4 weeks in north India in November, starting from Delhi.

Irissiri

My Boyfriend and I (aged 29 and 24) will be traveling to India for four weeks in november. We will fly into and from Delhi. Our budget is low to medium, about €20 per person per day (excluding tickets to expensive monuments). We both love train travel and do not mind overnight trains.
It is our first time to India, but we are quite experienced travelers. I have lived in Cairo for a while, which I hope might make things a little bit easier.
After lots of discussion and reading guidebooks we have made a list of things we both want to see, making Rajasthan the focus of our trip. The problem is, the list is still a bit long. We would like to visit:
Delhi (of course), Amritsar, Varanasi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Shimla, and maybe Bikaner.

Is this possible and more important doable? Have we missed things or should we skipp places from the list? What would be the best itinerary considering train scedules?
We would like to be a bit flexible, and book traintickets only a few days in advance. I have read this should be possible, but I would like to know about any special circumstances that could cause problems with availability of tickets (like big festivals).
Thanks for the advice!

shashank.aggarwal

If you are traveling in November and have not got your trains booked till now then you are in for trouble..

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Mickey S

That's certainly do-able, although I would skip Shimla. There's absolutely nothing there to justify the long diversion to get there. You can easily do Amritsar in a day trip from Delhi, and that's probably the best way in view of your itinerary.

It's certainly possible, if you rely on tourist quotas, but you're going to spend a significant amount of your holiday queueing at train reservation counters (and, believe me, those queues move s-l-o-w-l-y). And there's no guarantee that you will get onto the train you want to get on and you may have to wait days for an alternative.

steven_ber

shashank, I'll arrive in Delhi between 9th and 13th November (and leave from Delhi or Mumbai just before Xmas), I've got various things I have to do in the North and the South, are there any particular bad days for getting train reservations?

I was thinking of trying to do the things in the north before the fog becomes a big problem, but the things will take 2-3 weeks to complete, so I may be pushing my luck with the fog.

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Train information.

shashank.aggarwal

9th through 12th are festivals..i have never tried to book tickets at this time, however I assume it would be very difficult...

Most of the people who have come to Delhi from other working areas would be leaving to their work places starting from 10th Itself..

And Sixth day from Diwali is celebrated as Chhatt in Bihar areas...so expect lot of crowd of people leaving from Delhi to their hometowns for Chhatt Celebrations..

But again, as I said I have no experience in getting bookings done in that time...but my common sense says it would be a challenge !! if not due to availability, maybe due to extreme crowds trying for other trains..

steven_ber

Perfect, I will be in Delhi & Mathura/Vrindaven area for the first 5 or 6 days, so no trains needed.

Thanks for the info.

9hanover

Have you considered Bundi? we have visited India twice and that was a highlight. The palace is remarkable and you can arrange a car to take you out to see places that are off the beaten track Look at the website 'Kipling's Bundi'

I don't know Shimla but we always finish up with a few days in Mussoorie which is a lesser and very charactorful former hill station, accesible from Delhi (train to Dehradun then a taxi up into the hills) There are lots of hotels of varying grades and lovely walks. Although on second thoughts it might be dull and cold in Novemeber - we've always been there in April.

Have a good trip - you'll love it all and the trains are a real experience!

Mickey S

I agree. Bundi is delightful, and the palace was one of the highlights of my trip to India last Christmas. So much so that I shall be spending this Christmas in Bundi too.

Irissiri

Thanks for the replies!

Bundi sounds nice, I will certainly discuss the option. I hopewe will be able to fit it in.
I am afraid Shimla might be a bit dull and cold in November too. I am still in doubt about that. I love mountains, and I really would like to see the Himalaya, but maybe it would be better to save it for another time.

About the trains and reservations, I was a bit afraid it might become a problem.

I have read elsewhere that it is possible to make reservations for the onward journey as well on the same form. Would it be a solution to book two or three train journeys ahead with every booking? Or do you think it really necessary to pre-arrange ALL traintickets before coming to India? We only have one creditcard, so that will be a big problem. Can busses be an (uncomfortable) alternative when trains are full?

A last question about the trains, what would be the best route to visit the Rajasthan cities and Varanasi. Which trains are best to take (IF we can get reservations of course)? If possible I think it would indeed be best to visit Amritsar on a day trip from Delhi.

Mickey S

Maybe:

Delhi - day trip to Amritsar - Varanasi - Agra - day trip to Fatehpur Sikri - Bundi - Udaipur - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer - Bikaner - Jaipur - Delhi.

This almost exactly mirrors the trip I did in 16 days last Christmas (I didn't visit Varanasi), and I recommend it.

You can do all of this by train except the day trip to Fatehpur Sikri and the Udaipur-Jodhpur section (but there are frequent buses). But get booking now!

If you have a rough idea of the itinerary you could book the same train on several days, and then cancel the reservation(s) you won't use. The cancellation cost is insignificant if done a few days prior to travel.

Irissiri

Did you feel like you had to hurry a lot to visit those places in 16 days or was there enough time to see the things you wanted? At which places do you recommend spending a bit more time?

I have checked the availability of trains to Varanasi from Delhi and from Varanasi to Agra. Thankfully there are still beds available on tourist quota, in several classes (3A seems to be filling up fastest). But I am not sure if you can book tourist quota tickets from abroad, I am still trying to get into the internet reservation system. I think I will try to book a few trains from here, we only have one creditcard (creditcards are not much used where we live) so we can book max. 4 tickets. When we try to book a few more when we arive in Delhi I hope it will all be ok without being unable to change the scedule. Booking several tickets for the same train is a good suggestion!

Mickey S

I didn't feel at all rushed. Generally, I spent two or three nights in each place, giving one or two full days of sightseeing and relaxation at each place. I used only daytime trains and buses, except for one overnight journey between Bikaner and Jaipur. There is always more to see, of course, and you can find things to fill almost any number of days in a place, but I felt that my itinerary was an almost perfect introduction to India. With four weeks at your disposal, you will have time to explore all those places more thoroughly. And if you can fit in Phalodi too (between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer), you should - I loved it.

I'm not sure where you get this idea that you can only book four tickets - what do you mean? I thought that you can only book 10 (or is it 12?) tickets per month on IRCTC, but can get around that by creating several usernames. Is there a new restriction for a single credit card?

You're right - you can't book tourist quota from abroad. As I said, just book every train you might conceivably need and then cancel the tickets as you go, from any internet cafe in India. I've done just that and the refunds have always reached my account quickly.