I'm on the travelsphere beyond the golden triangle trip departing next week. I'm unsure of the best  way to take money. Is sterling or US dollars better to take to change out there? I've heard stories about rupee money being very dirty

Many thanks

Lucinda

You cannot take rupees into or out of India as they have a closed currency. I too English pounds and our rep arranged for us to cash money at Delhi airport when we landed.

Yes rupee notes are filthy ! The advice given is to always carry antiseptic gel and use it frequently especially after handling money.

That said this is an amazing holiday, I loved it and I hope you do too.

Kind regards

Ange

I went to India with JY in 2012 so the memory is a bit hazy at this stage!  I'd say you'd be fine with sterling but if you want to be on the safe side, bring dollars.  As far as I remember most of the hotels had money exchanges so you shouldn't have any problems changing money.  I seem to remember the notes being a real mixture of new and really tatty, so probably a good idea to have some hand gel/wipes with you!  Hope you have a wonderful time.

Best wishes,

Bob

Have done both the Spirit of India and Kerala trips. On both occasions I took sterling notes. Notes have to be in good condition and I got new notes from my bank. ATMs are becoming more widely available in India but remember to tell your bank that you may be using your cards. Rupee notes are variable in cleanliness so suggest you carry hand gel and use it after handling money.

Hope this helps.

Lesley

I did this wonderful tour a few years ago. I always take US dollars. Yes, rupees are incredibly filthy, that's why it is vital to make sure you use anti-bacterial wipes/gel every time you handle money, in order to avoid Delhi Belly!

Have a great time.

Cheers,

Hils

Hi Lucinda

You cannot take rupees into or out of India as they have a closed currency. I too English pounds and our rep arranged for us to cash money at Delhi airport when we landed.

Yes rupee notes are filthy ! The advice given is to always carry antiseptic gel and use it frequently especially after handling money.

That said this is an amazing holiday, I loved it and I hope you do too.

Kind regards

Ange

You can get Rupees from any decent specialist bureaux de change in the UK (so not a bank). e.g. Best Foreign Exchange who I always use for my currency purchases have them as a stock currency. So do others like Thomas Exchange UK and ACE FX. Banks only stock the most popular currencies then tell customers the ones they don't stock can't be got hold of. I had a bank spin me a similar line with Icelandic Krona during their financial crisis only to get what I needed from BFE without problem.

Moneycorp also supply Rupees if one wants to get them before travelling. You can either order online or call them. I usually use them as you can choose a day when you want the currency delivered and they also do not charge any postage if your order is £500 or more. The exchange rates too are better than most places.

Jaya

Hi

Moneycorp also supply Rupees if one wants to get them before travelling.

I was interested in doing this, but I have just checked their website  https://www.moneycorp.com/uk/travel-money/  and regrettably they are not listing Indian Rupees as a option for either home delivery or airport collection.  

So it seems , back to Plan A

Things may have changed as they were offering when I went to Kerala last year and the rate was much better than what I got in India. Like a silly fool I decided not to order any Rupees before I went as I thought I will get a better rate in India! You can try calling them so see if they have any currency on offer.

Good luck.

Jaya

Hi

Moneycorp also supply Rupees if one wants to get them before travelling.

I was interested in doing this, but I have just checked their website  https://www.moneycorp.com/uk/travel-money/  and regrettably they are not listing Indian Rupees as a option for either home delivery or airport collection.  

So it seems , back to Plan A

Try Best Foreign Exchange instead - who are listed as the cheapest in the country today for Rupees for pick-up (small charge for delivery but still second in the table in that case). They will home deliver if you have no reason to be in London to pick them up for free.

Comparison of providers: http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/ 

BFE's page listing all of their stocked currencies and their rates: https://www.bestforeignexchange.com/services-travel-money-by-post.php 

I've ordered all sorts from them that are rare; Costa Rican Colons, Chilean and Argentinian Pesos, Icelandic Krona, Malaysian Ringgits etc. Always been in stock for same day pick-up (in my case I go to London for work once or twice a month so can tie in a visit to pick them up). Best thing is you order online but don't pay until you get there, so can change your mind and not turn up if your plans change at no penalty.

https://www.compareholidaymoney.com/buy-currency/indian-rupees.php  (there was, incidentally, no customs goods import check either: all I had to do was fill in a customs declaration form and then post it in a box at the airport!).

I was advised not to exchange money at the airports as the exchange rate was bad, so I exchanged Sterling at a bank next to my hotel in Delhi. This proved to be a wonderful introduction to Indian bureaucracy: no problems with Sterling per se, but it took well over half an hour to exchange GBP200 into INR, and involved the photocopying of my passport and the services of an astonishingly large number of people. The bank itself was a very interesting place: open plan, with each position having a large yellow card with the job description (in English and Hindi(?)) of the person sitting there and/or the function of the department located there - all preceded by a large yellow sign saying "May we help you?" (although the welcoming tone was dampened a little by an even larger yellow sign: "You are under surveillance")

There was an ATM outside the bank - but this reportedly did not work . . . . .

Two hundred pounds' worth of Rupees proved more than enough for two weeks, as everything I wanted was very cheap (and I am not a shopaholic) - any more expensive items could easily be purchased using credit cards, which seemed to be accepted everywhere I went.

The notes which I obtained were better than I expected, especially the larger denominations (INR100,500), which were like well-used £20 notes - but I soon acquired a large collection of filthy crumpled small-denomination notes (INR10, 20, 50), after the handling of which I definitely felt the need for some antibacterial hand gel. I found that in practice all restaurant bills were rounded up, so I never saw a coin until the last day in Mumbai, when I received two 1Rp coins  with the exact change (in a 5-star hotel!) when I settled my hotel bar bill. I shall treasure these.

Jim

PS -  there is a picture of the notes and coins on p.769 of the DK guide to India.