By Katy A seasoned budget traveller, Editor Katy has already been to every country in the EU, and is gradually ticking off the rest of the world - when she can bear to leave her cats.

I personally love putting together a travel itinerary by myself and organising all the connections, accommodation etc. It’s like a game of holiday Tetris (that I’m actually good at)! However, some of you, dear readers, seem to think a holiday is meant to be relaxing, and prefer to sit back and let someone else do all the planning.

As I discussed last week, India is one of those places where there’s seemingly limitless sites of interest, and most of us don’t have all the time in the world. When visiting such a vast country, I can understand that it might be easier to let a professional decide how, where and when you travel. But with so many tour companies on offer, how do you choose?

The ever-popular Intrepid Travel and G Adventures get rave reviews for group tours among the JFC Facebook community. Both offer options ranging from one week on the Golden Triangle to a month exploring much of the north and south. For private, tailor made trips, members recommended Responsible Travel and Rickshaw Travel.

After last week’s edition, JFC-er Sumit wrote in to tell us about his own sustainable tour company, which offers tours across India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan. He says:

“One of the things I didn’t like about the mainstream travel industry is hectic and clichéd Golden Triangle tours. They short change the visitor by showing them only the most obvious, and short change the locals by not putting enough tourism revenue in their way. So I decided to do things a bit differently, and I take my clients to a lot of places in the Golden Triangle, both in and out of the 3 main cities, that are so worth your time.”

Head over to the Instep Adventures website to see all the wonderful tours Sumit and the team offer. You can sign up for their newsletter for even more regional travel inspiration, and if you decide to book one of their tours, Sumit has kindly offered a discount just for us JFC-ers! Just provide the code JFC-24 when you make your tour enquiry, and you’ll get a delicious 10% off!

If you’re the kind of traveller who likes knowing that all your transfers, trains, and accommodation are booked in advance, enlisting a tour operator probably is the way to go. While word is that you’ll never have a problem finding drivers and local tour operators once you arrive in India, it can be hard to buy train and coach tickets in advance without a local phone number.

There is also a middle ground between a tour and full-on going with the flow, though; booking your accommodation online as usual is easy enough, and many JFC-ers found that their hotels were happy to arrange onward train or coach reservations when asked. Here’s what our very own Flight Finder Lauren had to say about her experience:

“You can definitely do India by yourself without an organized tour! Trains are a great way to travel between cities. We took a sleeper train, and it was pretty nice in 2nd class. But I would absolutely recommend booking tickets in advance, as the ticket booths at stations can get hectic and confusing. Getting out of Delhi by car can take over 2 hours thanks to the traffic, extending your transfer times between cities. If you’re on a tight schedule, definitely choose the train.”

Last week, we mentioned the mountain town of Shimla, which is famously served by a “toy train”. Most members’ accounts of travelling on India’s trains are fairly positive, and this spectacular journey is no different—unless you’re tall. Think jammed-into-a-budget-airline levels of knee bashing.

Getting up before the crack of dawn is the only real way to avoid it. The early morning Shivalik Deluxe Express service has posh seats that won’t leave you cursing the day you heard the words “toy train”! Reader Andy’s limbs may still be recovering, but he did say Shimla was totally worth it.

The spontaneous among you will be pleased to hear that it’s also easy to go with the flow when it comes to deciding where to go in India, with plenty of accommodation and cheap flights available. Solo traveller Paul recently asked for advice on where to consider during his three week “winging it”-style holiday, and the JFC Facebook community sure delivered. Mere days before his departure, might I add!

As for getting around the cities themselves, there’s nothing to stop you visiting the sights without a tour or guide, either. You can easily flag down an auto rickshaw/tuktuk or order a ride through Uber/Ola. That said, as a Mumbai local, Kiran knows a thing or two about getting around India’s big cities:

“Traffic is going to be bad in all the most popular tourist destinations, so plan your itinerary ahead of time. Rickshaws are a better option than cabs, because they’re smaller and faster. Wherever possible, that’s going to be the best choice.”

Adding to that, Lauren says there are a few things you should be prepared for if you obviously look like a tourist going it alone when you’re out and about:

“If you plan on visiting any sights on your own (i.e. without a guide/tour group) just know that locals might ask for selfies with you. Men, women, old, young—literally everyone. Everyone who approached us was very polite, but some people were quite persistent if we ever said “no”.

Sometimes tuktuk drivers will follow you in case you need a guide or a ride. Even if you firmly say “no, thank you,” they follow you just in case. It can get a bit annoying, but we never experienced anyone being rude or pressuring us.

In some parks or at specific attractions, the security guards may start telling you about the place and the history, although they will almost 100% ask for a tip at the end. Don’t feel pressured into this if you made an active effort to end the conversation, you should not feel obliged to tip.”

So now we’ve got everything we need to work out where we want to go and how we want to see the country, it only seems right that we leave you with something sweet to whet your appetite.

