Tips for the first time How the India premiere succeeds!

As enthusiastic as many travelers are about their trip to India, others are worried who have not yet been there and ask themselves: Can I travel safely? How do I prepare properly? What do I have to vaccinate against? Which stations do I choose for my first trip? Rental car, yes or no? Here are the answers to eight urgent questions.

Is India a safe travel destination?

Meanwhile, the news situation has eased again, but reports of group rape, which intensified three or four years ago, are still reverberating. Several despicable events have caused a stir in recent years. But one has to be objective: India has no major deviations in the overall crime statistics, and the theft rate is even lower than in some major European cities. Even if there are lewd looks and sayings, it is not known that women traveling alone have more problems than elsewhere. Our author and longtime connoisseur of India Dagmar Gehm is also of the opinion that women traveling alone can now do a lot better traveling through the country than they did about 15 years ago .

Poverty and misery - can it be coped with?

Admittedly, there is filth and misery and the lively life on the street is not always easy for the faint-hearted to see when dogs, begging young mothers, penetrating smells and sewers can be seen next to the playground. But right next door children are laughing, young people are holding hands, hairdressers are doing their job on the street, people are lovingly decorating their business. There is often only a few minutes' walk between misery and splendor. The fact is: an infinite number of stimuli pour in on you - music, colors, scents, smells, encounters. It helps if at least the accommodation allows rest. The "Oberoi Rajvilas" in Jaipur, for example, is a park-like complex away from the city, where you can literally stroll - soothing.

What do I have to consider before I travel?

India is a huge country with 3.3 million square kilometers. The options for making a trip are also huge. The spectrum ranges from organized weekly tours to months-long, individual backpacker trips. Vacationers should be clear about what and where they want to go. To get started, an organized 10- to 14-day trip is recommended, which can already be booked for a little more than 1,000 euros - including a flight. This is possible, for example, with the special tour operator Enchanting Travels, one of the leading Indian providers on the market, co-founded by the German Alexander Metzler.

The advantage of an organized trip: you will also be taken by the hand with unfamiliar questions, such as health and entry requirements. The latter has become much easier since the introduction of the electronic Visa on Arrival ( https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa/tvoa.html ), but you cannot rely on it 100 percent yet. If you want to be on the safe side, order, ideally in person in Frankfurt or Hamburg, an approx. 65 euro visa - at least three weeks before the start of your trip. There are no mandatory vaccinations, however, the Federal Foreign Office only recommends vaccinations against hepatitis A and typhoid for shorter trips. Good foreign health insurance and individually required medication are compulsory.

Guide and driver - helpful or unnecessary?

Anyone who only moves on tourist paths can easily do it alone. The alleys of the inner cities are theoretically no more dangerous than anywhere else during the day. Only: It takes courage to plunge into the tangle alone. It's easier with a local guide. He not only draws attention to rules of conduct and acts as an interpreter, negotiator, explainer and pilot, but also as protection against intrusive people who want to sell you something.

If you are aiming for several cities, you should urgently afford a chauffeur - definitely preferable to a rental car. At around 40 euros a day, that's not even expensive. The fact is: cows and people on the street, potholes, left-hand traffic, insufficiently lit cars - all of this can quickly overwhelm an inexperienced Indian driver. And really stress in the event of an accident ...

What can you eat?

Delhi Belly is the Indian counterpart to Montezuma's revenge, that is: gastrointestinal illness due to unsanitary food. In fact, many travelers to India have to do with this. But you don't have to hit one, especially if you pay close attention to a few aspects. In general, everything that comes into contact with uncooked water should be taboo for Europeans, especially lettuce and ice cubes. In better, even luxury hotels, there are only limited concerns in this regard. By the way, for vegetarians, India, the country with the lowest meat consumption per capita worldwide, is a paradise.

When is the best time to travel?

The best way to travel to India is in winter, between October and March. In the summer months it is oppressively hot, in the subtropical south there are sultry summers even in normal years, and the monsoon with heavy rains also restricts travel. Tip: The former summer capital Shimla is an ideal entry point for India beginners. Thanks to its location at 1,500 meters, it scores with a great climate. Pleasant 25-30 degrees in winter and dry - this is what the comfort zone looks like for most Germans.

What shouldn't you miss?

India is so well worth seeing that even a dozen trips are hardly enough to visit everything. And: The country is extremely large with a length and width of over 3,000 kilometers and the motorway and express train network is only just emerging. In other words, you have to plan a lot of travel time (and / or flights) for longer distances. For beginners, it is therefore advisable to concentrate on one region. Rajastan tours or a trip in the Golden Triangle are popular. Starting in Delhi, this Agra and Taj Mahal (but will be extensively restored until the end of 2018, which is associated with restrictions) connects Jaipur, the capital of Rajastan. Udaipur and the national parks in the north of the country are also popular destinations. This also applies to Kerala in the south, where Ayurveda stays play a major role.