City warms up for winter holiday

While some people are planning to go to Goa to enjoy the New Year parties, travel agencies have also planned trips to destinations offering adventure sports like paragliding, camps with treks and white water rafting.

“There is a lot to explore in India. So we are not really looking outside,” said Sumedha S, from Nirvana Nomads.

Poornima Dasharathi, who has travelled extensively in the country, said there were two main types of travellers leaving Bangalore to see the rest of the country – families travelling to the north and backpackers taking longer trips around the entire country.

Families often take pilgrim trips to the north, or on a longer weekend they will travel to the north east, she said. “People who want to do something different, go to the north east. But only a few people visit the region because of the insurgency,” she added. Alternatively, there is a younger crowd of backpackers who will travel around India during the temperate winter climate for longer.

“In India, backpacking is something we do unconsciously, because we don’t have hostels and inns,” Dasharathi said. Religious pilgrims from Bangalore, particularly to Kerala visit during the winter season, is common.

Universal Airlink Travels Manager Victor Naveen opined that a higher number of people were opting to go to Kerala, Goa, Shimla, Delhi, Agra, Kullu and Manali this winter.
“While places like Kerala and Rohtang are all-time favourite destinations, Delhi and Agra are hotspots for this period because of the fairly pleasant climate and Kufri is popular for its December snow.”

Although Goa has tourists year round, there is an influx during New Year for parties, he said.

Looking into international trips, Hong Kong and Macau seem to be doing particularly well this season when compared to other famous tourist places such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Dubai, where tourists flock during shopping festivals.

“While domestic trips cost between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 excluding the air tickets, trips abroad will cost between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 including air tickets. This would include food, accommodation and tour travel,” he said.

Photographer and traveller Kartik Siva said climate trends showed that going to Wayanad this December would be a good experience because it’s a hill station and the climate would be pleasant.