How Much Does it Really Cost to Visit India?
India is a land of countless experiences and exciting locations. Touring India will give you an opportunity to view the architectural marvels be it huge monuments or temples or tombs. The rich cultural and traditional life of Indians will simply take you to cloud nine. Upon arriving here, you will easily notice the difference in religious as well as cultural activities. The vast land of India has got many things to be experienced and one tourist destination which suits for people of all walks of life.
It is always intelligent to plan your trip. Planning about the financial aspect of a trip becomes mandatory. So, the question is ‘How much does it cost to visit India?’
India is, by far a less expensive country to visit. However, it is better to know the cost that will be incurred upon your visit here, well in advance makes you plan better.
This article will give you a variety of information on every aspect of expenditure. The article is sketched in such a way after detailed research on
‘What all is required to travel around India?’,
‘What all is required to survive in India?’
The three major requisites for any travel are
- Accommodation
- Food
- Transportation
Of course, there are certain aspects like entry fees, tips which will also be covered.
Table of Contents
Types of Traveler in India and Average Cost
The three major types of travelers who visit India are
- Budget Traveler
- Economical Traveler
- Luxurious Traveler
On reading this article, you will clearly conclude which one you are and can use this as your spending guide for the trip to India.
Here we go, Let’s learn what these three types of travelers are. This will give you a basic understanding of what can be done being that type of a traveler.
Budget Traveler:
If you are an adventurous traveler who can just fly in with a backpack, staying in dormitories and using public transport of busses, trains and very minimal internal flights, then this is the category you may belong to. As a budget traveler you will be staying in very less expensive hostels or private hotel rooms which may not offer you the best of the comfort. Also, you will be eating street food and restaurants which are cheap in terms of price. You will not set an opportunity to use private cabs for your commutation.
If you are a budget traveler, then you may be spending anywhere between $50 to $55 per day
Economical Traveler:
This is a category of a traveler who will certainly not want to compromise on comfort levels in stay and travel and eating habits. An economical traveler may spend $35 to $40 more than a budget traveler per day, but by doing so the trip becomes memorable by traveling faster using domestic flights, staying in home stays, good hotels with good facilities. You can in fact use private cabs for your transportation inside a particular city. You can add value being an economical traveler by adding some activities specific to the place where you stay.
If you are an economical traveler, then you may be spending anywhere between $85 to $90 per day
Luxurious Traveler:
This category will help you visit a lot of places in India, make you stay in big Hotels, resorts and can travel in luxury cab for your internal transportation. You can use flights for most of your domestic movements to other parts of the country.
If you are a luxurious traveler, then you may be spending anywhere between $145 to $150 per day
All the above price range is given for one person
Learn the price plans
Now that we understood what each type of traveler means to us, let us begin to explore and learn the price plans for each major category of your expenditure during the travel. We shall have the price range mentioned for every category of the traveler.
Accommodation
From the year 2018, while the tourist accommodation rates went high in most of the countries, India reduced the accommodation costs by 2% compared to previous years. All the more, India offers staying rooms, hotels and homestays with different price ranges and any traveler has a variety of options to choose from. Incidentally the options are very cost effective.
We must understand at this juncture that, big cities in India have different rates compared to suburbs and rural areas. When we say difference in price, it will be almost 50% more than the rural areas.
As a budget traveler, there are multiple options available
- Dormitories
- Hostels
- Budget rooms
- Deluxe Budget rooms
- Deluxe rooms
The dorms and hostels may cost you any where between Rs.50 to Rs 150 – $1 to $3 – per day per person. You can easily spend a night with this expense for the accommodation. In such dorms and hostels, the bathrooms are mostly common. Don’t even think on complimentary breakfast. Preferably men are the only residents here. There are many available in India of this type, you will be surprised to note that, there are hostels which may offer some activities to be done if the in mates are in a considerable number. Indian government is on the process of setting up more of these.
Budget rooms may cost you anywhere between Rs.250 to 350 – $4 to $6 – per day per person. You will have a separate room in this option with a bed available for you. The rooms may not be as clean as you wanted to be and toilets too, Oh yes, you will have a private bathroom inside the room.
