Delhi, Rajasthan and Agra; 26-28 days in February

AGES away I know! But I like to be prepared, and I'm getting lots of pleasure from planning this trip at the moment. Plus planning it and reading about India keeps me motivated for saving!


This will be my first trip to India and I'll be travelling with my daughter (age 9).

This is what I've come up as an itinerary so far.

Day 1
Arrive at Delhi airport, probably landing late at night. Transfer to accommodation. I like the look of The Tree of Life Guesthouse http://www.tree-of-life.in/index.html which is located in Saket - close to the metro. Do you think I would find the metro system okay to navigate?

Day 2-3
Sightseeing in Delhi. Maybe Gandhi Smriti, Qutb Minar, Swaminarayan Akshardham, Lotus Temple, Jama Masjid. Would also love to do a food walk in old Delhi.
Not bothered about the Red Fort (lots of forts to be seen in Rajasthan!) or Jantar Mantar (intend to visit in Jaipur).

Day 4
Tavel to Shekhawati region, by train via Jaipur I think. Haven't really looked at any accommodation yet so recommendations would be appreciated. I was thinking of staying in Nawalgarh as it is central.

Day 5-6
Sightseeing in Shekhawati. Like the look of Haveli Nadine le Prince

Day 7
Train back to Jaipur early. Afternoon sightseeing.
Stay probably at The Pearl Palace or maybe their newer hotel.

Day 8-9
More sightseeing in Jaipur. Then the overnight train to Jaisalmer - finding this prospect a bit daunting mainly due to the time it departs!

Day 10
Arrive in Jaisalmer and probably spend the day recovering from the train journey. Not sure for accommodation yet, maybe The Desert Moon Guesthouse http://www.desertmoonguesthouse.com/

Day 11-12
Sightseeing Jaisalmer.

Day 13
Travel via train to Jodhpur (?Jaisalmer-Delhi express departs 4.30pm reaches Jodhpur 9.50pm according to LP guidebook)
Stay at Durag Niwas.

Day 14-16
Sightseeing Jodhpur

Day 17
Car to Udaipur via Ranakpur. Can anyone give me an indication of cost and time for this journey please?
Maybe stay at Jagat Niwas in Udaipur http://www.jagatniwaspalace.com/index.html

Day 18-19
Udaipur

Day 20
Depart Udaipur for Bundi maybe via Chittaurgarh? Not sure on mode of transprt for this, possibly bus to Chittaugarh and then train onto Bundi, or hire a car.
Maybe stay at The Shivam Guesthouse in Bundi http://www.shivam-bundi.co.in/index.shtml

Day 21 Bundi

Day 22 Bundi to Agra hopefully early for sightseeing on the afternoon to Agra Fort.
Possibly staying at Palmstay Homestay http://www.palmstay.com/home or N.Homestay http://nhomestay.com/aboutus.html.

Day 23 up early for sunrise at Taj, and then sunset from Mehtab Bagh ? during day.

Day 24 travel to Ranthambhore via Fatehpur Sikri, ?mode of transport. Maybe staying at Ranthambhore Bagh http://www.ranthambhore.com/.

Day 25-26
Safaris and Ranthambhore fort.

I'm not sure how this trip will end, it could be from Ranthambhore back to Delhi and home, or maybe if I can get an extra week of work fly from Delhi to Kerala for a 4-5 days.

I'd appreciate any comments from more experienced travellers about my itinerary, the pace, the options for accommodation and transport I'm considering etc.

So does no replies mean everyone who has read this thinks my itinerary is perfect so there's no comment to be made?! Or do they just not know where to start

Well, I think you do not get any response for some reasons, one is that you are going to luxury hotels which is not the normal thing for the average IndiaMiker, and another point is perhaps that you name some destinations that people know nothing about, at least I don't.

The only thing that I can tell you is that you cannot take the metro late at night in Delhi from the Airport (it stops running after 11 p.m.), and I would not recommend it for you even if you could. Ask your hotel for an airport pick-up, that is the safest for you at night.

Also, since you go to luxury hotels, you might as well take a car for some trips. Avoid late night-arrivals by train.

In general you have a perfect itinerary.

If you can afford it hire a car for the Shekhawti part. You need it at least to tour around over there. We stayed in Mandawa, hotel Shekhawati

For the late train depart from Jaipur take your hotel for an extra day so you can leave it in the evening. They can then arrange a rickshaw, the station will be no problem.

Here is the actual train information between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. Durag Niwas is one of my favorite hotels. If you have some time look at the trip to the desert they offer.

If you include Kerala try to get a flight back from Kochi to the UK.

In Delhi you should not miss Humayun's tomb. For food walk check out Parathewali Galli.

While in Jodhpur check out Osiyan.

I would suggest take hiring a car for Delhi - Shekawati - Jaipur. A couple of off beat places near Jaipur would be Bhandarej-Abhaneri-Bhangarh circuit. An amazing step well at Abhaneri, ruins at Bhangarh.

Another car for Jodhpur - Ranakpur - Kumbhalgarh - Udaipur - Chittaurgarh - Bundi.

Remember you will have to pay for the car's return fare also.

