appreciate that I missed the first time.

Car transfer to Jaipur: We hired another driver to take us from Agra to Jaipur, which took about five hours. I actually made a mistake and booked the car for the wrong day, but these guys were amazing and sent a car within an hour of me realizing my mistake.

Day 6 – 8: Jaipur

Stay at the Hilton Jaipur: The Hilton was conveniently located in downtown Jaipur

Sightseeing tour of Jaipur: Because so many of Jaipur’s famous sights are fortresses that are slightly outside of the city, we decided to hire another guide to help us visit all of them. We booked this two-day tour on Viator. The one warning I will add with all Viator tours: while the tour company managing the bookings may get great reviews, it’s still possible your specific tour guide might be…meh. This happened to us in Jaipur when we were matched with a guide who spoke very little English. But we made the best of it.

We drove all around the city visiting major attractions like the Amber Palace, Panna Meena ka Kund (the “stepwell”), Jal Mahal (the Water Palace), the City Palace, Hawa Mahal (the Palace of Wind – pictured below), and the Jaigarh and Nahargarh Forts. While the architecture is beautiful and holds a lot of history, so much of what makes some of these attractions unique are the panoramic views of the entire city from the top. Unfortunately, all we saw was fog :(.

Drinks at Native Cocktail Room: Native came highly recommended by a school friend originally from Jaipur – it’s the city’s first real cocktail bar. I loved the “On the Walk” with chamomile gin, cucumber, elderflower wine, and citrus.

Dinner at Steam: Steam is the restaurant at Jaipur’s Taj Hotel, and, in my opinion, the food is just okay (global fare). BUT you’re served inside a restored, old-school steam train with an attached Victorian-style station. So 5/10 on the food, but 10/10 with the atmosphere.

Dinner at Paro: We also enjoyed a dinner at Paro one night. The cocktails, like the Ratnagiri Rhapsody with cumin and kokum, really highlighted Indian flavors. The menu is Indian at heart as well but features fun twists to local concepts such as chaat and chakna.

Day 9: Mumbai

Mumbai was the first city in India that we had to fly to since we arrived in the country. We flew with IndiGo and, despite a one-hour delay, the rest of the flight was seamless (and thankfully, our luggage made the trip).

Stay at the St. Regis Mumbai: Normally, hotels are not the part of my travel experience that I splurge on (mostly because I’m only in the room to change quickly or sleep). However, the St. Regis Mumbai happened to be a good deal using points on the dates we were going to be there, so…when in Rome! This was my first time ever staying at a St. Regis, and the food, amenities, and service definitely lived up to the hype. While I still probably won’t make a habit of it, I wouldn’t mind attending another champagne sabering again at some point :).

Sightseeing tour of Mumbai: We started our visit in Mumbai with another city tour, and our guide Sunil was fantastic (we actually booked him for a slum tour the next day…more on that in a second). Like Delhi, Mumbai is huge, and many of the highlights are on opposite sides of the city; having a guide and driver is the way to go. We started at Dhobi Ghat, Mumbai‘s 140-year-old, open-air laundromat. It is estimated that half a million pieces of laundry are sent there from hotels, hospitals, and homes each day. From above, Dhobi Ghat looks chaotic, but there is actually an order and an amazingly efficient process that governs their work. The morning is the best time to visit to see the dhobis wash loads by hand.

We continued the tour at Colaba and the Gateway of India. The Gateway was built to commemorate the visit of King George in December 1911, which was the first visit of a British monarch to India. However, I found it funny that he only got to see a cardboard model of the monument, as construction didn’t actually begin until 1915.

The tour also included a visit to Crawford Market (one of South Mumbai’s most famous markets), Mani Bhavan Gandhi Museum (the home of and headquarters for Gandhi’s political activities in Mumbai), and Kamala Nehru Park.

Dinner at Masque Restaurant: Masque is one of India’s most forward-thinking fine-dining restaurants, offering a ten-course tasting menu in Mumbai’s former industrial mill area. The experience was phenomenal. One of my favorite courses was served inside the kitchen, which gave us the opportunity to meet and thank the staff!

Day 10: Mumbai

Tour of Dharavi Slum and Dabbawala: One of the areas of Mumbai I wanted to tour were the slums, which are home to roughly 60% of Mumbai’s population. The Dharavi Slum (yes, the one in the movie Slumdog Millionaire) is considered India’s largest slum and the third largest slum in the world. It’s roughly three-fourths of the size of New York City’s Central Park but is home to more than 600,000 people. We spent the morning with Sunil, walking through the narrow alleyways and meeting with locals who live and work there. I was shocked to find such a vibrant business community. In addition to the traditional pottery and textile industries in Dharavi, there is an increasingly large recycling industry, processing recyclable waste from other parts of Mumbai.

