Tips For Saving Money On An Indian Road Trip

Is a road trip in India the most budget friendly way of travelling?

If you look at achieving a balance between convenience and an economical budget, then a road trip would come out at the top of the modes of travel.

And if you are looking to minimize your costs on Indian road trips even further, here’s a list of tips you could use based on my own experience.

More the Merrier…and Economical!

Convince more people to join in.

The best way to reduce your road trip cost is to include more people and split the travel cost (fuel, tolls and at times, accommodation too).

If you are a couple, check if another couple friend wants to join in.

Plus on the fun (obviously I hope you get along with them!) and minus on the expense seems like a good deal.

Reducing Fuel Costs

Since it is a road trip, fuel cost will be the main commuting expense. The final fuel price in India includes VAT which differs from state to state.

If your road trip includes traversing through different states, it is best to check on the petrol price in those states as the price between neighboring states can vary up to 10 INR/litre. E.g: Haryana (low) – Rajasthan (high), Gujarat (low) – Maharashtra (high).

You can check petrol prices here.

For fuel efficiency, keep the below tips in mind:

Maintain Steady Speed

Most Indian cars are not equipped with cruise control and thus maintaining steady speed is a manual task.

With sudden bursts and dips in speed, the fuel efficiency decreases and you end up spending more money.

Also, if you are travelling in the hills, never switch off your engine on slopes. Doing so might save some fuel but is highly risky as the vehicle is not in your control. Safety first. Always.

Don’t Overload Car with Baggage

Since it is a road trip, we do at times tend to carry our entire house in our car! Avoid.

The less your car weighs, the lesser fuel it will consume. Do not carry unnecessary things.

You could also read my ultimate packing guide for road trips to help you out.

Avoid Air-Conditioning

This may not always be possible as it depends on the weather. Avoid it only if the weather permits.

Air conditioning increases the fuel consumption by about 20%.

Avoid Idling

If you anticipate being stuck at a particular point for more than 60 seconds, turn off the engine.

You save duel as well do your bit to save the environment. Or probably I should say ‘you do your bit to not worsen the environment’.

Vehicle Condition

Make sure to get your vehicle serviced prior to any long road trip. I always let the advisor know that I would be going on a long trip so that they pay some extra attention to my vehicle.

Do keep an eye out for any unusual sound or any other warning signs. Get your car checked by the closest mechanic if you have even the slightest of suspicion.

Car trouble on highways (especially state highways and village roads) can be very expensive.

Weather

Weather is an important factor for economical as well as enjoyment reason. It can tend to get very hot in India during the summers and it is best to avoid the plains during those months.

Due to the scorching heat, you will need to use the air-conditioning on a continuous basis which would increase the fuel consumption by about 25%.

Most of the roads in India are best enjoyed with your windows rolled down as long as the weather is good and the car is not at a high speed.

However, do not roll down your windows if your car is at a high speed as that would increase wind resistance resulting in drag and reduced fuel efficiency.

Also, if you do not travel during the hot months, you can opt for non ac accommodation which would reduce your per night tariff too.

Water

This is one place where you can definitely save money as well as contribute a bit to saving the environment.

It is important to keep yourself hydrated so don’t be frugal with drinking water. That is not the solution.

Instead carry as much water as possible from your house. I recommend at least carrying two litres per head and refilling these bottles on your overnight stops.

Most hotels nowadays provide RO water. Either use that or if you are doubtful about the quality of RO water, then boil this water using an electric kettle and refill your bottles.

Avoid buying plastic bottles as much as you can.

You could read more in my article on the provision of drinking water on roadtrips in India

Accommodation

My advice is to not book this in advance. You can tentatively shortlist a few places and book them on reaching. You will mostly get a better deal when you walk into a hotel.

In my experience, you can get a decent AC room on the highway for about 1,000 INR/night which work great as rest stops.

When in a city that you would like to explore, try and get a location which is away from the city centre. That ways you will not get stuck in the city traffic and also do not need to worry about parking (which can be a real nuisance in some older cities).

As a plus, most of those hotels will be more economical.

If you want to really save money on accommodation, a tent is the most economical option. However, this is something I have not yet tried as my road trips are usually with my mom or one of my female friends.

I also know a few people who have slept in the car, but again being a woman traveler, this is not something that I would wish to try.

Food

If you are fine with eating at a highway dhaba, then the meals should not be too expensive. A usual meal of Paratha and tea should cost you between INR 150-200 for two people.

For me, eating at these highways is one big incentive of road trips.

If you do not like to eat at a dhaba and want to save some money, getting home cooked food is a great option. Food like sandwiches, parathas, theplas, poori-sookhi bhaji work well for road-trips along with tea/coffee in thermoses.

Also, it is a good idea to carry some soup packets and cup noodles which work well if you want to have something light for dinner after an entire day of travel. Read more here.

Apart from that, always keep some dry snacks in the car for munching.

If you are planning to stay in a particular city for a longer duration, then its worth opting for an Airbnb or homestays with attached kitchens. This would serve a dual purpose of being economical as well as satiate your craving for ‘home-cooked food’.

Toll

The number of toll booths and amount varies and the range can be from INR 20 to 270 for one-way tolls. The higher end amount is usually for expressways.

The toll plazas are on National highways and expressways. Till date, I don’t believe that I have come across any toll booth on state highways or any other internal road.

If you want to avoid paying the toll amount, the easiest way is to choose ‘avoid tolls’ option on google maps as shown in this screenshot. By doing that, google maps will suggest an alternate route to reach the same destination.

Although the new route will save you the toll amount, it may not always be economical as the new route maybe much longer or may be heavily jammed which would result in using more fuel.

The best way to get a good estimate on whether the new route will be more economical or no is to compare the difference in distance and time between the two routes. If there is not too much of a difference in these, then it should be fine to take the alternate route.

Unfortunately, currently there is no site/app which accurately provides the toll amount in India (or if there is, I don’t know it but if you are looking to build an app for this, let me know where you send you an invoice for using my business idea!).

When I plan my routes, I usually start with the ‘avoid tolls’ option as that usually takes me through state highways which are preferable to me. Then again, my road trips are more about the journey so increase in distance is usually not an issue for me.

Do make sure you have your fastag activated or else you will need to pay double the toll amount on national highways.

Budget Your Trip

If it is a longer road trip (more than a week), then it is advisable to keep a rough check on the budget. For my longer trips, I usually splurge on 25% of my accommodation choices and try to keep it under 1500 INR per night for the remaining 75%.

Since it is a road trip, most of the time is spent on the road and hence accommodation is only for sleeping and freshening up. I usually splurge on the days when I plan to spend more time in my room.

Final Words

Being on a budget friendly road trip does not mean that you need to compromise on safety or the fun aspect of the trip.

Read also: Safety Tips for Women road trips