NRIWallah team
Updated October 2026
Why work out the cost first
The flight is the easy part of an India trip to price. The rest comes after landing: gifts for a large family, hotel nights when staying with relatives is not practical, trips for the children, dental or medical work, a cousin’s wedding and the shopping.
The calculator builds these in so you can decide whether to travel this year, compare peak and off-peak dates, plan a medical or dental visit around the trip, and set aside a wedding contribution before it surprises you. It also shows how much foreign currency to convert and how much to withdraw in India.
What the estimate includes
- Flights: round trip per traveller, scaled by season.
- Accommodation: assumes some nights in a hotel and the rest with family, scaled by city tier and lifestyle.
- Food and daily spending: meals out and household contributions.
- Local transport: autos, taxi apps and the occasional inter-city journey.
- Gifts: for parents, siblings, in-laws and other relatives.
- Miscellaneous: sightseeing, restaurants and children’s activities.
- Optional: medical or dental care, a wedding contribution (shagun, outfits and travel-day costs) and travel insurance.
What it leaves out
- Getting to and from the airports. The taxi or drive at your end, airport parking and the transfer to the family home are priced by the door-to-door trip calculator , which works postcode to PIN code.
- Large purchases such as gold, property viewings and big electronics.
- Domestic flights between Indian cities, beyond a local transport allowance.
- Visa or OCI processing, if you need to renew on this trip.
- Emergencies and last-minute changes.
Three costs that are easy to miss
Gifts add up. A family visiting parents, in-laws, siblings, nieces, nephews and friends buys many small gifts, and the total is usually larger than the first guess.
Hotel nights you did not plan. Even when you plan to stay with family, a different city, a small house, a parent’s health or the children’s need for space can move several nights to a hotel.
Restaurant bills in the metros. A family dinner in Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru costs more than many visitors expect, and a three-week trip has many of them.
Ways to bring the cost down
The festival calendar shows which weeks are busiest.
- Fly outside the peak weeks if your dates are flexible.
- Compare mid-week and weekend departures.
- Pay by UPI in India where you can, which avoids the foreign-card markup.
- Book domestic flights early if you are visiting several cities.
- Bundle dental or medical work into one visit rather than spreading it across several. The medical treatment guide covers what to check first.
NRIWallah does not provide travel advice. Use this calculator for budgeting only, as actual costs depend on your choices, the market and the season.
