General, Delhi

4 more images

With the huge boom in foreign and domestic tourists, as well the number of airlines taking to the skies in India, there has been a huge investment in the construction of new airports in India.
There are brand new airports at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, plus new terminals at Bombay, Jaipur and a bunch of other cities. Besides these, every major city seems to be in the process of upgrading or building new terminals from scratch.
Delhi already has its new terminal operational- T3- one of the largest in the world. Besides Terminal 1D, which is also a new addition. From november 2010, terminal 1D will turn into a terminal exclusively catering to budget airlines, while T3 becomes an integrated terminal for international operations and for most regular domestic flights.

There is also a high speed train link- connecting the airport to Connaught Place, in the heart of the city, which is scheduled to become operational by Nov 2010 also.

4 more images

The changes on the airports scenario in India are coming into play rapidly. After decades of crumbling airports and infrastructure in general, there is a huge investment into that sector finally and theres new/upgraded airports springing up in various cities.
Delhi airport now has a swanky new domestic terminal and a soon to be commissioned integrated domestic/international terminal, which will be one of the largest in the world.
The current new domestic terminal will then serve as an exclusive terminal for the budget airlines.
For those who may remember the old domestic terminal (1B), that has already been demolished. If you are flying Air India (domestic), however, you need to use the old termila 1A. That too has been rennovated and once the brand new terminal is operational, it is scheduled to be demolished as well.

They are also connecting the airport to central Delhi via a high speed rail network, and work on that is nearing completion, and will be operational, in time for the upcoming Commonwealth games. Passengers will bbe able to check in at the stations itself...

At first the first sight, the price they demand, would seem too much, but when you reach the destination with them, you would be happy. They would tell you real information regarding the life of poor people, which are suffering becos of some unknown reasons.
Also this is one of the most effective way communication for short
distance in order to save the planet.

Hiring your own private driver is the best way to do India. The traffic is crazy and crowded. Having your own driver taking you around to see this part of the country is invaluable.

My husband and I had a wonderful driver for our 4 day in India last month (May 2009). We visited Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra during this whirlwind period...saw everything that we wanted in this short period of time.

We highly recommend Bunty and his colleages. Their prices were very reasonable and the professionalism couldn't be beat. You can contact "Bunty" at www.indiaprivatedriver.com. He will work with you to plan out the itinerary that you want.

We were on a cruise visting Cochin and flew to Delhi to meet his brother Amit ( a very nice young man) to start our trip. We then flew to Mumbai to meet our ship a few days later. This was our 1st time visiting India and we wanted to see the Taj Mahal and the Golden Triangle.

If you email Bunty, tell him that Thuy sent you.

Delhi has a very popular business of car renting and it is relatively easy to find an agency for that. There are loads. There are hourly rates as well as distance based rates. For rough idea, I can say, around Rs. 550 (non-AC car) for 80 kilometers/8 hours. That's pretty cheap I guess, atleast I myself avail the services often.

Touring around Delhi in one day is a back-breaking challenge for most travellers. However, if you are well informed, you can do it in 8 hours for only Rs 800. You should be able to visit the following: The India Gate, Humayun's Tomb, Qutab Menar, Laa Qila (Red Fort), and B'Hai (Lotus) Temple.

You may contact Raju Kumar (very nice, friendly, honest and will-not-take-advantage guy) at this indian cell number +09871316721 or email him at kumar69raju@yahoo.com.in

He can also tour you around "golden triangle" (Delhi, Agra and Jaipur) at a very reasonable rate. I even gave him a good tip for giving me more than I expected with my India trip.....

The Indira Ghandi International airport is located about 25-60 mn drive (depends on the traffic) from Connaught Place, central New Delhi. If nobody is waiting for you (hotel shuttle, friends, . . . ), the best is to take a pre-paid taxi, (300Rs to the centre) you will be directed to a car and the cab driver takes you to the pre-defined place; no rip off, no conning!
From the domestic airport, same system, but it is located closer, so you will pay 180Rs.
There are renovation works at the International airport (and it will last for a few months (I was there in Feb. 2008)) and it is a real mess, specially on departures from Delhi; but despite this, very messy appearance, you go through rather quickly, and I was surprised to be on the other side of the customs within 30 mn from arrival there.
Domestic airport is quiet, efficient, but there are often delays or cancellations. . .

Just wanted to share the information, we took a driver to show us part of India and it was one of our best decisions, we went to several cities without reservations and he knew the best places, not expensive and very good, he recomended us the best restaurants, and I can promise you that he didn't get any comissions at all, he knows the area of Rajasthan very well and if you can contact him I would strongly recomend you him.
We paid for cab with driver for 4 days 150 euros, we did Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur.
His nime is Rinku, and his email is rinkuandindia@yahoo.com, we got his contact from this we www.sushil.net.ms