The goal of slum tourism is to dispel the negative connotations of living and working in Dharavi. Sunil said that the word “slum” is a derogatory term that the Indian population does not like to use. Despite challenges with disease and poor (or no) sanitation, the people here are incredibly hard-working and the Dharavi economy is estimated to generate more than $600 million USD annually. Prior to taking the tour, I associated living in slums with crime and drugs. This may still be the case in some countries, but by the end of the tour, my view on Indian slums had completely changed.

After Dharavi, Sunil took us to one of Mumbai’s dabbawala distribution areas. The concept of dabbawala was entirely new to me, but it’s essentially the OG UberEats or DoorDash but for homecooked meals from your family (this BBC article does a better job of explaining it). What impressed me most was the efficiency and accuracy of such a low-tech system. In 2010, Harvard Business School did an analysis of dabbawala and rated it “Six Sigma”, which means the dabbawalas make fewer than 3.4 mistakes per one million transactions – INSANE. It was interesting to watch them sort lunch boxes based on delivery location and see just how many boxes each cyclist (or ‘dabba’) could carry.

Cocktails at Aer Bar: Aer Bar is at the top of the Four Seasons Hotel. The drinks are average (it’s a typical hotel bar), BUT the views of all of Mumbai are unreal. When the weather is nice, the glass walls open up – it’s a relaxing atmosphere early in the afternoon/evening but avoid the late-night hours if you’re not a club person!

Dinner at Bombay Canteen: Another must-go restaurant when you’re in Mumbai. Don’t miss the sea bass sev puri.

Days 11 – 13: Mumbai

We spent the rest of our time in Mumbai with my friends from business school (hi, Abhishek and Sanchit!), eating and drinking, and taking a day to relax at the St. Regis’s beautiful pool. The cocktail and restaurant highlights from these three days were:

Lunch or dinner at Swati Snacks: Swati started in Mumbai as a tiny restaurant in 1963 but has since expanded to three very popular locations. It’s known for traditional dishes, as well as popular street foods. Don’t miss out on recommendations from my Mumbai-based friend! The orange are Bombay street food and the green are Gujarati.

Drinks at PCO (Pass Code Only): One of Mumbai’s first speakeasy cocktail bars! PCO is actually an outdoor speakeasy, which you can only access through another restaurant, Ping’s Orient Café. After you’ve reserved your table here, you will get a passcode on your cell which you need to enter in a machine in order to unlock the restaurant-door.

Drinks at Slink and Bardot: Formerly an electronic music venue, Slink and Bardot is a trendy cocktail bar, with velvet seating, lush wallpaper, and lots of greenery. The cocktail menu offers a range of drinks from light and fruity to dark and robust.

Dinner at O Pedro: A Goan and Portuguese fusion restaurant with a great bar. Don’t miss the Kokum Stings cocktail with kokum infused rum, curry leaves, ginger, and lime.

Dinner at Trishna: Trishna is THE place to go in Mumbai for seafood and to say the menu is extensive is an understatement. There are 21 sauce options for the king prawn alone. Trishna’s prawns are legendary, but you absolutely can’t miss the fresh jumbo crab with gallons of butter (an exaggeration, sort of), pepper, and garlic.

Days 14 – 20: Goa

By the time we reached Goa, we were exhausted and ready for a vacation from our vacation. Goa was a great place to unwind and relax after a busy few weeks hopping from city to city. We spent our days lounging on the beach and walking to Fisherman’s Wharf (below!) for seafood. My honest opinion? While Goa was relaxing and lovely, the beaches did not compare to other popular vacation destinations (the Caribbean, Mexico, etc.). If you’re in India and are looking for a tropical way to end your trip, I would recommend Goa. But in retrospect, I would have rather spent the time exploring the south of India, like Kerala.

Stay at the St. Regis Goa: North Goa is known for its raucous bar, restaurant, and club scene, so I knew I wanted to stay in South Goa for a more relaxing, quiet trip. The St. Regis in Goa offered the ideal location. A caveat: St. Regis recently purchased the property from the Leela Hotel, so the grounds and rooms were in the process of extensive renovations. While the pool and the gym were operational, only one restaurant was open, which greatly limited our dining options on the property. I could tell that it was going to be a lovely resort once all of the renovations were complete, but we were probably one year too early to enjoy them.

Dinner at Fisherman’s Wharf: Fisherman’s Wharf is a chain in the state of Goa and offers incredibly fresh seafood! We left the resort every night for dinner to chow down on fresh prawn, snapper, and pomfret, trying a new style (tandoori, butter garlic, recheado masala) every night.