itinerary advice early Jan Udaipur->Jaipur

anatical

Hello,

As it seems that everyone deserves an equal chance at itinerary advice by this very supportive crowd... I'll throw my dilemmas into the mix.

We (early 30's active couple) are attending two friends' weddings: one late Dec, the other Jan 5 in Vadodara.
I've decided that right after wedding no. one in Mumbai, we'll take a flight to Udaipur (already booked) and spend two nights in Mt Abu.
(Q: best way to get from Udaipur airport to Mt Abu on a Tuesday afternoon ??)
(Q: do you have recommendations for guide(s) to guide us through the hiking trails in Mt Abu?)

Our stay in Mt Abu ends on Dec 31

We'll then travel to Udaipur
(Q: again, best way to get from Mt. Abu to Udaipur on New Year's Eve??)
Planning a two-night stay in Udaipur.
(Q: recommendation on where to celebrate NYE? Not looking for a western-style ball-- more like a good place on the lake to enjoy the scene??)

Here begins the quest for an itinerary. The only constraint is to arrive in Vadodara by nightfall on Jan 5. I'm not opposed to booking a flight from, say, Jaipur to Vadodara on the 5th (meaning, we can keep traveling north until the 5th, and then fly down).
Due to the time constraint, I'm also not opposed to overnight trains.

Here's what I gathered so far, but I'm parroting tour itineraries I've spotted online. So I'm not opposed to changing these plans:

Jan 1 sites in Udaipur, side trip to Nathdwara, stay Udaipur

Jan 2 taxi to Jodhpur through Ranakpur & Khumbhalgarh, stay Jodhpur
(Q: where do you book a taxi to Jodhpur through these two? Must you do so in advance, or just show up at the "place"- whatever it is- same day??)

Jan 3 Jodhpur sites by day,
... Then what??

I don't think there's time for both Jaisalmer and Jaipur before evening on Jan 5.
Should we skip Jodhpur altogether to add Jaisalmer to the trip (so as to avoid making this all about palaces and temples?)

Our priorities/interests: we enjoy nature as much as culture and would like to see both. I'd much rather skip one town altogether if this affords us the opportunity to: *) take a cooking/art/dance/music lesson *) do anything uniquely local that does not involve shopping.

Thanks for ANY input!

vonkla

The easiest way to get a car+driver is to arrange it via the hotel where you stay.
For a day trip you can ask it the day before, for shorter trips on the day it self.

Did you consider to go to Gujarat direct after your stay in Udaipur.
A car to Mahesana takes about 5 hours. From there you can visit Modhera (sun temple) and Patan (step well and weavers). Probably the little Ran of Kutch is also possible.

From Mahesana there are a lot of trains to Vadodara. From here you can make a day trip to Champainer.

We visited these places in March 2007, more details are in my Mumbai-Delhi journal.

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See our travel journals Mumbai-Dehli in three months; From Kochi to Delhi