Travelling to India: Everything you need to know about rupees and visas

Got a question? Our expert, Simon Calder, can help

Most cities, such as Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, accept plastic (AFP)

Q My husband and I are travelling to India this November. I know that, as British citizens, we’re entitled to an eVisa – but even this seems fraught with complications. There are horror stories online of situations where the visa has been refused because of some tiny error, causing people to have to pay again, or problems with payment not going through properly.

I have seen a company called ivisa.com recommended by various travellers and bloggers. Apparently they charge a fee, but they check the application and if it is refused for any reason, they re-submit the application at their expense. But I’m concerned about using a third party. Can you recommend ivisa.com? Or have you any other advice to offer? Obviously November isn’t all that far away, so I’m eager to get this sorted out soon.

Kim S

A I can’t recommend ivisa.com for obtaining India’s eVisa, because I have not used its services – and I am most unlikely to do so. While the UK has some excellent visa specialists, who offer good value for untangling complex red tape, I would never advise British travellers to use a Florida-based firm like ivisa.com to obtain permission to visit India. I’m intrigued that it comes recommended; it has other offices in Spain, Peru and the Philippines, but again I cannot envisage any circumstances in which I would use it.

Nor would I advise using any of the organisations which come up first when you search online for “Indian visa”. The only one to use is indianvisaonline.gov.in/evisa – and even then, obtaining the necessary permit can be a tortuous business, as you suggest.

All I can suggest is that you persevere. If the system doggedly refuses to deliver for you, then you will have to apply for a full tourist visa through the Indian government’s outsourced agent, VFS Global. That will be more expensive and involve yet more bureaucracy.

I sense that you have already committed to a trip to India, as many people do, before tackling the red tape. Because the government in Delhi can make it so tricky to get the right documentation, I always urge travellers to obtain the eVisa first – which, because of the rules on validity means no more than four months before the trip.

Finally, be aware of two more rules for the eVisa: “Passport should have at least six months validity from the date of arrival in India. The passport should have at least two blank pages for stamping by the Immigration Officer.”

But November is a great time to be in India, and I hope you have a good trip.

Q My wife and I are going to India in November to spend a month travelling around major cities. Our accommodation is pre-booked but we will need to pay for meals and other miscellaneous expenses. Please advise the best way of purchasing currency.

Alan B

A November is an excellent time to visit much of India: not too hot, nor crowded, and I imagine you have got an excellent deal for your trip. You cannot obtain Indian rupees abroad – not that this is a problem because you would get a lousy rate in the UK. I simply take clean sterling notes (£10s and £20s – £50s are regarded with some suspicion, as they are in Britain) and change them as I go.

When you first arrive you can change some at the airport, though you won’t get the best rates. Cities have a good range of bureaux de change, and in smaller communities you can just ask around – the local carpet shop may turn out to have a sideline in changing money.

You will not need many rupees: after being a strictly cash society, India is rapidly embracing plastic. In general, I find that any enterprise aimed at tourists and/or middle-class Indians accepts credit cards, at least in the big cities. But of course cash-only places often deliver better value – and, in the case of food, more delicious meals.

Local transport and, in particular, taxis will also require payment in cash. Anyone travelling abroad and planning to use a credit card should avoid the annoying foreign exchange charges of up to 3 per cent charged by many banks. Halifax Clarity Mastercard is the one I use abroad.

Q I want to get away from Stockport this bank holiday weekend to see my family in Plymouth, but the off-peak train fare is a stupendous £170 return. Can you come up with any cheaper deal or will I end up driving again?

Sarah P

A The straight-line distance between Stockport and Plymouth is just over 200 miles, and even allowing for a dog-leg via Bristol, the journey is no more than 250 miles. So an off-peak fare like that strikes me as ridiculous.

And whenever that happens, I consider a ticket-split. This is a perfectly legitimate way to exploit some of the ridiculous anomalies in the fares system. Very simply, you buy two (or more) separate tickets for less than the straight-through fare quoted by booking office staff, ticket machines and National Rail enquiries online.

There is no need to get off the train at the “split point”. So long as the train stops at the station where one ticket ends and the next begins, you simply stay on board. It is a great way to save – and the more of us who do it, the sooner the rail industry will finally rationalise the absurd system that is a hangover from privatisation in the 1990s.

It took half a minute to make a guess that Bristol would be a good place to try. A flexible off-peak return from Stockport to there costs £91, and onwards to Exeter is a further £30. So you have saved almost £50 instantly. The only condition you have to meet is staying off-peak, which on this trip involves avoiding the morning rush hour – though on bank holiday Monday there are no restrictions at all.

There are plenty of websites (search “split tickets” and enter your journey details), but they can get exhaustingly elaborate – one I tried for your trip involved seven separate tickets, some of them inflexible advance fares, with no significant saving over the price I found. So I suggest you keep it simple. For my trip later today from Liverpool to Carlisle, quoted at a pricey £49 for an off-peak 120 miles, I shall simply get a cheap Northern Rail ticket and combine it with a TransPennine Express fare for a lot less.

Of course it involves some extra work: either online or at the booking office you need to buy both tickets. But if that is too much of a faff, the Loco2 App will do it automatically for a modest fee.

Email your questions to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder​