India: The Rough Guide (Rough Guide Travel Guides) (Paperback)

If your only going to a city for a few days before moving on then the book is a great way of seeing a lot quickly and the resterant guides are fairly accurate. Remember that prices do go up and hotels/resterants do go downhill. But everything is open to negotiation.

If your going to see India this is the only book you need...

The introduction of the book gives you some 'must sees' and 'when to go' advice. For those interested in Northern India I would recommend travelling in November as flights are relatively cheap this time of year and the weather is hot but not unpleasant

The main part of the book is split up into India's different regions. There is a chapter on Rajasthan, Goa, Mumbai etc.

I mainly stuck to the Rajasthan section. I found the information on this area very useful and I used it as a basis of my trip. At the end of each section there is information regarding train/plane times. I found this essential, and Rough Guides are the best in this respect.

Another reason I liked this guidebook is it's 'reading list' towards the back of the book. In this section, the editor recommends reading material. Using this as a cue I read the various books by Indian authors which really brought India to life.

On several occasions on I leant my bok to fellow travellers as the historical and cultural sections were much more instructive then the LP guide books.

There is also a short section on India's amazing food . I did not try any of the recipes but I think this is a good idea.

I do have some slight criticisms of the book. It should have a larger section on 'Crimes and annoyances'. People do have problems in India, but with common sense you should have a great time. Plan your holiday well in advance. I recommend that you learn a bit of the local language, be very careful about what you eat and drink, do not stand out as a tourist and make yourself aware of scams. But don't get too paranoid-look out for the plentiful genuine and honest local characters as well as scam artists.
Also, this book is too big to carry around with you if you are backpacking. Why not take out the pages you need for your journey rather then taking the whole book? Your load will be lighter and you will look less conspicious.

My other criticism is that Rough Guides can sometimes be a bit political and left field. Please, let the reader make it's own mind up!

All in all, I found this guide to be very useful. You can enjoy reading it before your trip to India, and as invaluable and entertaining read (especially on the long journeys) whilst you are there.

Enjoy your trip!