Deluxe Budget rooms may cost you anywhere between Rs.500 to Rs.1000 – $8 to $15 per day per night. You will have a spacious room with a good bed and a mattress. The private bathroom will have hot water facility all through the day unlike the budget rooms. You may come across hotels offering complimentary breakfast, but very few.
Deluxe rooms are a bit expensive in this category, may cost you anywhere between Rs.1000 and above. These rooms will be clean, and the bathrooms will be well maintained. You will have extra furniture in the room, like a desk chair and even a television for you to watch.
In the aspect of accommodation, it will be strange for us to know that if you have travelled to India alone then your cost is as equivalent as you have travelled with another person along. As there are no categories single rooms available in any of the categories except for dorms and hostels which will offer you a bed alone.
You must decide whether you need AC in the room or not, ofcourse in Budget and Deluxe budget rooms you may not find any AC rooms. An AC room is a bit expensive than the normal rooms.
So, if you are a budget traveler, your accommodation cost will be between $1 to $18 per day per person.
As an economical traveler and if comfort is your order for any vacation, then you may have to spend anywhere between Rs. 2000 to Rs.3000 – $28 to $40 a day. You will certainly have a very good room at this price range. Clean and spacious with breakfast along the room package. Almost all the rooms will offer you an AC in the room in this category. You may also find a pool, a nice view in fact.
As a luxurious traveler, you can stay in boutique hotels, resorts with rich and good breakfast. Most of the boutique hotels and heritage hotels on an average cost you Rs.4500 – $63 per day per person. You will have airport pick ups and drops in few hotels of this kind. Room well furnished with snacks and refrigerators filled with beverages. And, the people who will be staying in such hotels are from the elite class.
Food
India is the land of variety of food items. The best part is, the food stalls, restaurants are available just around every corner. Food being served in all the places will have its cultural touch and colorful. As a tourist, you must take a food tour to enjoy the varieties of food available in India.
As a budget traveler, you may be intending to eat in food stalls and local restaurants. In either of these places, breakfast will not cost you more than Rs.20 to Rs.30 – 30 to 40 cents per person. The meal may cost you anywhere between Rs.50 to Rs 100 – $1 to $2 per person. Apart from that you will find a lot of roadside shops which sell a lot of delicacies which if you may taste one item from a shop till you feel ‘it is enough’ you would have spent Rs.100 per person.
If you would like to spend a bit more on your food, then you may end up in eating nice restaurants where you will spend anywhere between Rs.100 to Rs.200 – $2 to $4 for breakfast per person. Meal is also available at process between Rs.250 to Rs. 400 – $4 to $7 per person.
If the plan is to eat in a dining hotel or a 5 star hotel, then you may end up having a good time with friends and family, breakfast may cost you anywhere between Rs.500 to Rs 1000 – $8 to $14 per person. A meal may cost you Rs.1500 to Rs.2500 per person.
India is indeed a good destination to eat for less expensive rates. As India is a country pf religious base, you may find the boards displaying ‘Veg Only’. Yes, the maximum portion of India eats vegetarian food, does not mean that there are no chicken and lambs, you will certainly find a lot those too.
Transportation
The modes of transportation are many when you want to travel around India.
- Trains
- Busses
- Cabs
- Flights
Again, travelling inside a city has also options
- Local busses
- Auto rickshaws
- Cabs
Be it any type of traveler you must understand the cost behind it, being a luxurious traveler, you can opt for a train travel or being a budget traveler attempting to travel in domestic flights cannot be avoided too. It all depends on how you plan it. It will be explained as to how much it would cost in every category of transportation and you can mix, and match based on your convenience.
Trains are most convenient and least expensive transportation option for you. You can connect long distances through this mode;however, it is time consuming when compared to domestic flights. There are many levels – In India it is called classes.
- Unreserved class:
This the most least expensive class, where you buy a ticket to travel to a destination and board the train. This may maximum cost you up to Rs.200 – $3.5 for a 5000-kilometer travel. The challenges are more, you may have to use your might to get your seats in this coach. You will have a lot of people travelling in this and it would be uncomfortable if you are standing to travel. If you are lucky, you can find a way to stretch your leg. At the same time, if you get a seat, it is advised not to leave form the seat at any point. As a budget traveler you may consider this option.
