Travel Tips

Tips for Visitors: India is an extremely hospitable country. Here, most of the people believe in the old phrase “Atithi Devo Bhava” which means that a guest is the reflection of God. The Tourism ministry too functions on this principle.

Greetings: The Indian greeting is to fold the hands and tilt the head forward to ‘namaste’. Indian women in the rural sector and some semi-urban sectors prefer not to shake hands, however, the same is not true for the major section of the society.

Dress: Indians dress modestly.

Eating and Drinking: In India, the tradition custom is to eat with the hand – the right hand. Though it is not compulsory and mostly people eat as per their convenience. Tourists should not drink water from tap or roadside vendors and should avoid fountain drinks. It is best to consume mineral water or aerated drinks that are easily available.

Monetary System: Indian currency is known as rupee. The Indian money (rupee) is available in denominations of Re 1, ₹ 2, ₹ 5, ₹ 10, ₹ 20, ₹ 50, ₹ 100, ₹ 500 and ₹ 2000. Coins are available for Re 1, ₹ 2, ₹ 5 and ₹ 10.

Exchanging Money in India: Change money with authorized money changers (at the airport, banks, hotels and large shops) and do collect a receipt as it will help you to reconvert unused rupees into the original foreign currency at the time of departure. Avoid street vendors who offer to exchange the money at a temptingly higher rate of exchange.

Tipping: Tips is a regular practice in India. In cases of restaurants of famous and prestigious hotels, generally a 5%  service surcharge is added to the bill or else 10% is the maximum amount of tip expected.

Religious Places: Temples and mosques prohibit shoes inside the place.

Prohibition: Consumption of alcohol and smoking in public is prohibited in India. Disrespect towards National Flag and National Anthem is punishable.

Local and STD Numbers: Landline numbers are at most 8 digits long (usually in major metros). The total length of all phone numbers (STD code and the phone number) in India is constant at 10 digits, for example 080.2321999

International dialing: The international access code in India is 00. For example, to call 08-790-1000 in Sweden from India, a subscriber needs to dial: 00 46 8 7901000.

For calls to India from abroad, the appropriate international access code should be dialed, followed by 91 followed by the area code (without the 0) followed by the phone number. For example, to call 011-23456789 in India, from Europe, a subscriber needs to dial: 00 91 11 23456789

Internet Services: Internet Service is provided in all the hotels and also by the cyber-cafés in almost every nook and corner of the city.