For the 4 days at the end, you could check out Shimla, Narkanda.

I'm surprised you consider the guesthouses/hotels I've mentioned as luxury atala! I wouldn't have described them as that. Apart from the hotel in Udaipur and the guesthouse in Delhi (which I'm guessing is more expensive purely because it is in Delhi - in the same way I would expect a hotel in London to be more than in my home town for example), although admittedly not the most basic backpackers accommodation because I'm travelling with my daughter, they're nothing I would consider extravagant. But then I guess we all have our own ideas of what is luxurious based on our budgets; I also can't help converting the tariff into sterling, and even the most expensive rooms I'm currently considering are cheaper than I would pay for a private room in a youth hostel in the UK!

Do you think it would be advisable for me to use the metro during the day for sightseeing? Is it easily manageable for a foreinger? And is it safe? I can manage the London tube fairly easily, but find it quite intimidating after dark, especially as there had been a lot of reports of muggings by gangs when I was last there.

Thankyou very much for your comments Vonkla, I have been looking at your journals and see you have travelled a lot in India (including with children!). I'm pleased you say Durag Niwas is one of your favourite places, I've had a good feeling about it which is why I've allowed four nights for Jodhpur! I will definitely take one of their tours and I'm really interested to learn more about the NGO work they do.

I quite like the look of this place in Shekhawati http://www.touristpension.com/. I like their 'ethos' and I think my daughter would love to do a tie-dye workshop

Excellent advice thankyou Aarosh!

I had read about the Abhaneri step well on IndiaMike and was hoping we could pay a visit, I will read more about the other places you mentioned.

Is there any sort of guidance on how much I would expect to pay to hire a car, per km maybe?

@ katiegirl

1. Car hire charges in the state of Rajasthan are about Rs 8 per km and upwards for a 250 km per day minimum. Driver overnight charges will be Rs 200 per night additional.
2. Not sure why you'd skip the red fort. The Rajasthan forts are all Rajput forts (with some imbibing the architectural styles of the mughals but most do not). The Red fort in Agra is better though so yeah, maybe.
3. For Agra- my personal favorite, Akbar's mausoleum - Sikandara (there're deer / blackbuck in the gardens that roam free - kids love them). Also, for something unusual and very beautiful, pls google images of Dayal Bagh.
4. In Jaipur, however kitschy it may be but try Chokhi Dhani, they sometimes have cultural events in the evening which are good intro to Rajasthani culture. Kids like those.
5. While Shekhawati is a gorgeous place for the mature traveler and for those who do not mind traveling on rough roads, with a child, it may not be a lot of fun. I loved the area but I like offbeat places (pls check my trip report in my signature to get some idea). Interior Shekhawati around Sikar, Nawalgarh and Mandawa has very iffy roads.
6. In Jaisalmer, we stayed at Desert Boys last october. They're good and will arrange a camel safari as well if you like.
7. In Delhi, you could use the hop on hop off bus service (HOHO) and please allow yourself two days. Many have regretted missing the city. Chandni Chowk is not for the faint of heart though - try Dilli Haat if you like.

more later
Vaibhav

1. Thankyou
2. Maybe I was a bit blase there, I'm sure the Red Fort in Delhi has a lot going for it, but I I don't want my daughter to get bored with forts (at 9 she is unlikely to massively appreciate the different syles of architecture) and I did believe the fort in Agra to be better.
3. Will consider including Akbar's mausoleum, it certainly looks very beautiful on photos. Thankyou for mentioning Dayal Bagh, hadn't came across it in my reading yet and it looks very interesting.
4. Yes I've had a look at the website and it does look like a place my daughter would enjoy.
5. I will consider what you've said about the Shekawati region, although I am quite keen. I actually first read about this area on a family blog, where all members of the family had massively enjoyed their visit to Nadine le Prince's Haveli in Fatehpur.
6. Will have a look, thankyou.
7. Yes I am allowing us at least 2 days for Delhi (possibly another day at the end of the trip as well - although I expect this would mostly be for shopping. I have read that most stuff can be bought in Delhi from aroubd the region, so this seems like a better option than having to carry souvenirs around with us.)


Thankyou for your reply vaibhav_arora.

I've had my holidays for February approved at work so I'm very excited! Will leave it a little closer to the time to see if its possible to request an extra week depending on how the money situation is looking!

Katie

Delhi Metro is great. The trains are air conditioned and even when busy are more comfortable than the Piccadilly line in the rush hour. The trains have a ladies only coach.

We have tried a couple of times to get a reservation at the Pearl Palace in Jaipur but it was full each time. The rooftop restaurant there is excellent and the hotel itself looked pretty good to us as non-resident visitors. Slightly pricier but still pretty good value in Jaipur is the Umaid Bhawan.

We went to the Durag Niwas on Vonkla's recommendation and did the desert trip and camel ride. It was one of the highlights of our most recent trip.

About using the metro in Delhi, what I do, is I write down each time what are the final destinations of the trains that I have to catch. Then I will definitely find the right stairs to the right train at the hubs where I have to change trains.

