Advice on 30-day trip from Mumbai to Delhi

Hi! I'm a new member and spent most of today on this wonderful site! I'm planning my first trip to India and would love some tips from seasoned travellers. Based on what I've read, I've come up with an itinerary I think looks good on paper, but have no idea how well it would work in reality. First some background info about the trip:

I'm going with a friend (we're both female) for exactly a month, from Nov 24 to Dec 24. We fly to Mumbai and leave from Delhi; we want to visit both cities and don't like to backtrack too much.
I've travelled extensively and rarely plan much ahead, but as I understand it might be difficult to travel that way in India. So we're probably going to book all accommodation and transportation in advance. And in order to do so we need to have the itinerary ready.

This is what I've come up with:

Mumbai 3 days
Pune 1 day
Aurangabad/Ajanta & Ellora Caves 2 days
Bhopal 1 day
Kota 1 day
Bundi 1 day
Chittaurgarh 1 day
Udaipur 3 days
Mount Abu 1 day
Kumbalgarh/Ranakpur 1 day
Jodhpur 2 day
Jaisalmer 3 day
Bikaner 1 day
Ratngarh/Fatehpur/Mandawa/ Nawalgarh 3 days
Jaipur 2 days
Agra 2 days
Delhi 3 days

There should be direct bus/train connecting all the stops, if I'm not mistaken. I've added some of the one-day stops as possible places to break up overly long trips.

So what do you think? Might it be too hectic? All comments and advice gratefully accepted!

Hi. Welcome to India Mike.

Your calculations don't really allow for travel time. You might find yourself arriving somewhere as it gets dark and having to leave at 5 a.m. the next day depending on how the trains/buses are timed. You might want to look at visiting slightly fewer places and staying at least 2 days in each to get something out of the visit.


List your must do things like Taj Mahal, Desert safari, Delhi Railway Museum or whatever your preferences are then start to build around those. You will be dependent on transport so will need to book in good time. Most trains are available 120 days in advance so bookings will open in late July for your early trips.

Keep asking the questions

Thanks for your quick response, Dave. I knew I'd forgotten something! I guess places like Pune, Kota, Chittaurgarh, Mount Abu, Ratngarh, Mandawa could be removed from the itinerary. It's just that even with company I prefer to not spend too much uninterrupted time on the road (after experiencing some long, hellish journeys in Tibet and Southeast Asia).

Would that allow for sufficient travel time? It's really difficult to estimate how much time is needed in each place; more than specific sights we love to just ramble, if we like the feel of the place that is. So I'm loath to strike off anything else...

To be honest I don't know all of the places on your list and hesitate to recommend places to cut out. Of the places I do know i think that 3 days is a minimum for Mumbai, particularly as it is where you arrive and you will need a bit of acclimatisation. We loved Udaipur, had 3 relaxing days there and we aim to go back for a second visit on our next trip. Jodhpur is fascinating and near enough to the desert for an excursion if that appeals. Jaipur is quite frantic but there is lots to do and see. Agra is one of those must see places but we found it to be dirty, polluted and full of touts and hassle. We were so glad that we only went on a day tour and didn't stay there. BUT we were really glad that we visited Fatephur Sikri, an abandoned city about 40kms away from Agra. Other people on IM will tell you that Agra is wonderful. It's down to personal preference.

Delhi sometimes gets a bad rap but there is loads to do there. Be aware that there is a possibility that fog in the Delhi-Agra area might affect travel in late december so leave yourself a margin for this.

There is info on booking train tickets here. Given your timescales you need to get on with registering.

http://www.indiamike.com/india/india...012-a-t165379/

Just remember. If you enjoy India you will go back. If you don't enjoy it running round like a mad thing won't make it any better.

It is always difficult to remove destinations from an itinerary, certainly from that of somebody else.
A visited rather a lot of the places you want to visit and to keep the fine diversity of you trip this is my suggestion.

Fly, after arriving in Mumbay direct to Aurangabad, and then
Aurangabad/Ajanta & Ellora Caves 3 days
Bhopal 2 day
Kota and direct to Bundi 2 days
Udaipur 4 days
including day trips to
Chittaurgarh
Kumbalgarh/Ranakpur
Jodhpur 2 day
Jaisalmer 3 day
Jaipur 2 days
Agra 2 days
Delhi 3 days

Don't hesitate if you have more questions.

Drop Bundi, Kota, Bhopal, Bikaner

Thanks for your responses!

I've added Fatehpur Sikri, as per Dave's rec and reduced to one whole day in Agra. Is there a bus service from Jaipur? Also added some days in Delhi, as it seems the best place to do some shopping before flying home

vonkla: good tip about the flight! I would definitely consider more air travel, but I guess it would involve alot of backtracking?

nycank: I would like to drop some of those, the problem is I haven't found any better options on going from Aurangabad to Udaipur, and Jaisalmer to Shekhawati, even after googling and trawling the forum. Maybe changing the order of some stops would help?

