Budget-friendly road trips in India

If you are keen to travel on a shoestring budget, the best way to do so is via a road trip. Of course, these trips can also be expensive, so no matter how you travel, it is necessary to keep a track of your spendings. Another way to save some bucks during travel is setting off on roads during off-season, which will not only be budget-friendly, but you will also be able to avoid the tourist crowd.

So, here are our favourite budget-friendly road trips to take in India.

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Mussoorie is located around 290 km north of New Delhi, and will take around 7 hours to reach Mussoorie. To make the trip more exciting, one can stop at Dehradun and check out some beautiful tourist attractions before heading ahead to Mussoorie. Also, if you are willing to take a couple of detours during this trip, you will be able to explore some of Uttarakhand's best-kept secrets. Plus, this trip will not be heavy on your budget.

Dreamy and surreal will be apt words to describe this road trip. As you set off for this trip, your route will be dotted with rivulets, cascading waterfalls, rain-drenched valleys, and even more surprises than you have expected. You can take the Mumbai-Pune expressway for a hassle-free journey. On the way, you can even opt to halt at the Lohagad Fort, and click some stunning pictures for your Insta page. Plus, there are roadside stalls, where food is not expensive. All in all, this road trip will also be pocket friendly.

It will take around seven hours to complete a trip from Ahmedabad to Kutch, and it’s a budget-friendly one. Travellers not only get to halt at certain places to enjoy the scenic beauty of the route, but can also stop en route to gorge on lip-smacking food. Also, don’t miss to experience the art and culture of Gujarat as you ride past the unique huts, which line up the route from Ahmedabad to Kutch.

This trip is not only great, but also a quick weekend trip for all those who are in Kolkata or somewhere nearby. This beautiful stretch of 184 km features picture-perfect landscapes that will leave anybody speechless. It’s possible to reach Digha from Kolkata in just around four hours via NH116B and NH16, where one can also find scores of eateries to satiate their hunger pangs.

The highlight of this road trip is not only that it is pocket-friendly, but also the scenic beauty that it has on offer. There are majestic mountains in the backdrop, lush green tea gardens lined up on the roads, whereas the beautiful landscapes on all sides will not let your eyes blink even once. The distance is around 72 km between these two locations, and can be covered within four hours, and if you have time to spare, halt at a tea garden to enjoy a sip of refreshing tea.

This road trip will not burn a hole in your pocket! Every photographer and nature lover should enjoy this trip at least once in their lifetime for obvious reasons. The route, dotted with mountains and scenic landscape will, at one point of time, also take you past the dense yet the soul-refreshing forests of Bandipur. Then, as you cross the ancient city of Mysore, you will be satisfied with what all this trip has offered to you.

The distance between these two destinations will be approximately 130 km, and will take 4 hours by road to complete this trip. The route being extremely scenic, keep your cameras handy, so that you don’t miss that perfect shot. Plus, there are many budget hotels too, where you can check in and manage your budget easily. For the best views, make sure you start the trip at sunrise when the mists are moving and the sky gets clearer in a dramatic way.

Many travellers visiting Puri also end up driving to Konark to see the Konark Sun Temple, and this road trip is worth taking all the effort. As one takes the Puri-Konark highway, views of the surreal natural beauty of Odisha are enough to make them sit back and enjoy the trip. Plus, the highlight of this road stretch is that it is parallel to the sea and is just mesmerising! And since it’s a budget trip, it can be taken any time of the year.