I dare say the directions at important change-over stops are not done super-intelligently. The colors are sometimes misleading, like there is a yellow line, but other directions are also given in yellow, so it requires some patience to find out where you need to go. And that when you are confronted by a thousand commuters walking by.

Also be prepaired to be the only Westerner in the whole metro-system that day. But over-all the experience is very nice, esp considering that you would pay a hell of a lot more with an Auto or a taxi.

About your hotels being luxury class. I checked a few you mentioned, and noticed they were heritage hotels. That is why I said luxury. The comparison to what you pay in England does not really count. But it is understandable that on a short trip like yours they seem quite affordable. If you had to plan for half a year, like many IMers will "have to", different considerations become important.

The main thing is your thread caught attention, and you got some answers. Many new threads in the itinerary-advice forum go unanswered for a number of reasons. One of them is the first impression they give in a quick read.

KatieGirl-

Slow and steady is a good pace for India. Travel times are slow and you will appreciate it more if you are not rushing from place to place. You have a good plan in the works here and it's good to see someone who does their homework before asking itinerary questions, which might explain why you received no immediate replies to your query.

A few random thoughts on some of your points-
Nawalgarh is a good choice for Shekawati, we stayed there by default - Mandawa Haveli was full. The location is fine as you say and there were many interesting havelis there besides the ones so highly touted in the guidebooks in Mandawa. You will definitely need a car and driver for this. We stayed at the Roop Niwas Palace (Our room, #25, on the rooftop was huge but perhaps not as elegant as some others there. We never did find the swimming pool mentioned in some of the lit.)

Jagat Niwas Palace is one of my favourite hotels in all of India. We have extolled its wonders in other threads here which I will try to find and post links.

"Bundi maybe via Chittaurgarh" ...yes, and yes.
At Bundi, if you can swing it, the Haveli Braj Bhushanjee is in a terrific location and the top floor rooms in the new building have view of the palace.

distaff

PS I forgot to mention the Delhi metro which you ask about in another post. We use it extensively. In fact, we choose our Delhi hotel (the Florence Inn) because of its proximity to the metro station in Karol Bagh. We have stayed there well over a dozen times and recommend it highly.

It sounds like you're getting lots of good advice. We stayed at Tree of Life twice during our trip to India in Dec 2010 and found it to be a fabulous place. It's incredibly clean and safe and the owner and manager are both exceptionally helpful. We were also travelling with our children and would recommend it without hesitation.

Sounds like a great trip. We too are just beginning to dream of a winter 2013 trip back to India and I agree that planning the trip is a huge part of the enjoyment.

Emelle

a stay in Pushkar may be an option for a bit of a break.
i stayed at the government tourist bungalow which was good and had a swimming pool for a couple of days break from always travelling.

Thankyou Dave, do you have a blog of your trip? I think I may have read it at some point, what you're saying sounds familiar. I would a love a link if you do!

[QUOTE=atala;1398670]About using the metro in Delhi, what I do, is I write down each time what are the final destinations of the trains that I have to catch. Then I will definitely find the right stairs to the right train at the hubs where I have to change trains.

I dare say the directions at important change-over stops are not done super-intelligently. The colors are sometimes misleading, like there is a yellow line, but other directions are also given in yellow, so it requires some patience to find out where you need to go. And that when you are confronted by a thousand commuters walking by.

Also be prepaired to be the only Westerner in the whole metro-system that day. But over-all the experience is very nice, esp considering that you would pay a hell of a lot more with an Auto or a taxi.

[QUOTE]

Thankyou for these tips about the Delhi Metro Atala. We will definitely be giving it a go, I imagine there's a very real possibility of us getting on the wrong train at some point, but its all part of the adventure!

Thankyou for your reply Distaff. So do you think the pace of our trip looks okay, the last thing I was is to be too rushed and tired to enjoy it (but I also keep thinking there's so much to see and what if I never go back!!). I've tried to factor in some quieter, relaxed days some places; and its not set in stone reservations can be cancelled if we decide to stay somewhere longer than initially planned. I'm definitely extending the trip past the 28 days on here probably by another week and it's looking likely we'll be going to Kerala where I plan to stay in pretty much one place and end the trip with some chilled out r&r.

How are the plans for a winter 2013 trip Emelle? Is there anywhere I can read more about your 2010 trip? I'm glad you liked Tree of Life, its on the expensive side really but it looks so clean and calm I think it will aid our transition to India gently!

I'm not sure if I can fit anywhere else in, and I'm not too sure Pushkar would be for me from what I've read, but thankyou for the suggestion. I definitely need to look up places with a pool that accept day guests, I don't think my daughter will consider it a proper holiday if there is no swimming pool involved!

The red fort in Delhi is well worth missing LOL..
As well as Ranakpur, do visit khumbhalgarh Fort, as well as being one of the lonliest forts in Rajasthan the drive between to two is simply sublime

In Bundi the katkoun Guesthouse is excellent value for money too, but unless you are travelling with a car and driver I would probably give Chittor a miss, itīs a fine destination but on public transport itīs a bit rushed.
On the way to Agra from Bundi you could think of a stopover at Bharatpur Bird Park, coupled with Fatehpur Sikri...