Frommer's India (Frommer's Complete Guides) [Paperback]

Pippa de Bruyn (Author), Keith Bain (Author), David Allardice (Author), Shonar Joshi (Author)

Book Description

Series: Frommer's Complete Guides | Publication Date: March 1, 2010

• Completely updated, this fourth edition of Frommer's India will help you plan the trip that's right for you, whether you're traveling to soak up India's spirituality, chill out on the beaches, or live like a king in the land of princes.
• Experience the best of India: Visit the Taj Mahal as well as the cave temples at Ajanta and Ellora, watch the moon rise from Pushkar Palace during the Pushkar Mela, raft down the Zanskar, bump into a Bollywood star at a top rated restaurant, and sleep in a former king's bed at a heritage property (castles, palaces, and forts) in Rajasthan. Also learn tips on safety, ettiquette, and the art of bargaining --including the real meaning behind the phrases "you pay what you like" and "just look, no buy."
• This guide is biannually updated (and personalized) by a small team of writers including Pippa de Bruyn, an award-winning journalist and travel writer; Dr. Keith Bain, who also has a doctorate in film; Niloufer Venkatraman, a Mumbai native who has a doctorate in anthropology; Shonar Joshi, a travel writer and reporter; and more. All are not afraid to speak their mind and give their opinions -- and share their passion for India.
• Frommer's India, 4e also includes 4 itineraries for exploring the country, including "North India Highlights in 16 Days" and "South India in 2 Weeks."

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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Book Highlight: Paradisa Plantation Retreat, Cardamom Hills

Photo by Paradisa Plantation Retreat

The word "retreat" in the title couldn't be more apt, either. Guests stay in individual teak villas, built in traditional Kerala-style architecture and adorned with antique columns and intricate rosewood carvings. Each roomy villa has its own private setting and a stupendous view of the dense green hills overlooking a maharajah's former hunting grounds. You can swim in a footprint-shaped pool on a mountainside terrace, take yoga classes and ayurvedic treatments, play golf at a historic planter's club nearby, spot wild elephants and perhaps even tigers at the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary just over the hills.

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Review

"Get a copy..." (Garavi Gujarat, December 2006) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Frommers; 4 edition (March 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470556102
• ISBN-13: 978-0470556108
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #95,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #37 in Books > Travel > Asia > India

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and useful (but nothing's perfect), March 17, 2007

By 

Michael Sandman (Brookline, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's India (Frommer's Complete Guides) (Paperback)

Frommer's is packed with information, and it's reasonably well organized. It covers a huge and diverse country with a reasonable amount of detail. It's written to appeal to a wide range of travelers, but it's probaly most useful for people who are (1) traveling on their own rather than on a group tour and (2) planning to go mid- to high budget, not low-budget. (Mid-budget in India will get a you a long way -- food, services and rail are amazingly inexepensive as of March '07.)

There's a bit of hysteria in the section on getting ready -- you don't need all those immunizations unless you're going to places where the specific disease is endemic. Check on-line with the US Centers for Disease Control for more realistic advice.

In contrast, the authors are right on target when they warn repeatedly about minor scams. From the moment you go through customs you will be approached by people who have some offer that's a scam or semi-scam. Even when you hire a good guide from a good company, there's a high probability that you'll be taken to a shop whose owner gives the guide a commission. It's endless and ultimately an amusing game, and Frommer's does a great job of hoisting the warning flag. Pay attention - from the second you arrive.

The book also warns against trying to drive yourself in India. I've driven in places like Sao Paulo, Bogota, Rome and Mexico City (and Boston!), and I agree with that warning. Driving in India was scary 25 years ago and it's even more so now due to the great increase in traffic. There are clearly rules of the road, but you'll be dead before you figure them out, so hire a driver locally, fly long distances, and take the train inter-city when flying doesn't make sense.

The discussions in the front of the book about what's good and what's great are excellent and valuable in helping you decide how to spend limited time in India. The suggestions are divided into rankings of sites and rankings of "moments" or experiences. In the back, theres a short but useful section on Indian history and on its multiple cultures, knowledge that you can use to put what you see into context.

The book's one major fault is the lack of good city maps, as mentioned by another reviewer. Even the state maps are poor in terms of identifying good roads and main rail lines. There's a reasonably good explanation of how the rail system works and it tells you what class of travel to book, but that section would be improved with a clear description of what you get at each level of service. (The top level of overnight train is 1 AC which is a 2- or 4-berth air conditioned compartment, and the bottom level is Sleeper, which is a bare bench in a wretchedly crowded coach.)

The book is organized by state and region, and two places that could be twelve hours apart may follow one another in the text, with no indication of their separation. It can take an hour or more to go 30 miles on a main highway; a table of time between major points of interest would help readers plan a realistic itinerary.

Despite these shortcomings, Frommer's India is a solid guide packed with useful information. Not perfect, but very good.

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't go to India without this book!!!, August 20, 2004

By 

C. Gaddis "Tinysmom" (Provo, UT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Frommer's India (Paperback)

Many times throught this book it mentions that India is not for the fainthearted. Amen to that. Please take this book and plan your trip well in advance to benifit from the best India has to offer. This book is very specific on where to eat, sleep and how to get around with minimal ripoffs. The introductory travel sections are manditory reading. You will receive advice on how to handle unwanted attention from rude men ("strike them")and advice on the water, ("do not open your mouth in the shower"). The guidebook will tell you what sights to avoid and the ones to go out of your way for. Each of India's states are discussed in detail. This book is well written with humor and bluntness and I found it fun to read even after our trip.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars You'll still need to buy another book..., August 26, 2004

By 

Anonymous (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frommer's India (Paperback)

I agree with the other reviewer that the beginning section on India is quite useful in providing tips to travelling in India. However, once you get there, the book has a few shortcomings, for example:
1) Maps. While there are maps of entire regions, there are very few city maps. So, through reading the book, I had been cautioned that taxi drivers may take more circuitous routes to my destination, but I nonetheless had no clue on how to get there myself.
2) Addresses. The book lists many great stores, but often does not give you more information than the street name or market name. This does not help when you're dependent on your taxi driver. On two occasions, I wanted to visit a store mentioned in the book, but never ended up finding it. One taxi driver did make a concerted effort (stopping three times on the road to ask), but we eventually ended up at a store where he would get commission because we couldn't find the store (also where a detailed map would come in handy).
3) Yoga. It is hard to believe that a travel book on India could hardly mention yoga or have any recommendations on where to go. I don't think it's even in the index (!).
On this trip, we also had the Lonely Planet and the Rough Guide, which were much more informative. The benefits of Frommer's are that it is a more recent (2004) edition and it weighs less (but buy maps!).