By Plane
The major
points of entry into India are Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata. If you
are flying in from a Western country, chances are that you will get
in through one of these cities. However in recent years, to
accommodate the increasing traffic, many other airports have been
upgraded to take in international flights. Among these are Amritsar,
Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Cochin, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Hyderabad,
Jaipur, Mangalore, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram and Varanasi.
India has homegrown international airlines like Air India and
"Indian" (formerly known as "Indian Airlines"). These provide good
connectivity within the country. In recent years, the government has
allowed Indian private airlines like Jet Airways and Air Sahara
to go international. There are daily flights to most imaginable
places on Earth from a wide array of Indian airports. Jet Airways is
one of the best and top national and international airlines in
India. Now you can book your flight ticket online from your home
with Jet Airways India. Direct flight to India from major cities of
north America, South America, Africa, Europe, Australia and Asia.
Air India often offers the lowest rates for long haul flights to
India, but you will receive what you paid for. The carrier routinely
cancels or reschedules flights without notice to ticket holders, and
its customer service is perhaps the least helpful in the industry.
Air India flights are always many hours late, so don't schedule
anything in the day or so after your scheduled arrival in the
country. You may be well advised to buy tickets through a travel
agent in order to have a skilled advocate in case of trouble with
the airline.
From the United States, Continental Airlines offers nonstop
daily service from Newark Airport to Delhi and Mumbai; Delta
Airlines offers nonstop daily service from JFK International
Airport in New York to Mumbai; Air India offers daily non-stop
service to Mumbai and Delhi from JFK; and American Airlines
offers nonstop daily service from Chicago to Delhi. Various European
airlines offer connecting service through their European hubs from
most major US cities and various Asian airlines offer connecting
service from West Coast cities to India through their Asian hubs.
Jet Airways also flies from New York to Delhi and Mumbai via
Brussels.
Entries from Europe and Northern America are possible using many
European airlines such as Lufthansa , British Airways , KLM Royal
Dutch Airlines , and Air France .
Go to India from Nepal ( Get
into India from North part/ North Border)
From Nepal buses cross the border
daily, usually with connections to New Delhi, Lucknow, and Varanasi.
However, it's cheaper and more reliable to take one bus to the
border crossing and another from there on. The border crossings are
(India/Nepal side) Sunauli/Bhairawa from Varanasi, Raxaul/Birganj
from Kolkata, Kakarbhitta from Darjeeling, and
Mahendrenagar-Banbassa from Delhi. Now direct
deluxe bus services is
available from Pokhara and Kathmandu Nepal.
Go to India from Bhutan
The Royal Bhutanese Government runs
a service to/from Phuentsholing. These buses depart from Kolkata's
Esplanade bus station at 7PM on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and
from the Phuentsholing Bhutan Post office at 3PM on Monday,
Wednesday and Friday. The journey takes around 18 hours and costs
300Rps/Nu. The buses are comfortable, but because much of the
highway to Kolkata is like the surface of the moon, don't bank on
getting much sleep on the way.
Go to India from Pakistan
From Pakistan the only land
crossing is from Lahore to Amritsar via the Attari/Wagah border
crossing. Despite tensions between the two countries, there is a
steady trickle of travellers passing this way. The immigration
procedures are fairly straightforward, but note that neither
Pakistan nor India issue visas at the border. Expect to take most of
the day to go between Lahore and Amritsar on local buses. Normally
it's possible to get a direct bus from Amritsar to the border, walk
to the other side and catch a direct bus to Lahore, although you may
need to change at some point on route. Amritsar and Lahore are both
fairly close to the border (about 30-40 minutes drive), so taxis are
a faster and easier option.
The direct Delhi-Lahore service has restarted, though it is far more
costly than local buses/trains, not any faster, and would mean you
miss seeing Amritsar. You will also be stuck at the border for much
longer while the bus is searched and all of the passengers go
through immigration.
There is now a bus service across the 'Line of control' between
Indian and Pakistani Kashmir, however it is not open to foreign
tourists.
Go to India from Bangladesh
From Bangladesh there are a number
of land entry points to India. The most common way is the regular
air-conditioned and comfortable bus services from Dhaka to Kolkata
via Haridaspur (India)/Benapole (Bangladesh) border post. Bus
companies 'Shyamoli', 'Shohag', 'Green Line', and others operate
daily bus services under the label of the state owned West Bengal
Surface Transport Service Corporation (WBSTSC) and the Bangladesh
Road Transport Corporation (BRTC). From Kolkata 2 buses leave every
Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday while from Dhaka they leave on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The journey usually takes around 12
hours with a one-way fare of Rs. 400-450 or BDT600-800, roughly
$8-10.
Another daily bus service by 'Shyamoli' and others under the BRTC
label from Dhaka connects Siliguri, but the buses in this route do
not cross the Changrabanda/Burimari or Burungamari border post.
Rather, passengers reaching the border have to clear customs, walk a
few hundred yards to cross the border and board the awaiting
connecting buses on the other end for the final destination. Ticket
for Dhaka-Siliguri-Dhaka route costs BDT 1600, roughly $20-25
depending on conversion rates. Tickets are purchased either in Dhaka
or in Siliguri.
There is also a regular bus service between Dhaka and Agartala,
capital of the Indian state of Tripura . Two BRTC buses daily from
Dhaka and the Tripura Road Transport Corporation plying its vehicles
six days a week with a round fare costing USD 10 connect the two
cities. There is only one halt at Ashuganj in Bangladesh during the
journey.
Other entry points from Bangladesh are Hili, Chilahati / Haldibari,
Banglaband border posts for entry to West Bengal; Tamabil border
post for a route to Shillong in Meghalaya, and some others with
lesser known routes to north-eastern Indian regions.
Do remember
that price may change.
