Air travel is the dominant way to travel to India. What are there other transportation options, if travelling across borders?

Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka are the neighbouring countries bordering India. Tourists visiting these destinations can easily travel to India. You can avail a quick flight, take a road-trip on a bike or a luxury bus, or even ride a boat. Read on to know more.

Travelling to India by Air

Traveling from west, you will be welcomed at four main entry points namely Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. If travelling from other Asian countries, most likely Bangalore, Kochi and Hyderabad will be your admission points. Today, tourists flying with KLM and Lufthansa airlines arrive directly to Hyderabad.  

Analyzing the current traffic flow, many airports across India have been upgraded to receive international flights; these include Goa, Mangalore, Amritsar, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Calicut, Pune, Thiruvananthapuram, Varanasi and Tiruchirappalli.

India is home to some internationally acclaimed airlines like Indian Airlines, Kingfisher and Jet Airways. Additionally, they offer superb domestic flying experience as well.

Flying from United States? Avail the services of domestic brands like Continental Airlines and American Airlines. The former offers nonstop daily flights from Newark Airport to Delhi and Mumbai, while the latter connects Chicago to Delhi.  

Indian Airlines offers daily non-stop service from JFK to Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Many European carriers connect main US cities with India, while Asian carriers usually connect cities on the West Coast to India. 

Admittance to India from Europe and Northern America are possible with European airlines like Lufthansa, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, British Airways, Air France and Finnair. Tourists seeking a long-term stay in India may purchase economical packages from Swiss airlines, which connect European and American cities to India via Switzerland.

When travelling to India via Gulf countries, render the services of low-cost Gulf carriers like Air Arabia and Etihad. Other comfortable carriers include Emirates and Qatar airways.

From East Asia and Australia, Singapore Airlines, Jet Airways, Air India Express, Air Asia and Tiger Airways are undoubtedly the best and subsidized connections to India. Recently, Silk Air (subsidiary of Singapore Airlines) launched a direct flight from Singapore to Hyderabad.

Travelling to India by Boat

Indian peninsula supports several international ports, however Chennai and Mumbai are the main ports that handle both passenger and cargo traffic, while the others handle cargo only. Popular cruise lines that travel to India include Grand Voyage Seychelles-Dubai and Indian Oceans Eden II.

Travelling to India by Train

Visitors from Pakistan can enjoy their travel to India via the Samjhauta Express that runs from Lahore to Attari in Punjab. However, foreign nationals are prohibited from travelling on this train, due to political issues. Should you want to exchange countries quickly, walk across Attari/Wagah border.

From Nepal, trains ply between Khajuri in Nepal and Jaynagar in Bihar. Since April 2008, bi-weekly Moitree Express runs between Dhaka (Bangladesh) to Kolkata.  

Travelling to India by Bus

From Nepal buses ply to New Delhi, Lucknow, Patna and Varanasi. 

The Royal Bhutanese Government runs a service between Phuentsholing to Kolkata. From Kolkata you can hop in on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:00 PM and the remaining days at 3:00 PM, you can enjoy a journey from Bhutan.

Surprise you family with a packaged-tour to India via air, land or water transport.