India (2022)

Summary

We visited India – specifically Delhi and Mumbai during our children’s winter break in late December 2022 as it was a perfect time to go back to see family and friends after four years and with COVID subsiding. The weather is most ideal during this period – slightly chilly in Delhi and perfectly warm in Mumbai. We love bringing our kids to India as often as we can to keep them connected to culture, family and progress in India. We flew the direct flights to Delhi and back – we find the long single journey to be much better than the layover options – the logistics, the fatigue and the added time just don’t feel worth it and the kids have managed well both times we have done it. We did a lot of visiting, some sightseeing, a little shopping and some great dining. We also stayed in hotels throughout our trip, which added a vacation feel and which we plan to continue on future trips. Thankfully, this careful attention to accommodations and dining helped keep us all healthy throughout our journey.

Accommodations

In Delhi, we stayed at The Oberoi, New Delhi for the second time. We love this hotel – it’s in a nice, calming, quiet neighborhood in Delhi, has a wonderful breakfast, great guest rooms and outstanding service. It is central but not too central. In Mumbai, we stayed at the Four Seasons Mumbai again for the second visit. We also love this hotel – it has an awesome rooftop bar, its very central in Mumbai next to wonderful shopping and dining and it has all the hallmarks of incredible Indian hospitality: great service, dining and accommodations. Both hotels provided transfers to and from the airports making our stay seamless end-to-end. I also love the Four Seasons in-stay app which made communications with the hotel staff easy and efficient.

Select Favorites

• • Dining
    • Delhi: We visited our favorite restaurant Bhukara at the ITC Maurya for their Indian kebabs; we also love Indian Accent near The Oberoi; we also found a tremendous new place called Carnatic Café – best dosa we have ever had; next time we will try Dhaba in The Claridges, Town Hall in Khan Market, Varq at the Taj, 360 degree at the Oberoi and Dum Pukht at the ITC Maurya
    • Mumbai: We absolutely love the dining scene in Mumbai – our favorites from this visit included: 1) Americano (Italian) at the Fort in South Mumbai 2) the famous Bastian (Asian) in the Worli neighborhood in Central Mumbai 3) the new and exciting Koko (Asian) and 4) locally authentic and unique Bombay Canteen (Indian) in the Kamala Mills compound in Central Mumbai. In the most popular neighborhood – Bandra – we had an awesome lunch at the Jio World Drive in the Bandra Kurla Complex and a wonderful dinner at The MCA club in Bandra East. Next time, we will try Rue Du Liban (Lebanese), O Pedro (Goan), Ziya & Peshawri (Indian), Nara Thai (Thai) and Jia & Yauchta (Asian)
  • Activities
    • On this trip, we very much focused on visiting family, doing some shopping and of course signature dining. On our next trip, we will some of the famous sites like we on our past visits on Delhi and Mumbai; In Mumbai specifically, we will also spend time at the Golden Swan Country Club in Thane and on the beaches of Marine Drive in downtown Mumbai.

Recommendation

Every time we go to India we are amazed by the incredible local culture, infrastructure progress and kindness of the people – not to mention the amazing food! We cant wait to go back in a few years. As always, for dining, book reservations far in advance – the popular dining scene in Mumbai especially gets very busy very early!