India is incredible. The culture, the history, the colours…the food! But is it safe for women travellers?
As a woman who has travelled to more than 20 countries, often solo, I don’t like to use terms like “safe” or “safer” when describing one country or another—I know that bad things can happen anywhere.
But I’ve also read enough news reports to know that harassment and sexual assault of women is a genuine problem in India, especially on public transportation. And when I talked to other Canadian women who have been, some were enthralled if not downright transformed by their experience, while others found the culture too shock extreme. It was important for me to go and see for myself.
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I chose to visit India with a small group tour. And I’m so glad that I did. I am one of the enthralled ones. And I’d like to do what I can to reassure that yes, a woman travelling in India can have a wonderful time. I found out it’s like no other place and Earth. Go with an open mind, a spirit of adventure, and follow some safety tips and you’ll discover a generous people and understand the popular saying “The Guest is God.”
(Note that my trip was in the North, around Delhi, Rajasthan, and Agra. I’ve read that Mumbai in the south is considered the safest city for women, as per a survey of locals, but can’t speak to that region.)
- Start with Common Sense
- Read the Travel Advisories
- Get Vaccinated
- Check out the local news
- Join a woman’s only group tour
- Share your Travel Details with Friends
- Check out the app My Safetipin
- Arrive a day Early
- Arrange an airport transfer
- Dress modestly
- Don’t accidentally flirt
- Avoid taking selfies with local men
- Take a lot of money out from a safe ATM
- Check that your hotel room is secure
- Travel on the women’s only subway cars
- Avoid first-class sleeper trains
- Beware trying on clothes in shops
- Hire a woman rickshaw or taxi driver
Start with Common Sense
Safety precautions for a woman travelling in India start with the same common-sense advice for any trip. Don’t walk alone at night in unfamiliar areas. Avoid going anywhere with a man you don’t know. And you should keep a close eye and hand on any valuables.
But I learned that India has its own cultural etiquette and unique situations that deserve specific consideration.
I hope that these safety tips will help prepare you for the trip of a lifetime, and that you come home with only great memories.
Here are my top safety tips for any woman travelling in India for before you leave…
Read the travel advisories
Official government travel advisories can be scary. But they are also very helpful. Canada (like most countries) maintains a database of all the things than can go wrong in the world and you can look up any country to see what advisories are in effect. Be warned: it’s their job to give you all the information, and they are most likely than not to be conservative/alarmist.
India’s travel advisory page shows a yellow “exercise a high degree of caution” warning. That doesn’t mean don’t go. But it is a good reason to read through the entire page.
One thing to look for is specific areas that are experiencing unrest. For example, the Canadian government advises to avoid all travel to Kashmir and within 10km of the borders with Pakistan. India is a huge country, and few tourists would be doing this anyway, but it was good to see that the places on our itinerary were not considered unsafe for travel.
This page also has information for LGBTQ travellers about local laws. (India doesn’t criminalize sexual acts or relationships between persons of the same sex but it may or may not have a problem with the gender-neutral X passport, e.g.) And lots of frankly disheartening news about women’s safety. (Which is why I ended up joining a group tour, see below.)
You can also find the numbers of local emergency services and contact information for your consulate and embassies in India, which you should make a note of, and share with emergency contacts back at home.
Get Vaccinated
One of the best ways for women travelling in India to stay safe is to stay healthy. Talk to your doctor about which medications or vaccines are recommended for your trip to India based on your itinerary. And don’t delay this! I required several vaccines that should be started weeks before departure. This is also the time make sure your routine vaccines for things like tetanus, the flu, polio, etc. are up to date.
Check out the local news
Google the city you are visiting and use the News tab to see local news, which may include breaking events like protests, strikes and the like, which travellers are wise to avoid. Not every story makes it to Western/International media. Some English-language Indian news sites worth reading are The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Pioneer and Bombay Times.
Join a woman’s only group tour
There is safety in numbers. So joining any group tour in India is a wise idea. But as a solo woman travelling in India for the first time, I’m so glad I did it with a small group tour just for women. (Small group generally means around 12. We were six so I really felt like I was travelling with a group of friends.)
My Women’s Expedition to India with Intrepid Travel included a female tour guide, access to women’s only spaces and experiences such as henna painting and being outfitted with saris. The whole itinerary was designed with women’s safety in mind, plus travelling with a female leader you could ask *anything* really put me at ease. (You can read more about my trip on the Intrepid blog.)