When I asked Kiran what foods from home he missed most, he didn’t hesitate—the desserts! Sweets, or mithais, are a huge part of Indian cuisine and festival culture. While they vary from state to state, city to city, he says there’s one thing you can always rely on—every city has a famous sweet shop where you can find all the best bakes under one roof.

Trying them all is a noble quest, one not for the faint of heart. We can’t all be so brave, so thankfully Kiran shared a few pointers on ones you absolutely can’t miss:

• Jalebi - a crispy, deep-fried spiral of fermented sweet batter, dunked in syrup to serve
• Petha - a translucent, chewy candy that resembles Turkish Delight, except made from a vegetable known as winter melon
• Malai Barfi - aka ‘milk cake’. Don’t be fooled, though, it’s not a cake at all, rather milk curds miked with sugar, cardamom, and ghee, then garnished with pistachios
• Gulab Jamun - commonly served in Indian restaurants the world round, they’re like jalebi but shaped like balls, and bathed in a rosewater and cardamom-flavoured syrup

And if you’re stopping by Mumbai on your travels, he also insists you join the line for dinner at iconic South Indian restaurant Ramashraya. Be sure to grab an authentic breakfast at Café Madras, as well—their idlis are perfectly light and fluffy!

Is there an article you’d like to see in the Detour? Do you have a travel conundrum you’d like Detour readers to help you solve? Just let us know!

Ask us for a travel tip!

On visiting India...

Well, that's us told! Thanks for keeping us right, Paul.

On cheap summer getaways...

Ah, the classic summer surge pricing—I don’t envy you, reader! The good news is, there’s one country that jumps to mind right away. Over the last year or so, low-cost connections to Albania have popped up from all across Europe, making it easily accessible no matter where you’re travelling from. But when it comes to those sky-high summer rates, they’re still to catch on!

Most trips to Albania begin in the capital, Tirana, which makes for a fascinating city break. You can learn a lot by going on a walking tour about the history of Albania, which was closed off from the rest of the world until the 90s. Nowadays, Tirana is a vibrant and youthful city with a cracking food scene and artsy culture.

There are lots of cool opportunities to learn about the country’s communist history, for example at the House of Leaves Museum of Secret Surveillance, and in the network of underground bunkers built for the political elite, now called BUNK’ART. Right beside BUNK’ART, you can hop on the Dajti Ekspres cable car for some awesome views over the city and beyond.

Not far from Tirana is the coastal town of Durrës. This is option number two for where you might start your Albanian trip, as there are regular ferries linking the town with Bari and Ancona in Italy. As one of the oldest parts of the country, it’s worth spending a little time there among the ancient amphitheatre and Venetian tower.

For the best seaside experience in the country, however, you’ll want to visit Sarandë, in the south. This is actually where I (Katy) first arrived in Albania, via ferry from Corfu. The town itself has full-on summer beach holiday vibes, with really nice villas with private pools and beaches, yet it’s super cheap. Flight Finder Larissa stayed in this one last summer, in case you’d like a peek!

She does warn you to be careful when choosing your accommodation, though; depending on where your villa is, the walk into central Sarandë can be around 30–40 mins in the sun. You can obviously get taxis, but they do try to get as much money out of you as possible.

There is a castle at the top of a really big hill. The walking route on Google Maps makes it seem doable, but it’s really not. Unless you’re an experienced hiker/walker, don’t even try it. It’s definitely best to get a taxi if you want to go!

From Sarandë, Ksamil is only 30 mins away, and that’s where you’ll find the beach that’s regularly being touted as the ‘ European Maldives’. It’s pricier and busier than the other beaches, but the water is turquoise and the views are beautiful. Then just a little further south is Butrint, a must for lovers of a good ramble around UNESCO World Heritage Site ruins.

As you can see, reader, there would be plenty to keep you entertained during a cheap anniversary trip to Albania. In fact, there's so much more I haven't even mentioned.

We loved it there, and we reckon everyone else will too! That said, we’re always keen to hear other suggestions. If anyone has a top tip for cheapish summer getaways, hit ‘Reply’ and let us know!

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.

• Now all that talk of Albania has you thinking off the beaten path, find out where else made Nat Geo’s list of countries that deserve more travellers.
• The groundbreaking Hawaii Seaglider Initiative looks set to change interisland travel dramatically over the next decade, as yet another major airline gets involved.
• In case you can’t make it over to Japan in the next couple of weeks, Washington, DC’s Bloom Cam has you covered for all your cherry blossom needs!
• And finally, Finland has been named as the world’s happiest country for the seventh year in a row. The study measures each population’s levels of satisfaction with everyday factors like health, income and freedom. And just as in 2023, we’re all being invited over to Helsinki to spend five days learning how to be as happy as a Finn. Jippii!
  You might be thinking, “Nope, Finland’s not for me. It’s cold, and just look how hard that language is!” Well, you could opt for the runners-up instead—Denmark and Iceland are notorious for their warmth and easy languages, after all…!