Delhi - Almora - Agra - Varanasi - Delhi in 2 weeks?

Hello IndiaMike!

We are newbies to India but have travelled in other countries in Asia. Can anyone advise on our rough itinerary, we’ve only got two weeks and don’t want to be constantly on the move but want to see as much as we can.

We’re going to be there for the eclipse in July and want to view it somewhere scenic with great natural views rather than in a big crowded city, any suggestions?? Obviously the weather is a factor but not much we can do about that (we don’t mind a bit of rain)

Here is our rough itinerary

Delhi – Almora - Agra – Somewhere for the Elipse (Just south of Varanasi or further west inbetween Varanasi and Bhopal)…As I said we’re not sure. – back to Delhi

We would stay a few days in Almora (I really want to see the Himalayas!), a few days for the eclipse, maybe visit a national park nearby or do some walking nearby if we can so majority of travels will hopefully be outside the big cities. We’d only stay a day or so in Delhi and Agra.

Also any ideas if you can get a bus straight from Almora to Agra or if we’d have to double back through Delhi? We can change the order and add in places if anyone thinks we’re missing something big.

Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

Thanks,

Sophie and Dave!

hi sophi and dave welcome to india.
this is perfect time to visist nort india. well hope you will have a great journey. where are you starting from?any questions you want please ask witout hegistation.
cheers
Ashis

We arrive on 11th July and depart on 26th so we’re going to be there for the eclipse in July but it is towards the end of our hols. We really want to view the eclipse somewhere scenic with great natural views rather than in a big crowded city, any suggestions?? Obviously the weather is a factor but not much we can do about that (we don’t mind a bit of rain)

Here is our rough itinerary

Saturday 11th July arrive in Delhi in the morning
Sun 12th July spend day in Delhi, head to Almora today/tomorrow
Mon 13th July arrive in Almora
Tues 14th July spend time in Almora, 1 or 2 day trek hopefully
Wed 15th July spend time in Almora and around
Thur 16th July travel to Agra, see Taj Mahal today or tomorrow
Fri 17th July leave Agra for (poss overnight) train to Varanasi
Sat 18th July Arrive Varanasi
Sun 19th July spend day in Varanasi
Mon 20th July ??
Tues 21st July ??
Wed 22nd July See eclipse somewhere?? South of Varanasi or west?
Thur 23rd July back to Delhi - stop somewhere on the way?
Fri 24th July ??
Sat 25th July arrive back in Delhi
Sun 26th July Fly home


I'm worried that apart from Almora we aren't seeing much countryside, I'd love to see more of the Himalayas but not sure if we have enough time to get down to the eclipse line in time.

Also any ideas if you can get a bus/train straight from Almora to Agra or if we’d have to double back through Delhi? We can change the order and add in places if anyone thinks we’re missing something big. We maybe should do Agra on the way back from Varanasi? The only thing that's fixed are the flights and the date of the eclipse.

Any thoughts or ideas would be great.

Thanks,

Sophie and Dave x

Mod Note: To prevent confusion since you started two threads I have merged them together so you don't lose the one post answering you in the first thread started. I have deleted a little from your 2nd Post here which is repetitive in the Original Post.

Thanks! I didn't know how to merge the two threads.

In the itinerary on my second post I've put that we want to go to Almora but really I don't know where in the north near the Himalayas is best. I want somewhere peaceful and stunning, not too busy but still quite easy to get to...I know that's a big ask.

Will it be quite busy in the Himalayas in July? I wasn't sure if we would have to book accomodation ahead or whether we could just turn up?

I think the areas we want to go to is managable for 2 weeks from the research that I've done but let me know if you disagree.

Also any thoughts to the order and where to go for the spare days? Ideally we would want to spend it in a national park or somewhere out of the cities as we have Delhi, Agra and Varanasi on the schedule already.

Any thoughts?

