Delhi & Rajasthan > 12 Days

Hi IndiaMike folks:

Hoping to get some advice on a 2 week trip to rajasthan in December (will have another week in Mumbai following this for a wedding).

Here's the proposed itinerary:
Day 0 (12/21): arr. Delhi at 10pm
Day 1&2: enjoy Delhi
Day 3: depart for Agra early am (possibly express train) / depart for Jaipur late evening by car?
Day 4&5: enjoy Jaipur
Day 6: drive/train to Jodhpur
Day 7&8: enjoy Jodhpur
Day 9: drive to Udaipur
Day 10&11: enjoy Udaipur (New Years)
Day 12: fly to Mumbai

I've tried to allow for full travel days between each city, but this still may be a lot. Per other forums, I would prefer to either train or drive from place to place, would love your thoughts/preferences for this. There are two of us traveling and we have a medium budget - $25 per night each for hotels (looking to stay primarily at Heritage Hotels) and don't want to spend more than $50 each to get from place to place. I have heard that hiring a driver for the entire trip could be a good option and really allow you to experience India with stops as you travel. However, not sure if this could get extremely costly for just two people.

One of my big questions, is whether we can do Agra as a day trip. I've read that we should try to see it at either sunrise or sunset (or both) and not sure if the above plan allows. We'd have to leave for Jaipur fairly late Day 4 in order to see sunset--is it safe to have a driver take us to jaipur late at night? Option 2 is to go the night before (Day 3) to Agra and cut back Delhi; or Option 3 is to travel to Jaipur the next morning (day 5) and cut back somewhere else in the trip (possibly Jodphur). I've also read that Fatehpur Sikri is worth seeing which could make traveling to Jaipur on Day 5 with a stop-over at FS a better option? Appreciate any thoughts on the itinerary. Once I lock this down, it's onto hotels (which I'll post in a different thread:-)

Thanks for taking the time to read this and offering any suggestions!

Cheers,
jamie

Hi jamie - On my trip to India this summer I hired a car. Spent ten days, from Varanasi to Khajuraho, to Orccha, to Agra, Mathura then back to Varanasi. My driver was not a guide, per se. Spoke enough English to make some conversation, but I wasn't looking for a guide. I paid him Rs 4.5/km, with a minimum of 200 km day; paid him Rs 150/day for food/lodging; paid for one state border crossing and gas, of course. I got a pretty good deal on this, not going through an agency or having a Real Guide. Look into the car possibility, it was a very nice way to go.

I'd give Agra enough time to see a full sunrise and sunset. Check out sunrise from the Red Fort in Agra; in the fall/winter the sun rises almost directly over the dome of the Taj.

Have a Great Trip
Scott