North India 3 weeks November 09- itinerary advice (urgent pls)

Lynnie

Hi Everyone

I’ve been reading the forum for a few weeks now and getting super excited about my 3 week trip to India but also very confused re itinerary so need your help!

Me and a friend (2 girls in our late 20’s), will be travelling round India for 3 weeks in November, I’m flying in and out of Delhi (8 -29 Nov) and she will be staying on in India after I fly out, we’ll be on a low/medium budget ($200-$300 per week) and im trying to work out an itinerary for the time I’m there (I suspect after im gone she will probably head down to the beaches...) We have travelled beofore (S E Asia) and are quite “backpacky”, we like sights, architecture, meeting people and a bit of relaxed partying, want to travel mostly by train but also maybe some car journeys over shorter distances to allow us to stop in smaller towns/ off the beaten track places.

Altho I’d originally thought a bit of Rajastan followed by n 5-7 days in a coastal area (Goa/ Kerela /Dui-area..?) would be great I realize that India is perhaps too large and its better to stick to a couple of provinces and cut the distances you need to cover. So now thinking more Pajastan + Utar Pradesh

Places that I’ve read about so far and that stands out are Varanasi, Amritsar, Udaipur, Jaisalmer (camel safari!) and Khajuraho. Bundi, Phalodi and Orchha also sounds lovely and I think it will be cool to fit in a bit of mountains, perhaps Shimla or Rishikesh or Darjeeling or else just Mt Abu (great marble temples, but its not the himilayas) saying that, Himilayas might be a bit cold in November..?

Another thing I’ve read is that its nice to get over the India shock in Delhi and some of the less touristy/touty spots and do the hectic places more towards the end of the trip, so keeping that in mind I was wondering if I should leave Agra+ Varanasi more towards the end of the trip, any thoughts/comments?

Can anybody make any suggestions re what would be do-able with 22 days? At this stage still SUPER flexible and any advice & recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

A few routes I’m considering… (vote for your favourite and suggest amendments)

1. Delhi – (OT) – Varanasi - (OT) Agra - morning bus to Fathepur Sikri, late afternoon bus to Bharatpur, following day relaxing in Bharatpur (perhaps with early morning visit to Keoladeo park – Bharatpur (OT) – Udaipur – Mt Abu - Jodhpur (via Ranakpur & Khumbhalgarh) – Amritsar (?) (OT via Makhu & then car/bus to Amritsar) – Delhi (I miss Jaisalmer and should I do it other way around ie ending with Varanasi + Agra?)

2. Delhi – Bundi – Udaipur – Mt Abu – Jaisalmer – Phalodi – Bikaner - Amritsar – Agra – Varanasi – Delhi (Miss Orcha + Jodhpur… and totally don’t know if this is feasable with trains etc..?)

3. Delhi – Amritsar – Bikaner (?)- Jaisalmer (T)> - Jodhpur (T)> Jaipur (T)> Agra (T)> Khajuraho (P)> Varanasi (P)> Delhi (P) (miss Udaipur, would rather miss Jaipur, can I exchange them?)

4. Delhi - day trip to Amritsar - Varanasi - Agra - day trip to Fatehpur Sikri - Bundi - Udaipur – Jodhpur - Phalodi - Jaisalmer - Bikaner (OT) - Jaipur – Delhi

5. Delhi - Jaipur - Agra - Orchha - Khajuraho - Varanasi - Kolkata - Darjeeling - Gangtok - Kalimpong (Sikkim) – Kolkata –(fly to) Delhi

6. Delhi - Jaipur - Pushkar - Udaipur - Jodhpur - Jaisalmer - Agra - Orchha - Khajuraho - Varanasi - Delhi – Goa (??  )


Thanks so much!

Matthew Morris

This link will help you work a route out as well. It's a great site for traveling India by train:

http://indiarailinfo.com/search/

All of your options look reasonably doable, except for 6 with the Goa option, unless you fly down and back for a few days.

It will be a little rushed but 3 weeks for Rajasthan & Varanasi isn't too bad.

If you want some mountains, you could head north straight to Dharamsala from Delhi for a few days. It's a great place and quite different from the rest of your itinerary. From there it's not too far to Amritsar and from there Bikaner and onwards into Rajasthan.

Amritsar for a day trip from Delhi is really too far unless you are really determined to see it.

But you have some nice locations picked out, I would definitely choose Bundi over Pushkar and Udaipur over Jaipur...but that's just my own preferences.

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vonkla

I should go for this one. Maybe with a little change
Delhi – Bikaner (T)- Jaisalmer (T)> - Jodhpur (T)> Udaipur (C)> Agra (T)> Orchha (T)> Khajuraho (C)> Varanasi (P)> Delhi (P)

But whatever you decide don't wait to long and book your trains as soon as possible.
For the planning of rail journeys I mostly use http://erail.in/

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Lynnie

Thanks very much for your comments, I agree about amritsar for a day trip and therefor rather want to fit it in in as part of the itinerary

I'm now thinking...

Delhi – Dharamsala - Amritsar - Bikaner - Jaisalmer - Jodhpur - Udaipur - Agra - Orchha - Khajuraho - Varanasi - Delhi

I quit excited to be able to put some mountains into the plan but it might be a bit much for 3 weeks... I guess the only other option is to leave Dharamsala out and just do Mt Abu
Is Mt Abu a nice little place?
(And what will the weather be like in Dharamsala in November...?)

Also, for time saving I could maybe skip Khajuraho or is it really worth seeing?

Thanks again! , off to go meet a friend who's been to india to get some more tips!

wonderwomanusa

Obviously, if you only have three weeks, you have to make a lot of difficult decisions, but ya know, India isn't going anywhere!

Whatever you don't see on this trip, you can put on the list for the next time!

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