Overnight in Delhi enroute to Rajasthan - need suggestions

lakittee

We are arrving to Delhi Intl Airport at 4pm and want to continue out to Rajasthan as soon as possible (we will visit Delhi on the way back). Our itinerary is still flexible so I would like ideas/feedback on a few options.

First, are there any night trains that we would have enough time, to clear customs, get to trains station and still catch out to Rajasthan area -- possible destinations---> somewhere close to Mandawa, Jaipur, Jaisalmer?

What about a train to Agra? How much time would we need to get from airport to train station and how long does train take?

Alternately we may opt to catch a flight the next day to Jodphur -- I guess it leaves from Domestic Terminal -- so can anyone recommend a mid-range, nice, clean hotel in a nice area near the domestic airport? The flight leaves around noon, so it would be nice to be able to walk around and do some shopping for a couple of hours in the morning.

vinayverma

If the flight is on time, you'll be out of airport by 6PM even in worst case.
If you get a bus at 7PM it will leave you at jaipur by 12 midnight??? do you wanna do it?
if Yes!!, take a taxi to Duala Kuan and from there you can take a bus to Jaipur, sorry no luxury bus but very basic ones, which are cheap.

__________________
If Life is a journey....travel on...and on..on..on.....

lakittee

thanks for the idea but I am travelling with my inlaws so a bus is not an option. We will be renting a car/driver for most of Rajasthan but wanted to try to cover some more ground quickly.

ramalaka

Just completed a trip from Delhi > Jaisalmer (via Bikaner), > Jodphur > Pushkar > Jaipur > Agra > Delhi

Rented a car/driver - excellent safe driver that did not pass on blind curves and was very defensive - for 10 days. Driving is the most fastest way to get around as there is a lot of waiting around with buses and trains...

InduBala

Hi Lakittee,
your arrival is at 4pm and you can get out of the airport only at around 6pm.
So it is wise for you to take rest in hotel in Delhi and proceed for Rajasthan or to Agra in next morning.

Airport to Train station will take 3 hours and train to Agra will take 5 hrs total 8hrs.

You can do the tour like Delhi-Jaipur-jodhpur-Jaisalmer-Bikaner-Mandawa-jaipur-Delhi. it may be good for you.

best wishes
Miss Indu

SHIMLA

Agree with vinayverma and InduBala.

It won't hurt you to spend the first evening in Delhi - considering you'll be in the city centre only around 7.30 p.m. or so - and take the early morning Shatabdi Express to either Agra or Jaipur. Stay at a hotel at Connaught Place, this is at a stone's throw from New Delhi Railway Station.

__________________
Whoever said money can't buy happiness didn't know where to shop !

sachin1313

Don't rush off. Stay overnight in the hotel in Connaught Place where you can do good shopping also in the evening and next day move for your next destination.

kiwi_razz

Anyway, the 2461 leaves Delhi Cantonment station at 21:15pm and arrives in Jodhpur at 08:00am. Delhi Cantonment is only about 3-4 kms away from the airport.

lifeismusic4me

Helo Lakittee,

It's the best idea to drive down to Rajasthan with the car at your disposal all day for that little goiing around the town at your own pace. You shouldstay overnight in Delhi Decent 4* hotel in Connaught Place can be availed at Rs. 2700-2800 inclusive of breakfast and hotel taxes for a double room.
You may then take a tourist car(only) with an experienced and batch holder driver for your tour to Rajasthan.

ace

For those of us planning on taking the train Delhi to Agra, there are 3 Agra stations: City, Cantt, and Fort. OK . . . some of us complete newbies are even more confused! Which one do we want????

Also, which train should we take? I know there's the Shabadati express -- has anyone tried the Taj express or the Toofan express?

We are staying at the Mugul Sheraton (has anyone stayed there? is it any good?).

As soon as we check in to the hotel, we're thinking of going to FS (since we arrive on a Friday and the Taj is closed). Do we just hire a driver from the hotel to do this (how much should this cost?)? Do we take a bus? cab it?

Any help would be appreciated as always!

Thanks,
ace

jarman_ah

Hi, Ace!

As far as which of the three Agra stations you want, it really won't be an issue, as the train you choose may well stop at one and one only (in our case, from Delhi it stopped at Agra Cannt, and when we left Agra for Jodhpur, the train left from Agra Fort, which is the line that serves the western trains; I couldn't find any long-distance train going to Agra City at the time I did my search of the rail site). Since both stations will have 23476349876 autorickshaw drivers waiting for you -- not at the door of the station, but at the door of your compartment on the train!! -- whichever one you arrive at, you will find that transport to your hotel (which probably won't be particularly near to either) is easy. Neither station is easily walkable from the Taj Mahal, though you could probably manage it from Fort.