- Reserved Sleeper class:
This is also less expensive but bit higher than the previous category. You may have to book this ticket in advance. Get in touch with a good travel agent to get this done for you. You will have your seat and berth, and none can claim it as it is your ticket. There are few destinations in India where this class of travel is considered crowded as well. For a 5000-kilometer travel, you may have to spend up to Rs.500 – $8per person.
- Reserved 3rd AC class:
This class is the same as reserved sleeper class, but it is an AC compartment and that makes it a bit higher on the cost. To calculate the cost of this class is like this, 3rd AC is always 3 times the rates of Sleeper class. This compartment is considered to be neat and tidy with quilts and pillows offered. As an economical traveler, this option may best suit your requirements.
- Reserved 2nd AC class:
This class is one of the elite classes in the trains. Very comfortable and spacious seats and berths with quits and pillows. Charging points and reading lights are available in this compartment. The price range can be calculated as 5 times sleeper class rates. If you are willing to travel in this class, ensure you book this well in advance as the tickets may get sold very fast and a smaller number of tickets are available for this class. If you are a luxury lover, then this is your choice and also the next.
- Reserved 1st AC class
This is high grade class in a train. Mostly Indian VIPs and government officials travel in this class. The ticket rates are at least 7 times the sleeper class rates.
Apart from these classes where you can sleep and travel, there are other types of trains where you will find seaters only called the Chair Cars. These are short distance trains and are available in plenty in India. This too has a normal class and an AC class.
Busses
There are plenty of busses available to travel to any destination in India. Unlike the trains, the busses are operated by government of India as well as private owners too.
There are different levels here as a normal government bus with or without AC and a deluxe AC busses and sleeper busses with or without AC.
Though the busses may not connect you up to 5000 km as the trains, but you will certainly get a bus that can travel up to 1000 km.
The government busses may charge between Rs.150 to Rs.800 – $3 to $12for an AC and Non-AC classes.
The private busses are a bit higher for a long-distance travel and cost you between Rs 500 to Rs.2000 – $8 to $24
Being the type of traveler, you are, please verify the ticket rates for busses before making the booking. Bookings can be made online or on the respective government or private ticket booking centers.
Flights
Domestic flights are always convenient for long distance travel, as it takes an hour or two to reach when compared to Trains which may take up to 3 days to reach which is 500 kilometers far.
India has international airports, also more than 100 Aerodromes receive regular commercial flights.
India has seen a sharp increase in the number of Domestic Airlines in the recent years. This has made air travel so easy for the passengers. Many flights, multiple destinations, competitive prices, all of these makes the air travel more attractive too. It is true that, passengers can choose among the options of Government owned Airlines, Low cost flights or regional flights.
If you plan it well, flight travel I s more convenient and faster compared to any mode of transport. This may cost you anywhere between $50 to $120 per person, depending on the distance and the airline.
Cabs
Cab facility for long distance travel is also available. It is preferred to use cabs for internal city transfer as the inter city or state travel through a cab can be a bit tedious. The rates are calculated as per the kilometers used.
So, for a cab without AC travelling for 1000 kilometers may charge anywhere between Rs.7 to Rs. 14 per kilometer. Apart from it, there are toll way charges.
If you are using a SUV or a high-end car then add another Rs 3 to the normal cab rates.
Local Transfer Transportation
There are options available for you in the form of Local Busses, Auto rickshaws and Cabs. Local busses are by far the cheapest mode of travel. Auto rickshaws and cabs are on the higher end.
Other expense you may come across,
Entrance fees
You may come across a non – pattern mode of entrance fees being collected for visiting a few places. The price range may range from ‘Free Entry’ to Rs. 750 per person. However, you would notice that the entry fee on an average will be $5 per person and not too high. Allocate Rs.3000 to Rs.6000 for these type of fees for a two-week trip to India.
Tips
While you visit a restaurant or a bar, it is all up to you to pay the tips. However, the expectation from the bearer is inevitable. Anywhere between Rs.10 to Rs.50 is considered worthy of giving too. If the place you are visiting is elite, like a 5-star hotel or a pub, raise your bar to pay them anywhere between Rs.100 to Rs.300. Allocate Rs.1500 to Rs.3000 if you are planning to tip anyone on the way.
It is ideally fantastic to visit any place in the world and when it comes to India, it is vast. Plan your trip financially well too, as it would be worth the time and money.
