Traveling to India can be daunting and a challenging experience, this article gives you 10 tips when planning a holiday to India. If you were to keep the following tips in mind, the journey will be less stressful and more enjoyable.

1. The Subcontinent: India is a vast country with 28 states (aptly called a sub-continent), each of which is a small country by its own right. Each state has its own language, culture and climate. Actually it is like many nations existing within a single large nation. No wonder India is called a subcontinent. The only thing common is an impressive array of unique tourist places.

2. The Summer-winter Divide: A majority of places in India, especially Delhi, experience two diametrically opposite kinds of weather in a year. Summer is extremely hot and humid, while winter is chillingly cold and foggy. Generally, summer starts in March and extends till July, when the monsoons take over. Winter arrives three months later at November and goes on till February. So be prepared to dress for the weather.

3. Book Accommodation in Advance: A lot of good hotels in India provide online reservation facility. Scan the web and book a hotel room that suits your budget well in advance. Otherwise one may never know when an emergency creeps up. An all-India level examination or a massive political rally in a particular place can quickly fill the hotel rooms. So it is better to reserve the hotel rooms.

4. Plan your trip via Metros: The four metro cities in India are well-connected in international aviation map. So identify the metro city nearest to the place you want to go. Delhi (Northern India), Mumbai, better known as Bombay (Western India), Kolkata, better known as Calcutta (Eastern India), and Chennai, earlier known as Madras (Southern India), are the four metros in India.

5. Keep a Map: You have plenty of options for travel within India. Nowadays air tickets are becoming cheaper, with lot of domestic airline players coming into the fray. Trains are a good option, as train services exist even to remotest and farthest places in India. Official website of Indian railways is good place to visit while planning a trip to India. Always keep a map so that one can even depend on bus services or boat services to travel.

6. Food Is Spicy: In general, food is spicy. In most places in India, especially in the northern and western regions, cow is a sacred animal. So beef is not widely available. If not from high-priced hotels, meat may not be a good option. For strict non-vegetarians, it always better to go for fish, especially coastal places. Remember that the food is spicy and you must tell the waiter to serve you mild or medium variety.

7. Beware of Cunning Agents and Pick-pockets: Once in India, keep in mind that not all people approaching you are genuinely interested in helping you. Some people earn their daily bread by cheating the hapless tourists. Also, always keep only small amount of hard cash with you. Debit cards or credit cards will do. When you are in trouble or have lost way, it is better to approach a police man. Most of them understand English, though may not be able to speak in English.

8. Bargain Hard: When you go shopping, don't purchase anything without bargaining. Don't bargain in big shops as it is frowned upon; but for the roadside shop, bargaining is common.

9. Respect Holy Places: If you go to holy places, such as temple or mosque, remove your footwear before entering. Also do not smoke inside the holy places.

10. Always Carry ID Cards: If you land in trouble, the first thing authorities ask for is an identity card. If you can produce a valid passport and or some other equally sound identity proof, your safety is half ensured.

In summary, plan your journey according to the season, read where you are going, carry ID cards, travel to big cities to get an inkling into the Indian way of life, respect Holy Places and eat sensibly.

This article is for Bed and Breakfast in New Delhi, India Inn at Delhi is a Bed and Breakfast in Delhi, India and is based on the Delhi Airport Hotels http://www.innatdelhi.com/Delhi-Airport-Hotels.html