Jayaram's Travel Links

My Trip Ideas [numbers indicate the # of days]

• Zurich [1] -> Lucerne [2] -> Interlaken & Lakes Thun/Brienz [1] -> Grindelwald[1] -> Junfrau [1] -> -> Lauterbrunnen -> Schilthorn[1] -> Geneva[2] -> Montreux[1] -> Zermatt[1] -> Glacier Express[1] -> St. Moritz[1] -> Bernina Express[1] -> Lugano and Lago Maggiore[2] -> Berne[1] -> Zurich [Took (roughly) this trip in May 2006, It's a mixture of cities, riviera, mountains and lakes. It also has some exciting train trips, Lucerne-Grimsel-Interlaken, Zermatt-Andermatt-St.Moritz, St.Moritz-Tirano and Lugano-Gotthardo-Zurich. Feel free to drop some places if you just wanna relax!]

Saving money while travelling in Europe!

• IBIS Hotels (where available), ETAP Hotel (if you're desperate to cut costs)
• ISIC, IYIC and ITIC cards
• STA Travel

More exciting places

• Kulmhotel Gornergrat [visited in May 2006. Highly Recommended!]
• Baden-Baden [visited in Jan 2008, Highly recommended!] 
• Bellagio, Lago di Como, Italy
• Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, India
• Leh and Leh-Manali Highway

Travel Recommendations in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka

• [DO NOT VISIT from March to October] Lovedale (Ooty) -> Doddabetta -> Theppakaadu (Mudumalai). Recommended that you take the trip when it is cloudy/rainy if the roads haven't been washed away :). [Took this trip in the reverse direction in November 2004].
• Another interesting itinerary is from Vaidyanathan's page. Ooty is probably the most visited hill station in Tamil Nadu and people don't recommend it. But the hills have several scenic spots and the key is not to spend much time in Ooty city!
• Mangalore -> Agumbe -> Sringeri -> Coorg -> Bangalore [Took part of this trip in September 1996]
• Great Cholan Temples dedicated to Lord Shiva: Brihadeeswara Temple and Kumbakonam [I've visited these temples many times]
• Rameswaram [Visited once, don't remember the year]