Help! So many India honeymoon options!

My tip: don't try and chew off too much. Which you've kinda got, but which really translates as both: - Don't change hotels too often. It's not especially relaxing, doubly so on your honeymoon - Don't travel too far. Driving is slow. Flights aren't relaxing. Some commercial 12 day itineraries to get your juices flowing: http://www.easytoursofindia.com/12_day_first_visit.htm http://www.gate1travel.com/india-travel/india-tour-12dinma09.aspx http://www.orientodyssey.com/Tours/pdf/2009/india/12.pdf If it were me, I'd do something like the third one in a heartbeat - houseboats and hills are the way to go on honeymoon.

Mumbai is a good place to fly into, and you can get down to Goa easily from there, which I highly recommend. Goa was one of my favorite parts of India. In Mumbai, you'll probably enjoy a boat ride out to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephanta_Island, and a walk along Juhu beach at sunset (though it is very crowded....like the rest of India!) Be careful about some of the wildlife refugees where they claim you can see wild tigers. We went to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranthambore_National_Park and I couldn't help feeling like they hadn't seen an actual tiger in years, but were keeping things quiet in fear of losing out on tourist dollars. It's true that Delhi makes sense if you want to see the Taj Mahal, but there are other places near by that might make the trip north worthwhile. For instance, http://wikitravel.org/en/Jaipur is near by and quite nice. Delhia->Agra-Jaipur is a nice little triangle of day-trip distances by car (hire one..with a driver). I also really enjoyed http://wikitravel.org/en/Mt_Abu, but it's not near anywhere really, and might be too far out of the way for such a short trip. If you are hitting up so many places in a small amount of time, flying is an absolute must. Train travel is very very unreliable and slow (though still enjoyable -- take a train once at least!) and by car is equally slow. India has a lot of http://wikitravel.org/en/Discount_airlines_in_Asia#India, and we flew everywhere from Mumbai to Goa to Delhi to Udaipur to Bangalore for not a whole lot of money. You'll have a blast. India is insane and beautiful and crazy and definitely my most memorable trip of all time, and I've been a lot of places!

Also, if you like the idea of India, but want something with great beaches and a bit more... manageable, consider http://www.boutiquesrilanka.com/suggested_itineraries.php.

A friend's parents just celebrated their 25th anniversary with a trip to Delhi, Agra, and Udaipur. They loved it, but as they were only there for two weeks, they flew between the cities. Not sure who they flew with, but there's a lot of competition with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_low-cost_airlines#Asia offering very cheap tickets - Spicejet, for example, can get you from Jaipur to Goa for something like $50 one-way, in the space of a couple hours, for a random day I chose a few weeks from now. A highlight was their stay in the http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g297672-d302377-Reviews-Taj_Lake_Palace_Udaipur-Udaipur_Rajasthan.html - the floating hotel featured in Octopussy! http://seat61.com/India.htm has a lot of detail on trains and timetables - Agra's only 2 hours 10 minutes from Delhi on a morning Shatabdi Express train, for example.

I should also add a disclaimer to my advice to fly everywhere: though it is much faster to fly, some of my favorite parts of my trip to India were day trips by car where we'd stop off in some remote village to get lunch or petrol. You get to see things you most definitely wouldn't see if you fly, so try to set aside some time for land-based travel in between destinations.