A tour like this means that a lot is organized for you – accommodation, bus and train tickets, site visits, etc. I’m an independent solo traveller but sometimes it’s a good idea to let a local take care of these things and India really felt like one of those times.
Before you commit to complete solo travel in India, I highly recommend this tour, or research other reputable travel companies offering similar. You could also start a longer trip with a one week small group tour to get oriented, then set out on your own. Or you can book individual day trips with a local guide too. There are many options you don’t need to sacrifice safety for independence.
Share your Travel Details with Friends
This is good safety tip for all travellers in general, but especially for women travelling to India alone. Send your itinerary – fights, hotels, etc. – to at least one person before you go.
I have an iPhone and like to use the “share live location” feature, where I can have a trusted friend check on my actual location at any time. I’ve never been in an emergency, but it gives both me and my loved ones more peace of mind.
If you are not booking accommodations in advance, or if you change plans on the ground, arrange for a specific time for a phone/email check in with those back home.
Check out the app My Safetipin
My Safetipin ranks safe spaces for women in cities across India and suggests the safest route. It also has a tracking feature – you allow someone to track your movements and be alerted if you divert from a planned route or stop moving. It was designed with commuting women in India in mind but is useful if you’re going off the beaten paths too. Download for Apple or Android.
Consider a “soft landing” by arriving early
India is culture shock. This is what everyone told me and they are not wrong. But it was a lot less of a shock because I did what I call “the soft landing.”
I arrived the day before my tour started in Delhi, and booked myself into an upscale hotel in Gurgaon, a modern business district not far from the airport.
The Oberoi Gurgaon is one of India’s best hotels, and for a rather reasonable price in Canadian dollars I booked a huge room, an airport transfer with private driver, early check in, and discount on food and beverages. Here, I was able to acclimatize to the weather, the time zone change, and the culture in a comfortable environment with five-star service for the price of a budget hotel at home. I swam in the pool, ate delicious (safe) local cuisine, and generally spent my first 24-hours in India experiencing a much different side of the culture than I would be on the rest of my trip.
When I checked out and asked for a general public cab to my hotel in Delhi, the concierge insisted I take his cell phone number to message or call if anything untoward happened on my journey or I had any questions. I appreciated this and think it’s a great tip for solo women travel India, to get the concierge or desk clerk’s number before you head out on your own in the city.
Arrange an airport transfer
One of my top tips for any woman travelling in India is to book a private driver or shuttle bus that meets you at the gate through your hotel or tour agency, someone with a vested interest in your safety who is expecting your arrival. There is a lot of competition at airports, train stations, bus stations, etc. from freelance drivers and it’s a relief to avoid that hustle gauntlet when you’ve just set feet on the ground. It’s another way to have a bit of a soft landing.
OK now you’ve arrived in India, you’ve acclimatized and are ready to rock! What next?
Dress modestly
I confess I was surprised by how conservative women’s wear is in India. I consider saris quite sexy and the women in cities there fashion-forward. So I packed my usual travel clothes. Not skimpy, and with scarves to cover shoulders in small towns, religious sites, etc. but also not full Muslim-country modesty either.
After spending a day or two I realized would have been more comfortable in more looser and more modest outfits showing less cleavage. I also felt awkward in a two-piece swimsuit when I used hotel pools. And one of my travel mates had trouble entering a mosque because the shirt covering her leggings wasn’t considered long enough. (It was actually quite long.)
As a foreign woman travelling in India you will attract a lot of attention. So it’s a good idea not stick out any further with clothing that is even slightly revealing. There are many gorgeous scarves for sale in India to help you out!
Don’t accidentally flirt
Any friendly gestures to local men may be interpreted as flirting, including long looks. So if that is not your intention, wear sunglasses and/or keep your eyes from lingering at strangers, wait staff, etc. This is good practise for markets and tourist sites also, where if you glance at anything you will trigger a tsunami of salesmen. There are so many beautiful things to look at India it’s not difficult to avert your gaze away from men in the streets.
Avoid taking selfies with local men
Lots of people will want photos with you. Whether you accept or not is up to you. I found it pleasant to do with other women and families. (I held several babies.) But groups of dudes? No thanks.
Some women report being groped. And who knows where they are posting these pics and what they are saying about you. They can be quite persistent. And like when you give a seagull on the beach one French fry, suddenly there are 10 more squawking. Just say no and keep moving.
Take a lot of money out from a safe ATM
The usual rule of thumb when travelling is don’t carry a lot of cash. But many places in India do not accept foreign credit cards or debit cards. Some ATMs don’t either. I had to try multiple bank machines until I found one that would give me money. And some of them looked pretty sketchy. Thankfully, the women on my group tour in India helped each other out but if I was alone I would have been screwed.
