Travel question: I want an Indian summer but how do I get there?

Q I plan to travel to India from my local airport, Birmingham, in November, flying to Delhi and back to visit Rishikesh. There appear to be two possible options: nonstop on Air India (though with a stop in Amritsar coming home); or via Dubai on Emirates. The Air India fare is £475 return, about £50 more than Emirates. Which would you choose? Incidentally, Air India appears to have the Dreamliner, which I particularly like.

Jacqueline L

A I am always prepared to pay a premium for a nonstop flight, for two main reasons: the saving in time and stress compared with changing planes en route; and the reduction in the scope for things to go wrong with missed connections and the like. So I would automatically go for the Air India option, and indeed tweak it to make it more appealing – by flying back direct from Amritsar.

From Delhi to Rishikesh, in the Himalayan foothills, is a six hour journey by train, which is the only sensible way to cover the ground. Yet from Rishikesh to Amritsar is only about eight hours, and will give you the bonus of new scenery (if you take the afternoon train rather than the overnight) and a fascinating new city to explore.

Having said that, if you wish to economise then flying from London is going to be much cheaper. You can pay as little as £350 return on Alitalia from Heathrow via Rome to Delhi, or on LOT Polish Airlines via Delhi. The excellent Dreamliner experience with Gulf Air via Bahrain is only £380 – and the flight times mean you would not need a night near Heathrow before the flight. Even with the additional cost of reaching London that might be worthwhile.

Finally, you will be travelling at the time of year when demand is at an absolute low. So I wouldn’t even think of booking flights until the start of October – much can happen in the next few months, and it does not make sense to be financially committed.

Every day our travel correspondent Simon Calder tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder