Drive Down : Mathura Agra Gwalior Jhansi Orchha Khajuraho

Indizen

Hi
We are planning to drive down from Delhi via Agra, Gwalior, Orchha thru Jhansi on to Khajuraho.
1. What is the total distance and the travel time by car?
2. The road conditions?
3. Where to stop enroute?
4. Is there an alternative route back?

Thanks

rtandon

Hmmmm.... This is a good and optimal route.

I have travelled on this route and therefore can help you.

Delhi->Agra (Excellent) Approx 4 Hrs (200-220 Km)

Agra->Gwalior (Excellent) Except 5-8 Km Patch just after Agra
Approx 125 Km (2-2.5 Hrs, just because of poor patch 3-4 months back)

Gwalior->Datia->Jhansi Approx 100 Km. (Mix of Good and Bad Road)
Gwalior->Dabra is very good. Dabra->Datia->Jhansi is just Ok
(Last year I drove it in 3 Hrs as I was tired, but it may take 2-2.5 Hrs)

Jhasi->Orchha (Excellent, but it's just 16 Km) 20 Min.

Orchha -> Khajuraho (170 Km)
It was bad (or rather not good), some times back but traffic is low and if you enjoy driving, you will like it. On the way, halt at Barwa Sagar and (Swargashram)

Road is Good and single with low, very low traffic throughout after Gwalior. In general, roads connecting to Khajuraho are not very good

Other route from Khajuraho
Khajuraho->Kanpur (Bad, 200 Km.)
Kanpur->Delhi (Via Agra) (Superb Road) (500 Km Approx.)

Or

Khajuraho->Jhansi then turn right for Kanpur road and then take NH2 just before Kanpur, (turn left ) right upto Delhi

Dont hesitate to PM me for any more help. I am quite familiar with this route and places.

Places for halt are
Agra, Gwalior, Orchha, Khajuraho (perhaps Kanpur if you return from there)

Link to recent Orchha pics by me Some Jhansi and Gwalior Pics as well in other sets
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rajeevt...7603547214339/

Indizen

We intend to drive from Delhi to Khajuraho
Destination Distance from Delhi
Khajuraho 600
Orchha 438
Jhansi 420
Gwalior 320
Agra 200
Mathura 141

How long will it take to drive to Orchha from Delhi at one go, starting before dawn.

How much time should we spend at Khajuraho?

But is this more of a train trip or a car trip??

Is there an alternate route back to Delhi thru Uttar Pradesh?

Is it safe to drive at night in Madhya Pradesh?

What are the road conditions like??

Thanks for your time and patience.

Indizen

Thank you Rajeev for the informative reply.
Where wud you recommend we stay?
Orchha?

Then see the temples and drive back to Gwalior the same evening?
Please suggest.
We have only 2 days for this trip.
Which sectors are safe for night driving?
Which routes are particularly dangerous after it gets dark?

Thanks once again.

ntomer

Hotel Sheesh Mahal - run by MPTDC

Two days will be too less for this trip. I recently drove from Jhansi to Khajuraho and the road is BAAAD. You can read my travelogue here -

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...tml#post682402

Cheers

Nitin

rtandon

For 2 days, it would be very hectic. If you want to enjoy places then either you prolong the trip for 4-5 days or restrict your journey max. up to Orchha. See, you cant enjoy places in 2 days. Two full days will be required for driving itself. Unless you just want to visit the place for namesake you cant do it in 2 days.

Here is the approx guideline (it also varies with your choice and interests)

Gwalior visit may take 1-2 days
Jhansi may take another 1 day at least
Orchha (if you want to enjoy and rest, you may spend up 3-4 days. Simply visiting places 2 days)
Khajuraho visiting 1 day

This does not include driving.

Depends upon your trip schedule. If you are driving up to Orchha only. Stay at Orchha. Sheesh Mahal is my favourite. Other very good places are - Betwa retreat, Amar Vilas and some other resorts as well

Delhi - Agra - Gwalior is Okay for night drive. Avoid other sectors.
Esp. avoid Orchha - Khajuraho for night driving
Jhansi - Gwalior for very late night driving. Okay up to 7 p.m. (winters)

Indizen

If we skip Gwalior and Jhansi altogether (simply drive thru), can we cover the trip in around 2 - 3 days, staying one night each in Orchha and Khajuraho?
Which is better to stay at, between the two?

