Cost of car and driver ... is it worth it?

pippie

This site is amazing! this will be my first trip to India so I've been posting what must seem like silly questions to you seasoned travellers Thanks for all your responses

I will be landing in Dehli on Nov 9th and travelling with 2 others (so 2 girls, 1 guy). We only have 6 days to cover Dehli, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur before we head down to Kerala for 2 weeks.

I wondered if it would be worthwhile trying to negotiate a driver/guide and car rather than the train for these 6 days - to maximise our time?

Can anyone give me an estimate for what that would cost us for a quick 1-2 days round Dehli, then to Agra for a day then to Jaipur (via Fatepuh Sikri)?? we could make our own way down to Udailpur

Or is this all just easy enough to do ourselves??

phantom

I think it will be a good idea if you hire a car.. for the trip in and around delhi. It will save you a lot of hassles and time. So hire the car for Delhi and Rajasthan and then go to kerala through train.

The car u r hiring must have an all india permit. and you should check the credentials of the driver before starting out.
Depending on the car the rates may vary between Rs.6 to Rs. 10 per km.
with Rs. 100 per night for the driver.
I think you will get a nice a/c small car at around Rs. 6 per km.

so have fun
Cheers.

pippie

thanks Phantom - thats a lot of help.

Where will I find these cars and drivers??? and any idea how where I can find distances in km's between these places so I can work out an approximate price?

thanks again!

cyberhippie

I would advise that as all these destinations are well served by rail there really isn't any need for a taxi.
That said it's your choice and there are of course obvious advantages to having a car at your disposal.
You could of course book taxis locally as you go for sigthseeing using the train for the long distance travel.
Most hotels will be able to arrange something for you. Though this certainly won't work out any cheaper!!
If you want to book a tour by car why don't you get in contact with Namaste India Tours who are members of Indiamike, most people who have used them seemed happy and a few have given glowing reports of this travel company.
Well that's my 2 cents worth!
Oh if you have a car at your disposal don't miss Ranakpur and Khumbalgarh!! They are in the Udaipur Area.

Happy Traveling

crvlvr

A car will be more convenient(more expensive) and less stressful , especially if you get a driver who knows his way around. Get and a/c car. Its not so much for the cooling, but the dust and noise pollution you can avoid by rolling up your windows.

Jorge Reverter

Hi Pippie,

Best way to make this long trip is with car and driver. Price is around 1500/1700 Rupees per day all included (price for non AC/AC car). If you must come back to Delhi for your flight/train to Kerala, 7 days will be a really hasty journey.

You must know thet the average in India is around 50 km/hour. And of course on the way to Udaipur, Ranakpur, Kumbalgarh or Chittorgarh if taking another road, are a must.

As Ciberhippie says, Namaste..., can arrange it for you, otherwise any Travel agent will make similar quotations.

Jorge

shelly

Hi Pippie we used a car and driver which we booked from www.indianvisit.com. The driver was really nice and polite and the car was air con. I am not sure how much it cost as it was included in a package but really not that expensive. The only reason I would get a train would be to avoid the bad roads and the traffic especially the road from Jaipur to Agra! It was really bumpy. But you do get to see some fantastic scenary and you can ask the driver to stop if you need to - to take a picture or whatever.