Things to do in India
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FEATURED
Highlights of India
14 days (Delhi to Kochi)
by G Adventures
North India or South? Do both! This 2-week tour combines the riot of Rajasthan’s colours with the calming greens of Kerala. You'll have time to immerse yourself…Not LP reviewed
from USD$2,599 - All things to do
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Devaraja Market
Dating from Tipu Sultan’s reign, the spellbinding Devaraja Market is a lively bazaar that combines both the ancient and Indian faces of India. International brands compete for space here with local traders selling traditional items such as flower garlands, spices and conical piles of kumkum (coloured powder used for bindi dots), and their unique co-existence makes for some great photo-ops. Refresh your bargaining skills before shopping!
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Das Studios
Film and printing, lots of camera gear, passport pics (six for Rs50), burns two CDs for Rs75.
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Chung Wah Restaurant
The Chung Wah is a first-rate Chinese restaurant serving the real thing. Favourites on the menu include spring rolls, sweet-and-sours and a commendable Sichuan chicken.
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Chalukyan Hill Fort
Most buses and trains will stop en route at Bhongir, 60km from Hyderabad. It’s worth jumping down for a couple of hours to climb the fantastical-looking 12th-century Chalukyan hill fort. Looking like a gargantuan stone egg, the hill is mostly ringed by stairs.
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UP Tourism Daily Tours
- Agra, India
- Activities › Train
UP Tourism runs exhausting daily tours that leave Agra Cantonment train station at 10:15, after picking up passengers arriving from Delhi on the Taj Express. The AC coach tour includes the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri with a 1¼-hour stop in each place. Tours return to the station so that day-trippers can catch the Taj Express back to Delhi at 18:55. Contact the UP Tourism office to book a seat.
reviewed
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Nehru Memorial Museum
Teen Murti Bhavan is the former residence of Jawaharlal Nehru (India’s first prime minister), and was previously Flagstaff House, home to the British commander-in-chief. Just off Teen Murti Rd, it has been converted into a museum, a must-see for those interested in the Independence movement. Some rooms have been preserved as Nehru left them, and there’s a wealth of photographs, though some contextualisation would come in handy.
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Keoladeo Ghana National Park
By far the best time to visit this park is October to February, when you should see many migratory birds. At other times, or even after poor monsoon conditions, it can be dry and relatively bird-free.
reviewed
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Kaziranga National Park
Assam’s must-do attraction is a rhinoceros-spotting safari through the expansive flat grasslands of this national park. Kaziranga’s population of around 1900 Indian one-horned rhinos (just 200 in 1904) represents two-thirds of the world’s total. There is a western, central and an eastern range. The central is the most accessible giving the best viewing chances for rhinos, elephants and swamp deer plus plenty of bird life (take binoculars). One-hour elephant-back rides, central range only for foreign visitors, are especially satisfying when a ‘team’ of elephants makes pincer movements, surrounding rhinos without frightening them off.
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Karanji Lake Nature Park
Karanji Lake Nature Park is a place to spy on sundry bird species, including great and little cormorants, purple and grey herons, egrets, black ibises, rose-ringed parakeets, green bee-eaters and painted storks, as well as several kinds of butterfly.
reviewed
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Kanha National Park
The 1945-sq-km park consists of a 900-sq-km core zone surrounded by a 1005-sq-km buffer zone. It is one of the largest national parks in India.
reviewed
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Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures
The very professional Don Bosco Museum of Indigenous Cultures displays a truly vast, very well laid-out collection of tribal artefacts interspersed just occasionally with gratuitous galleries on Christian missionary work. The hexagonal museum building is an impressive, symbolic tower, seven storeys high for the seven states of the north-east. Tours (compulsory) last over an hour, departing on the half-hour. For an extra Rs. 50, a video explains the Nongkrem festival or you could choose from various film alternatives.
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Big Chill
Khan Market has two film-poster-lined branches of BC, packed with chattering, well-manicured folk. The menu is a telephone directory of continental, Indian and other dishes. Have you ever seen so much cheesecake on a menu? Who’s to quibble when it’s this good?
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Pindi Restaurant
Pindi Restaurant is a reliable and cheery place serving tasty North Indian food. Old favourites such as the butter chicken and mattar paneer are recommended.
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Hal Aerospace Museum
For a peek into India’s aeronautical history, visit this wonderful museum past the old airport, where you can see some of the indigenous aircraft models designed by HAL, sometimes with a little help from other nations. Interesting exhibits include the infamous MIG-21, indigenous models such as the Marut and Kiran, and a vintage Canberra bomber. You can also engage in mock dogfights at the simulator machines (Rs10) on the top-floor.
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Bull Temple
Built by Kempegowda in the 16th-century Dravidian style, the Bull Temple contains a huge granite monolith of Nandi and is one of Bengaluru’s most atmospheric temples.
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Aspiration Stores
For books on the area. Try Hampi by John M Fritz and George Michell, a good architectural study.
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Tibetan Welfare Office
The Tibetan Welfare Office can provide advice on other opportunities for volunteers around McLeod Ganj, including environmental efforts such as the Clean Upper Dharamsala Project.
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Sonu Bicycles
Cycling is best, as the terrain is flat, the air clear and the countryside beautiful. Sonu Bicycles is one of a few places that rent bikes.
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Muman’s Royal Cafe
Even if you don’t step inside this popular family restaurant, don’t miss its excellent chaat (spicy snack) stand at the front where mixed chaat s are served in an aloo (potato) basket. Inside you can dine on chicken Mughlai, tandoor kebabs and pizza.
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Hussainabad (Chota) Imambara
Just 500m up the road from the Bara Imambara is another tomb that was constructed by Mohammed Ali Shah in 1832, who is buried here, alongside his mother. Smaller than the Bara Imambara but adorned with calligraphy, it has a more serene and intimate atmosphere.
reviewed
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GB Pant Hospital
GB Pant Hospital
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Vasco Tourist Information Centre
Scooters/Enfields can be hired for Rs250/450 per day from Vasco Tourist Information Centre.
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Café Coffee Day Nungambakkam
Café Coffee Day Nungambakkam.
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Café Coffee Day, Egmore
Café Coffee Day, Egmore.
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Cafe Coffee Day
India’s premier coffee chain has the best value espresso and cold coffees in town; you’ll find this air-con escape with cakes and snacks hidden downstairs.
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