Thanks

rtandon

I would suggest (if you are short of time) that you go up to Orchha (Jhansi + 16Km) and take a halt there because if you are driving, it would almost take 10+ hrs. to reach up to Orchha and if you start by 6 AM, it will already be evening

Day 2
See Orchha in the day (get up early and visit places, if you are visiting the nearby forest then go there early to return well before sunset.)

I am not recommending to go to Khajuraho on the fist day for 2 reasons:
a) By Orchha, you would have already driven 420 Kms. (out of this, approx. 310 Km will be excellent road stretch, 10 Km bad and 100 Km a bit rough but tolerable stretch) further it would already be sunset and driving additional 150-160 Km on a rough road without much facilities is not advisable
b) Later, if you decide and like the place Orchha, you can stay another day there and avoid Khajuraho altogether or move on to Khajuraho and come back (2 days additional) because you can not easily go to Khajuraho, see the temples and come back to Jhansi / Orchha on the same day *unless* you start off very early, dont take halts, visit the temples in a hurry and then again drive 150-170 Km back to Orchha or Jhansi. If you want to be comfortable, it definitely takes 2 days starting from Jhansi / Orchha.

because of these two reasons, I suggest that you drive Max up to Orchha on first day and then re-consider your plans and either move ahead next day, second day or return from there.

One thing I am sure is that even if you return from Orchha, you will *not* regret not having gone up to Khajuraho. In my opinion, that place is far more beautiful (if you can explore the riverside and places deep into forest) and peaceful compared to Khajuraho. (you can verify from my pics)

In short, possible schedules are:

#1 5 Days Schedule
Day 1 - Drive Up to Orchha (start as early as possible if you can manage to be on the road by 5 AM- it's all the better. If you can manage to reach Orchha 20 min before 5 PM, (a bit difficult though) you can enjoy Sun setting by the river Betwa after taking rest of 30 min.
Day 2 - Visit places in Orchha
Day 3,4 Visit Khajuraho and return to Jhansi / Orchha
Day 5 Back to Delhi

#2 4 Days Schedule
Alternative schedule
Day 1 Delhi - Gwalior Visit Gwalior fort and enjoy Sunset there

(A word of caution for driving up hill to fort
If you are driving by car, be prepared. There is a sudden, sharp and steep uphill of about 50-100 meters on the way to fort after you start climbing uphill. This appears all of a sudden and you need to be in lower gears well before that to manage climbing uphill. It just for a few seconds but worth to be aware of it)

Day 2 Gwalior - Orchha
Day 3 Visit Orchha temples and reserve forest area / river banks.
Day 4 Return back right up to Delhi because the road quality permits driving eve during the night hours.

#3 4/3 Days schedule
Day 1 Delhi - Orchha (bit hectic though)
Day 2/Day3 At Orchha enjoy without haste
Day 3/Day4 Return to Delhi

You can choose from these schedule as per your interests and available time. If you take a train up to Jhansi, you can save 1 Day (in total)

In last six/seven months, I had to visit Jhansi, Orchha, Gwalior in one trip; Agra, Gwalior in another trip and Jhansi, Orchha in the third trip but have not prepared a travelogue as such so far.

rtandon

Hi,

I think I have now answered most of these questions in the thread
Khajuraho Road Trip

The answers for others:
Khajuraho is at most worth One day (Of course if you intend to go further up to Panna national park, you need more time)

If you enjoy road trip adventure, you will like this (but don't overstretch yourself by driving fast) If you don't enjoy road trips and also get a reservation in time then you can opt for a train (up to Jhansi)

Route via UP is excellent most of the way, if coming from Delhi, you need to turn right for Jhansi (30-40 Km before Kanpur) from there 4 lane smooth road ends and you get intermittently rogh patches and single lane road (but manageable still) However,
(but even otherwise if going via m.p. the road up to Gwalior is excellent too and shorter)

A bit skeptical about Jhansi Gwalior road in night but I know for sure that vehicles do ply between Gwalior and Jhansi even during late hours. Of course, road is just good (not excellent though) between these two places (100 Km Approx.)

There is a place called "Morena" adjacent to Gwalior which was earlier infamous for dacoits but that is not directly on the main route, there is a branching road after Gwalior (Gwalior-Delhi route) There are ravines on the Gwalior Jhansi route though.

Indizen

Thanks Rajeev for your time and patience with me.
I'm now in two minds.
1 Take Sampark Kranti to Mahoba and Shatabdi back from Jhansi to Delhi.
Cost of share taxi from Mahoba to Khajuraho?
Khajuraho to Orchha?

2 Drive thru Agra to Khajuraho
Back thru Kanpur Aligarh Ghaziabad highway.
Is the difference significant?

rtandon

If you are short of time (as per other thread) then you must
a)Either travel by faster trains directly to Kanpur/Jhansi then to Khajuraho
b)Travel by car then drop the idea of Khajuraho
c) Quickest may be Shatabdi up to Jhansi then take bus up to Khajuraho or arrange for cab / own transport

In nutshell, you cant cover both Khajuraho and Orchha in 3 days
Following constraints will hold true
a) Orchha - Khajuraho by car can be covered in 4-5 hrs and road is NOT good (not like 4 lane expressways elsewhere)
b) Kanpur has got good connection with Delhi anytime and specifically check Shatabdi timings
c) Orchha and Khajuraho both are approx 200-220 Km from Kanpur. Kanpur Orchha and Kanpur - Khajuraho are just okay (road conditions) it takes approx 6 hrs from Kanpur to reach either of these places.

Kanpur-Aligarh-Ghaziabad route is shorter as compared to Kanpur-Agra-Delhi but later is good in quality. (4 lane expressway almost all the way) whereas I am not very sure of current condition of Kanpur-Aligarh-Delhi (although transporters follow this route, as it is shorter)

I know my answers are not exactly for the questions you asked, but these mention the realistic framework under which you can formulate your plan.
------------------------------
Most important is that you have to list your priority
whether you priority is enjoying a driving trip
or priority is place then which one (any, one, both)
or priority is time

depending upon your priority (primary, secondary etc) you can make your plan as per the constraints.

you can PM me for any other question as well.

Indizen

Thanks once again
I was trying to compare Route 1 = Delhi Faridabad Mathura Agra Gwalior Jhansi
with Route 2 = Jhansi Kanpur Aligarh Ghaziabad Delhi
Is Route 1 shorter?
Safer?
Good idea to go by Route 1 and return by Route 2 ?
Suggested halts please.
I really would like to cover both Orccha and Khaj, one night in each place and travelling rest of the time, coz of work constraints.

rtandon

Consider Kanpur only if you are going up to Khajuraho, because for Jhansi (Orchha) only, Delhi-Agra-Gwalior-Jhansi is better but if you go up to Khajuraho then from there itself you can take route towards Kanpur.

Practically speaking, Jhansi, Kanpur and Khajuraho form an almost equilateral triangle, where road condition wise, Jhansi-Kanpur is little better than other two routes and all three of them are in the range of 170-220 Km

Actually, Khajuraho is connected to Kanpur via different route and to Jhansi via different route altogether.

Kanpur-Agra-Delhi route is longer a bit but certainly the best one and also note that Jhansi-Kanpur route meets this route, approx 30 Km before Kanpur. (Approx 180 Km from Jhansi)

Kanpur-Aligarh-Ghaziabad-Delhi route is altogether a different route (not 4 laner) but shorter (if going from Kanpur by 40-50 Km)

If you look to above suggestion, with a map in view then you will get a better idea.

Indizen

Thanks for the detailed picture.
We plan to go down Delhi Agra Gwalior Orchha
Then Khajuraho Kanpur Aligarh Ghaziabad Delhi

I'll look up the highways at mapsofindia.com and get back to you if I have any doubts. Thank you once again.

Magsemail

Hi there,
I'm thinking about going to Orcha and wondering about places to stay. Are those bathroom photos of the Sheesh Mahal on your website? Do you like Sheesh Mahal, or is it kind of gloomy at times?
Also, any idea how long it takes to drive from Agra to Jaipur? Would you recommend spending more time in Jaipur or more in Orcha?
Thanks.