Try to use a bank machine attached to an actual bank (when it’s open) or hotel and take out more local currency than you think you need, in case you can’t find another bank machine anytime soon. You don’t want to be going from place to place looking for cash.
Google Pay did seem popular even with independent drivers and shops that don’t take cards, as an alternative.
Check that your hotel room is secure
Does the door lock? The windows? Does it have a telephone that works in case you need to call for help? The level of amenities at hotels in India may be different from what you are used to, but they should still have basic security. Before unpacking, look around the room and if you don’t feel secure, ask for another room.
Women travelling in India should exercise the same caution as always—don’t open the door for anyone you don’t know and don’t give out your hotel or room details to strangers.
Travel on the women’s only subway cars
One of the biggest anxieties for a woman travelling in India is around public transportation. On my first day in Delhi I saw a sticker on a rickshaw that read “this driver respects women.” Perhaps it was intended to put me at ease. Instead, I thought “why do they need these stickers?!” The sad fact is that women are often harassed or assaulted on trains, buses, rickshaws and the like. So keep your wits about you and if anything feels off, trust you gut and leave.
In Delhi, women travellers can take advantage of special subway cars reserved for women only. The city is huge, traffic is insane, and using their modern underground public transportation is just a smart way to get around. The women’s only trains were clearly marked with a sign at one end of the platform. (It’s pink. Oh well can’t win them all!) I understand this exists in Mumbai as well.
If there are no women-only cars, try to sit next to other women.
Note that the subways had security checks. Like airport security where you put your bags through x-rays and you walk through a metal detector. While this made me feel somewhat safe it was also anxious to be separated from my purse. Our tour guide made sure to watch all of our bags. But if you are travelling alone, be mindful of this and only carry what you need.
Avoid first-class sleeper trains
This sounds backwards. But the first-class sleeper trains offer less security than the second-class trains. That’s because first-class sleeper cars are private, with a door that locks. So if you are travelling alone you may find yourself with a stranger, most likely male, behind closed doors.
Even in a group, because actual seats/berths can’t be confirmed until picking up the tickets on travel date, you aren’t guaranteed to be with your people. This is why we travelled second-class. It still had air conditioning and some comforts but was open air and we could ask kindly to move and sit together.
Beware trying on clothes in shops
Shopping in India is awesome! And this tip doesn’t apply to malls, other large stores, or shopping with friends. But the small shops I went into by myself were operated only by male staff, and the change rooms offered were either way in the back, or upstairs. It just didn’t feel wise to remove myself from public view and take my clothes off.
Hire a woman rickshaw or taxi driver
If you need a cab, ask your hotel to call you one. And consider hiring a woman driver. A growing number of taxi companies are providing this service, by women for women. Most of these run 24/7 but some require advance booking.
Check out Sakha Cabs for Women in Delhi, Jaipur and Kolkata. This is the first all women cab company in India and they can do regular taxi pick-ups or private chauffeur service.
Other taxi cab services with women drivers which are a great for solo woman travel in India:
Delhi: Meru Eve Cabs, GCabs
Mumbai: Priyadarshini Taxi Services, Viira Cab
Chennai: Go Pink
In Jaipur, there’s a collective for women rickshaw drivers called Pink City Rickshaw. They offer training and jobs to local women and provide a great service for visitors. You can book a half-day or full-day tour based on your interests. They have heritage tours, shopping tours, food tours and more. The women drivers aren’t tour guides and may have limited English, but they get you from point to point safely and definitely know where to stop for chai. This was a highlight of my trip to India so if you are in Jaipur it’s one of my top recommends!
A final and important tip for any woman travelling in India
After all this talk about what not to do while as a woman travelling in India, here’s something positive I encourage you to actively do: talk to local women!
It’s not always easy. Not everyone speaks English. And there are fewer women working in public customer service roles in hotels and restaurants than in other countries. But Indian women are also travelling, and you will likely find opportunities to interact with them while waiting for buses or sitting on long trains. If they have children with them I found that was a good way to open conversations. These interactions, however reserved and brief, gave me a much different impression of India than just a place where I should keep my head down and not engage with anyone. And if you have a chance to take a cooking class or other workshop with an Indian woman, you will not regret it!
I hope this list of tips from a woman travelling in India has been helpful and an inspiration to go there. If you have your own travel safety suggestions please leave them in the comments below for others. And because I am certain to be back and most likely going solo!
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