The Shatabdi is, to my knowledge, easily the fastest train plying the Delhi-Agra route, but the other expresses will all be pretty good, too. We took the Bhopal Express which left delhi )for Agra Cannt) at 2100, scheduled to arrive at Agra at 2340 (it actually arrived at about five minutes after midnight -- the autorickshaw drivers would, I have no doubt, still been there if it had come at 3 in the morning). To travel in comfort, class 3AC is good value for money.

Can I give you -- and anyone else interested -- some advice about the Taj Mahal on this thread? I don't want to dampen anyone's enthusiasm for this famous building, but, boy, it's over-rated and overpriced. While we wouldn't have missed it for quids, we thought that the impact of the visit paled in comparison to, for instance, Hampi (one of the wonders of the world, in my opinion), or Khajuraho, or the fort at Bundi. I have heard it said that photos don't do the Taj justice, but I think the photos are very much an exact representation of what you will see. There's probably not much "new" that you will learn from looking at the real thing rather than at the photos. The Taj is.... well, it's pretty. What is more to the point, however, is that it's popular, and that means that the price to get in has been inflated out of all proportion to other monuments in the country. It costs 750 rupees for foreigners, and the foreigners go there in their tens of thousands. And when they're all there together, then the Taj is a pretty depressing sight, not unlike a fire sale on Fifth Avenue. Photos of hordes of tourists in front of a pretty building are not so awe-inspiring.

Fortunately, the tourists don't start to arrive in any great numbers until about 8 a.m. Heaven only knows what it's like at 11 a.m., but I can tell you that, from what I saw at 8:15, I wouldn't want to be there then. To really see the Taj at its best, you have to see it when it's devoid of crowds. This means getting up very early and being at the gate before 6 a.m. so that, as the ticket office opens, you are right there ready to be in the first (tiny) wave of fifteen or twenty people.We were fortunate to have a hotel (Hotel Sheela) which is only fifty metres from the eastern gate, so we could get up at 5:30 and still be at the head of the queue (we showered and breakfasted AFTER the visit to the Taj). It was lovely in the cool of the sunrise, but by 8 a.m. the day was warming up and you couldn't set up a shot without having someone walk in front of it. We were happily on our way at 8:20. I hear it's nice at sunset, too, but I still get the feeling that it would be pretty crowded at that time, too -- the morning is really the time to choose.

kiwi_razz

Jarman,

what day did you go?

Saturdays are notorious for being very busy being the day after a closed day, and also a weekend which means all the Delhiites come down.

It made me laugh when I read you showered after your visit. I was thinking the other day that generally all the Indians who visit the Taj dress up for the occasion and look like superstars, and a lot of the foreigners all dress down, and look like a hoboes. haha.

My wife and I are going to make an effort next time (in 4 weeks) by wearing some smart clothes (including a shirt and tie, uggh!). Last time we were the typical tourists who looked like we'd just come down from the Himalayas (which we had).

We had previously joked that we would travel with my wifes wedding dress, and I would hire a tux, for some rather late wedding photos. Alas, it won't be happening this time.

sachin1313

Take Shatabdi Express to Agra as it is the fastest. Mughal Sheraton is the best hotel in Agra and no doubt it is 5* deluxe property. Check with the hotel they might be providing you with the pickup and drop facility. Or else you can hire the taxi from railway station itself for the hotel or you can ask hotel to pick you up ofcourse at some extra cost which will be something within Rs. 500 /-. Also for Taj Mahal you can take the yellow top taxis. It will be cheaper than the hotel taxi. These taxis go till the parking and from there you take the electric bus for Taj which is free of cost. Don't go in the three wheelers as there charge is very high.

jarman_ah

Kiwi Razz, the day I described (above) was just an ordinary Tuesday in mid-October.... not even the busy season!

On re-reading my post, however, I began to wonder if it wasn't an ill-judged comment right from the outset. I mean, after all, there's nothing WRONG with a lot of people being in a certain place at the same time, I guess. When I visited the Eiffel Tower, I didn't complain because there were other people there... or the Colosseum or the Sydney Opera House or the Statue of Liberty. Somehow, however, the Taj seems "wrong" for bustling crowds; its tranquil ambience is too fragile to take all that noise in its stride. But maybe I was just feeling cantankerous after paying that admission price! I'd hate the word to get around that I had bad-mouthed one of the most famous buildings in the world! (I did, I think, concede that it was "pretty").

kiwi_razz

Jarman,

I was previously going to make some snarky comment about the Sydney opera house, but chose not to in the end.

Personally, I'm quite happy to pay the foreigner price. I know I paid about the same sort of money to visit the tower of london about 6 years ago and that was with a student card. Also I think the sydney tower is probably about the same price (I think the Auckland tower definitely is). And since you mention it, the Eiffel Tower and Colliseum are probably about the same if not more also.