Thanks for your views,

Sophie

Anywhere in the Himalayas in July is very wet - it's monsoon time and that's when it arrives there. You will be lucky to see any views. The only place that will be dry (from reading here on this Forum) is Ladakh.
I was in Landour last July, and whilst it was raining, there are dry spells - but the views are non-existent then because of the haze that eventuates from all the damp on the forest floors. I guess Almora will be much the same. I hope other members can help you with this one!
It is hot and humid down on the plains, but your itinerary is all doable.
Almora to Agra would take 2 days I suspect. I have done an overnight bus to Nainatal from Delhi, and this can be done in reverse. The next day you could catch the train to Agra.
Personally I think you are packing long distances into too short a time.
I would cut out the mountain trip, concentrate on the rest and have more days allowing for travel and at least relaxing as you go! Your itinerary sounds exhausting to me.

Thanks for your views. Perhaps we should focus our trip in central India around Varanasi and not try and get up to the Himalayas. Thing is I don't relax in the big cities as much as I do in places of natural beauty and countryside so if we cut out Himalayas we would have to find somewhere outside the big cities to replace it with.

It looks like there's rural areas south of Varanasi and we like the look of Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khajuraho, Orchha and Jansi. Any advice on that region? Maybe we could find a village or good national park around that region, so we have some time in peaceful surroundings. Kanha National park is close to Jabalpur and Madhav national park is close to Shivpuri so any advice of these? All these places are within the eclipse path so any recomendations about rural areas that would be a good setting for the eclipse and more likely to have clear views would be great. Obviously it may well be cloudy on the day which can't be helped.

We don't mind getting overnight trains to maxmise what we can do/where we can get to but you're right, we don't want to not have anytime to rest. Any suggestions as always would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

Sophie

After doing some research on the site it looks like Jaipur and Shivpur are not recommended. Does anyone disagree? Also mixed reviews on the two National Parks

Any beautiful, hiddenaway villages that you'd recommend? I'd love to find a lake or river you can swim in.

I know Orchha and found it to be an interesting and beautiful place, with lots of temples (ruins) set along a river. It is fairly small and therefore quite relaxing.
I was there in March (2006), though, when the weather was next to perfect.´In July it will be terribly hot everywhere in the plains, and because it's the monsoon season, a cloudy sky is very, very likely everywhere.

Another small and fairly relaxing place near Varanasi is Sarnath, especially if you are interested in Buddhism; it's where the Buddha made his first speech after enlightenment. If you are not interested in Buddhism, though, Sarnath might not appeal to you.

Thanks, I'll look into it, Orchha certainly sounds good for us.

We will be near Varanasi for the eclipse in July and not sure whether to view it in Varanasi itself or somewhere quieter and rural nearish to Varanasi. This could include Chunar, Singrauli, Ahraura or Robertsganj. Or we might take a train and view it from Jabalpur?

Does anyone have any opinions about Jabalpur, is it a big city or are there rural bits?

Has anyone heard of Chunar, Singrauli, Ahraura or Robertsganj?

Any information would be great

Thanks,

Sophie

Unfortunately for you, you'll get as many differing views on this forum as there are members.
Very briefly:
1. Jabalpur is a mofussil town without any saving graces. Avoid except as a launching pad for Kanha and Bandhavgarh.
2. Otherwise, most of MP is very rustic.
3. Do not miss Ladakh.
4. 2 weeks are more than sufficient for all this and ladakh.

On many threads here I have read comments like this, and I have read about itineraries, and I'm always surprised at how quickly many travellers seem to move from one place to the next. For example, I remember reading here recently that 1 day is more than sufficient for Agra. Looking at the pollution, one certainly wouldn't want to spend more time in Agra as necessary, but I wonder if one can really appreciate all the wonderful monuments there if one hurries through them within 1 day or even just a few hours.
Same for Ladakh. I spent 2 weeks in Ladakh a few years ago and found it was just not enough. I found that 2 weeks were the absolute miniumum. Of course, if one sticks to Leh only, that can be "covered" in a few days.

Am I the only one who likes to spend more time in one place, and prefers visiting fewer places if time is short (as opposed to packing as much as possible into a trip)?

No, you're not the only one. I also hate rushing from place to place - staying a good length of time in one place is ideal for me too.
Looking at the questions of Sophie and Dave, and with ronsaik also recommending Ladakh, I think a nice itinerary would be to stay a length of time there, then go to Varanasi and Agra in the last week. However, each to their own, and maybe the extra places can all be fitted in too!