Driving in India

Hi all, planning to visit India this November and tought of engaging the service of a Driver and a Car. I will be with my wife and we are planning to visit Delhi-Agra-Rajasthan or Delhi-Agra-part of Rajasthan-Goa-mumbai.
Do you think it's advisable for me to engage the service of the Car and the driver thus travelling by car throughout the journey? How long will it itake to get from Udaipur to Ajmer or even from jaiselmer to bikaner?
As from Rajasthan to Goa, I think it's gonna take me ages by car so which p[art of rajasthan I could go to take a flight to GOa then how long will the train ride or car ride from Goa to mumbai?

I know there are many things that I asked here but really hope that I could get some invaluable advise from the seasoned traveller on IM.

Another option is to engage the service of a local tour agency to arranged my stay in India thus saving me all the hassle of bookings and all.But will this services cost me a bomb. It's a 20 days trip.Anyone has any recommendation of any travel agency or even drivers to recommend and how much will it cost me to get their services?

Thank you for sparing the time to read this. Your advise are very much appreciated.

short car trips ( <300 Km ) should be OK - trains are always the better and more economical mode for longer trips. you can opt for car for local trips.

am not sure about the distances/time for rajasthan , but Goa-Mumbai could be around 12 hours. it is a nice drive. but i would also recommend the Goa-mumbai train journey ( catch a day train ) for the excellent sights it offers.

there is only one issue with having a car with the driver - it is purely a matter of luck - that is of getting a good driver. most of them are local avatars of michael schumacher. you can of course very clearly tell him to take it easy, in which case most of them oblige.

the margin of safety one considers while driving in india are much much narrower than in developed countries, so be prepared to have lorries/busses going past you with millimeters to spare... takes some getting used to.

dont fly if you really want to see india ( unless you are in with some very tight schedule )

For car costs, read
Hiring a vehicle - Costs in Rajasthan

Driving time and distances

Delhi to Agra is 200 KM and four hours
Agra to Jaipur is 240 Km and five hours
Jaipur to Ajmer (Pushkar) is 140 KM and three and a half hours
Ajmer to Udaipur is 280 KM and five hours
Udaipur to Jodhpur is 280 KM and five hours
Jaisalmer to Bikaer is 330 KM and five and a half hours.

For train information, shout for Steve. He covers Indian Railways better than Indian Railways!

Delhi-Agra-Rajasthan is a popular circuit. Delhi to Agra (203kms) and then from Agra to Jaipur (235kms) is doable by a car. If u intend to move further ahead of Jaipur towards Jodhpur, Jaiselmer and Udaipur, the distances might get too much to travel in a car. Train may be better from Jaipur onwards.

"Rajasthan-Goa-mumbai" - is not exactly a circuit. But "Goa-Mumbai" are. From your last point in Rajasthan (say for eg Udaipur) u can consider catching a train to Mumbai and then proceed further to Goa. While in Goa, u may like to visit Hampi in Karnataka.

u can do this:
delhi - agra (200kms,max 4 hrs)
agra-jaipur (230kms,max 5 hrs)
jaipur-ajmer (131kms,max 2.5hrs)
ajmer-udaipur(274kms,max 5hrs)

jaiselmer to bikaner , it is 333kms, abt 6-7 hrs

yes,goa is a long way from rajasthan. so its better u take a train to goa

if u need a saloon car and a driver to drive u to agra and all over rajasthan , PM me

Thank you all for the information. I know Goa is kinda out of the way but the though of missing out on Kerala ( my original plan) was alsready hurting me so I just need to satisfy my needs to see the beach and chill out. Will try to locate Steve for the train details. As for now, still eagerly waiting for my tickets to be confirmed as I'm on waiting list. Sux!