Air Transport Services:

Indian Airlines, the country's major domestic airline, files extensively across the nation and to neighbouring countries as well.

Alliance Air, India's second domestic airline, covers small towns not touched by Indian Airlines. Foreigners must pay in foreign currency, traveller's cheques or currency exchange forms. The dollar tariff is applicable on domestic section for foreigners and NRIs. Misplaced tickets are not the responsibility of these airlines.

Indian Airlines has a 21 day 'Discover India' fare which costs US $ 400. Also available are INDIA WONDERFARES prices at US$ 200 valid for 7 days.

Other excursion fare circuit trips providing 20% or 30% discount on the regular fares are also available. Foreign Nationals below 30 years are entitled to Youth Fare discount of 25% on US dollar tariff in Domestic/ Indo-Nepal flights.

Train/ Rail Network in India:

The Indian Railways is the world's second largest railway system, under a single management with a route length of over 62000 kms.

There are generally two classes - 1st and 2nd class. Air-Conditioned coached which have 1st class A.C. and A.C. chair cars are also avvailable.

The cost of reservation is nominal and children between 5 and 12 years have to pay only half the regular fare. Children below 5 years are allowed to travel free of cost.

It is advisable to obtain reservations in advance, as trains in India are crowded.

Left Luggage:

This is a facility at most railway stations, wherein the tourist can check the luggage into a cloakroom for a short period.

Special Trains:

The 'Palace on Wheels' is a royal experience fit for Maharaja, which does a regular circuit of the state of Rajasthan. This train operates on ever Wednesday of the week, from October to March.

A few other special trains are Taj Express, Pink City Express and Shatabdi Express.

Indrail Passes:

These enable the tourist to enjoy unlimited travel on Indian trains within the period of their validity. A tourist travelling on Indrail Pass is exempted from paying reservation fee, sleeper charges, supplementary charges for travelling by super fast trains or for meals provided in Rajdhani & Shatabdi Express trains.

Buses:

India has an extensive and well developed bus system, with the system varying widely from State to State. Buses with video shows are becoming increasingly popular on certain routs. Baggage is generally carried on the roof. Hence the tourist must ensure that his/her luggage is secured properly and is waterproof. There are extensive local bus routes in all major cities.

Driving:

Car rental system (similar to those in the West) like Hertz, Budget, Europecar are available in India. Also available are chauffeur driven cars and short and long distance metered taxis.

Other Transport:

In some places, auto-rickshaws (three wheelers),tongas (horse-drawn two wheelers), and Victorias (horse drawn carriages) operate. Calcutta boasts of an extensive tramway and also India's only underground Metro Railway.