You really don't want to try and do too much with only 12 days to play with. Either go round the Golden Triangle in the north or stick to just Mumbai and Goa (you might be able to fit Kochi in too). In addition to Elephanta Island near Mumbai, make sure you visit the law courts and actually sit in on a case. Goa is just for the relaxing portion of your honeymoon and if you get to Kochi, go as deep into the backwaters as you can and also check out the Chinese fishing nets from close-up. For Delhi, don't miss Red Fort and Humayan's Tomb. Lodhi Gardens are cool to relax in and get an ice cream - also, check out Qutub Minar and go up the tower at Jama Masjid. Another thing I wouldn't miss at all which is totally worth the long auto ride out to is the Bahá'í Lotus Temple down in the south. Utterly spectacular and serenely beautiful and also a lovely relaxing respite from the bustle of New Delhi. The highlights of Jaipur are the Amber Fort and the incredible doorways of the City Palace. Hawa Mahal is a stunning driveby and Jantar Mantar has fascinating massive astronomical instruments. Agra is a bit of a hole but so so so worth it for the Taj alone. I was so worried it would be a massive let down but was completely blown away. Fatepur Sikri is also a worthy detour. The only things I'd do differently is to have twice as long there and eat twice as much. http://ask.metafilter.com/144641/Help-So-many-India-honeymoon-options#2071813: "It's true that Delhi makes sense if you want to see the Taj Mahal, but there are other places near by that might make the trip north worthwhile. For instance, http://wikitravel.org/en/Jaipur is near by and quite nice. Delhia->Agra-Jaipur is a nice little triangle of day-trip distances by car (hire one..with a driver)." I strongly, strongly recommend not taking a car or flight anywhere in India. The trains really are fantastic and not only offer great scenery but are one of the quintessential India experiences. It will be far more interesting than other modes of transport and much cheaper too though there is a price bracket for any level of comfort. If there is a train route between the places you want to visit, I wouldn't even consider any alternative. A great resource for trains is http://www.seat61.com/India.htm. If your route is sold out and you get put on the waitlist, there are really helpful people on http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1750 who have a really good idea of whether you'll get a seat. If you have time constraints getting around, it can be really useful to know.

Udaipur is so beautiful! But for 12 days it might make sense to take in less and stick to either Rajasthan (where you could see Udaipur and the Taj Mahal) or the south, for Goa and beaches. I second the advice about not missing out on the trains--you see so so much of the landscape and have such a more interesting experience. I only took a plane there once, but heard that I skipped over the most beautiful train ride of the whole time: Mumbai to Goa. The only thing I hated was that at 6 weeks I only was able to do a fraction of what I wanted to. It's just so densely packed with riches that I wasn't expecting and hadn't read about, and is just such a crazy, overwhelming, wonderful experience. I wouldn't recommend the golden triangle; I know a lot of people who did it and missed out on a lot. If you want to do wildlife/pampering/cities (as cultural and historial sites are everywhere), you'd need to take a plane, which I wouldn't do. Ft. Cochin and Kerala were absolute treasures. I would go there, home of ayurvedic medicine, for your pampering, veering away from an overly westernized pre-packaged place you'd find through a travel agent.

We went for two weeks in India followed by two weeks in Nepal and it was insanely great. We spent two weeks just in Delhi and Rajastan and never ran out of things to see. A few highlights: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Abu is an inter-rajastani honeymoon destination with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilwara_Temples which have to be seen to be believed. Plus you can go watch the sunset with a huge friendly crowd of Indian honeymooners. In Udiapur we stayed at the http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g297672-d307011-Reviews-Shiv_Niwas_Palace_Hotel-Udaipur_Rajasthan.html across the lake from the Octopussy hotel. We went over there for dinner and it was a bit odd, unusually not-great food as well. For a super fancy few days we were at the http://www.oberoihotels.com/oberoi_rajvilas/index.asp. A few general points - allow India to change you, dont try to change India. You may have traveled in the third world before but you also may not be ready for some of the things you see there. If you get off the beaten path, you may be the exotic one. We had people thrust babies into my wife's hands so they could take a picture with her. Also, friends or relatives might have sort of an are-you-sure-you-want-to-do-this? look when you tell them. As always, travel as if you will be coming back.

If you're willing to rough it, just a little, I recommend looking at the http://www.junglelodges.com/. I've stayed at quite a few and they are relatively inexpensive, located in gorgeous locations, the staff is helpful and there are many safe-but-fun wildlife opportunities offered at the various locations. Also, I agree with everyone who said the trains are not to be missed. Taking the train from Mumbai to Goa was one of my favorite parts of my trip.