Delhi to Kolkata - 3 week journey

CoolandinSchool

Hi all,

I was wondering if I could get some input from some of the more experienced travelers about a few things.

I'll be in India for about 21 days, arriving in Delhi on June 26th. It'll be my first time and I'm sure I'm gonna come back for more in the future.

My itinerary is as follows:

Delhi - 4 days (2 of which is for rest and adjusting)
Jaipur, Amber, and Jaigarh - 2 days
Fatehpur Sikri - 1 day
Agra - 1 day
Varanasi - 3 days
Bodhgaya - 2 days
Kolkata - 3 days

As you can tell, I still have about 5 unused days, most of it will be used for traveling to and from these various spots, and for a bit of cushion just in case.

I'm doing this budget style, so I was wondering if $500-$600 would be sufficient enough to survive for 3 weeks.

I plan on traveling by train...would you recommend getting a rail pass? Is it too late to book trains at this point (1 month in advance)? How packed will the sleeper class be June-July?

Would you recommend any other modes of travel?

Any of your suggestions regarding transportation, my itinerary, places to see and other matters will be very helpful

Thanks a million!

rab

Your trip looks do-able and assuming your $'s are USD then I reckon you should be OK.

If you are staying a few days in Delhi I would do your Agra trip from there on the daily Shatabdi. That will give you loads of time there to see the place (other than the Fort and the Taj Agra is a real hell-hole).

I can't help that thinking your one trip is three trips: -

1/ Delhi and Rajasthan
2/ Delhi and Agra / FS
3/ Delhi and Varanasi / Kolkata

Maybe re-work the start of your trip to include a straight away trip to Rajasthan or Agra or something.

Someone else will advise you on the trains.