Anyway, I've made some revisions and added what info I could find on transportation and approximate times:

Day 1-4 Mumbai
(Plane 1h)
Day 4-5 Aurangabad/Ajanta & Ellora
(Jhelum Exp, night train 8 h)
Day 6 Bhopal
(Night train 8 h)
Day 7-8 Bundi (Kota)
(Mewar Exp, night train 6 h)
Day 9-11 Udaipur/Kumbalgarh
(Car 2 h)
Day 11-12 Ranakpur/Udaipur
(Plane, 40 mins)
Day 12-14 Jodhpur
(Ju Jsm Exp, night train 6 h)
Day 15-17 Jaisalmer
(Jsm Bkn Exp, night train 5 h)
Day 18-19 Bikaner
(Bkn Jaipur Exp, train 5 h)
Day 19-21 Shekhawati (Sikar)
(Bkn Jaipur Exp, train 3 h)
Day 21-25 Jaipur
(Bus?, 4h)
Day 25-26 Fatehpur Sikri
(Bus, 1 h)
Day 26 Agra
(Train 3 h)
Day 26-31 Delhi

I would suggest dropping Bhopal, Bikaner,Kota,Shekhawati and add Ranthambore (Sawai Madhepur), Chandigarh, Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala. From Jaipur you can come straight to Fetehpur Sikri and Agra and then proceed to New Delhi. There should be bus services available, else hire a cab from Jaipur.

Interesting problem this one. I am working on a plan to get from Aurangabad to Ahmedabad as a jump off for a few days in Gujarat and then going on to Udaipur.

So far I have got to this solution. If any IMer can think of a better one please chip in.

It is best to refer to trains by number as there are similar names for different trains. Also the name can refer to both directions of running whereas the train number is unique.

Car from Ajanta/Ellora to Jalgaon Junction then day train 12656 to Ahmedabad. This departs at 9.05 a.m. and takes just over 10 hours if it runs on time. The ticket quota for this run is tight and would need to be booked early.

There is a nightly train that leaves Ahmedabad for Udaipur at 2300 hrs. (Train 19944). This has 2 AC accommodation which would be my recommendation for a first overnight trip on an Indian train.

This schedule would save you a night or two and shouldn't be any more expensive than your original plan. Your Aurangabad hotel should be able to organise a car for you. It would probably be worth planning an overnight in Jalgaon to avoid a pre dawn start and the risk of delays on the road.

As regards Fatehpur Sikri you could take a train from Jaipur to Agra, store your luggage at the station and join the UP Tourism department tour which leaves Agra Cantonment Station daily and vists FS, the Taj Mahal and the Fort, delivering you back to the station about 8 hours later, with time to get to Delhi by train.

There is some info here.

http://www.up-tourism.com/agra_darshan.htm

I've come up with another solution to my problem, we could take a flight from Mumbai to Udaipur, there seem to be some pretty cheap tickets! But now I'm wondering whether to give the caves a miss as well? The round-trip plane tickets to Aurangabad are only rs. 3200 though...

As for Fatehpur Sikri, would you recommend staying in the area for one night? It seems so rushed to visit the three sights in only eight hours. You wrote you didn't like Agra much, but accommodation must be decent, right? There doesn't seem to be many options in Fatehpur Sikri.

I've considered Ranthambore, and will also ask my friend's opinion, but I'm not sure we want any "outdoorsy" experiences on this trip. As for your other nice suggestions, they do seem somewhat out of our way, unless there's an quick way of getting there from our other stops. From what I've read the Shekhawati area seems nice, what's your take?

And what would be the best way of going from Jaisalmer to either Shekhawati or Jaipur? So far I've only found train 14060, which takes 12h to Jaipur, as an option.

Probably best to look at Agra.

The train 106059 is your best option. You leave at 5.15 pm. Have a good night sleep. Wake up at 5 in Jaipur and then take a cab or the train to Sikar. Then take the 22451 train from Jaipur at 6:45 am and reach Sirpur by 7:30 am.

The other places I mentioned are Manali (530km/9 hours) Shimla (360km/7 hours),Chandigarh (250km/5 hours), Mussorie (280km/6 hours)from New Delhi.

I agree with Dave W, Agra seems to have more places to stay and seems more hospitable than Fatehpur Sikri, even though the Fort is really beautiful.

Day 1-4 Mumbai
(Plane 1h)
Day 4-5 Aurangabad/Ajanta & Ellora
(Plane 1h)
Day 5 -6 Mumbai
(Plane 1h)
Day 6-9 Udaipur/(Mount Abu?)
(Train, 2h)
Day 9-10 Chittaurgarh
(Car, 3h)
Day 10-11 Kumbhalgarh/Ranakpur
(Car, 1h 30 mins?)
Day 11 Udaipur
(Plane, 40 mins)
Day 11-14 Jodhpur
(14810 Jsm Exp, night train 6 h)

Day 15-18 Jaisalmer
(14660 Jsm Dli Exp, night train 12h)

Day 19-22 Jaipur


(Car, 2 h)
Day 22-25 Shekhawati (Ringas)


(train 1h 30 mins)
Day 25-26 Jaipur (Phulera)
(train, 4 h)
Day 26-27 Agra/Fatehpur Sikri/Agra
(train 3 h)
Day 27-31 Delhi

Oops sorry about the cut+paste...
Added a couple of days in the Udaipur area, too much?
Was thinking of cutting a day or two in other places (Mumbai for example) to accommodate one of karikor's more northern suggestions, maybe by flight from Delhi?

It sounds like you will be able to write the definitive post on Indian Airports by the time you have finished your trip.

Haha, I dare say all the info I collected will come in handy in the future. Considering the relatively cheap air tickets to India, I'll definitely be going again.