3 wks February - Rajasthan/Kerala– Itinerary suggestions: where to go, how, which way

sosodelmar

Great great great website! I am reading lot of things interesting in order to prepare my trip to India…already next week. Better than a guide. Still brainstorming to try to find what would be the ideal itinerary taking into account time constraints, transport choice between each point and the will to see and feel as much as possible of India.

I would be very happy to receive your advices on how you would plan this itinerary using plane, and/or car, or/and train and doing the following stops at least:
We had the idea to spend do Jaipur 2 days, Udaipur 2 days, Agra 1 day, Kochi, backwaters Allepey?, elephant park Periyar? and spices fields, end the trip in Marari 1/ 2 days? Would have liked to go to Varanesi or/and Jasalmer as well if we could but not sure it would fit. Any other stop that you would suggest? Jodhpur?
Thinking maybe using flight to go from the north to the south, from Udaipur or Delhi to Kochi?
We are invited to an Indian collegue wedding in New Delhi on the 11th of feb, would go only if it can fit our itinerary.

If you had to do it, taking into consideration the additional information below, how would you organise the trip? When would it be worth to take a taxi or car/driver for more flexibility and access to places? In which order to do the journey, where to stop.

Some additional information:
Arrival and Departure: New Delhi / 02nd Feb - 24 Feb
3 people, 1 guy, 2 girls, in their 30s. First time in Asia, but we are used to living and working in development countries. We preferred not too touristic attractions when possible and we would book ahead only the necessary things.
Medium Budget or more if needed for a flight. Open to try all means of transport: Trains: overnight travel between places unless if there is a scenic route (2AC) / OK for 2nd. Class train during day trip if it helped to fit the itinerary; We can afford Taxi's, or car & driver, OK for the Plane but only if it could make a huge difference to the itinerary.

1 Feb / 2 Feb – Flight Dublin – N Delhi. Arriving mi day.
3 Feb –
4 Feb -
5 Feb –
6 Feb –
7 Feb -
8 Feb –
9 Feb –
10 Feb –
11 Feb –
12 Feb –
12 Feb –
13 Feb –
14 Feb –
15 Feb –
16 Feb –
17 Feb –
18 Feb –
19 Feb –
20 Feb –
21 Feb –
22 Feb –
23 Feb –
24 Feb – Flight Delhi / Dublin mid day


Thanks mil for all your precious advices!
Sophie

jessika

hi there,
if you give me two days i will chalk out an itinerary for you with names of hotels etc.

sosodelmar

Hi jessika, thank you for your feed back.
We have just decided to change our plan and spend the three weeks in the North and we leave Kerala for a next trip following on the advices of lot of messages posted! I will try to post my idea of itinerary under the "Rajsathan specific forum".
Thank you
Cheers
Sophie

sosodelmar

HI all,


The decision is taken, we will spend the three weeks in the north instead of doing North and South. I am thinking of the following itinerary, please any comment would be welcome (we are 3, 30s, happy to travel either by car or/and train, very keen to find some not turistic places).

I am thinking to reduce to one day our stay in Jasalmer and add one more day in Jaipur, because I am not very convince by the camel trip in the desert (have done already that in north africa), Would it be really worth it? or better explore more Jaipur?

We are planning to do the first part of the trip with a car/driver and the second part (ND- Agra - Varanasi by train), as we have a wedding in ND in the middle. Are we doing too much? do you recommend other/different stops less turistic?


1 Feb / 2 Feb – Arriving New Delhi
Night New Delhi

3 Feb – New Delhi
Night New Delhi

4 Feb – Delhi – Shekhawati
Night Shekhawati

5 Feb – Shekhawati - Bikamer
Night Bikamer

6 Feb – Bikamer - Jasalmer
Night Jasalmer

7 Feb – Jasalmer

8 Feb – Jasalmer

9 Feb – Jasalmer – Jodhpur
Night Jodphur

10 Feb – Jodhpur – Ranakpur
Night Ranakpur

11 Feb – Ranakpur – Udaipur
Night Udaipur

12 Feb – Udaipur

13 Feb – Udaipur

14 Feb – Udaipur – Bondi
Night Bondi

15 Feb – Bondi – Jaipur
Night Jaipur

16 Feb – Jaipur

17 Feb – Jaipur – Neemrana
Night Neemrana

18 Feb – Neemrana – New Delhi
Night New Delhi – Wedding of our friend

19 Feb – New Delhi - Agra
Train midday
Night Agra

20 Feb – Agra – Varanasi
Train night

21 Feb – Arrival train morning Varanasi

22 Feb – Varanasi – New Delhi
Train night

23 Feb – Arrival train morning - New Delhi

24 Feb – Flight international

Thanks mil for your precious advices.
May have more to feed in into the website when I will be back from India!
Sophie

steven_ber

Looks OK Sophie, but an awful lot of driving.

If I had to fit in all those places with the restrictions you have, I'd drop a day from Jaisalmer and visit Agra by car, there are many advantages to doing this, mainly that it would reduce the hassle factor in Agra and allow you to have extra time in Varanasi.

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Train information.

karuna

Yes, I agree more time in Varanasi would be preferable- overnight train journey for just one day? I would say it deserves more!

Aishah

I'd agree with both Steven and Karuna - also I think you may like a couple of days in different areas of Shekawati region? check out map and guide book e.g. Jhunjhunu, and Mandawa or Fatehpur - they all have something to offer. Definitely cutdown your time in Jaisalmer, and no need for safari as you have said.
2 nights in Jaisalmer will give you a good feeling of the town, walk to all points of interest, and maybe take a short tour to Badabagh, Amar Sagar and Lurdva to give you a feeling of desert life and history.

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sosodelmar

Thank you all for your good advices. May have some good and bad adventures to tell when I will come back...)