Proposed itinerary - October 2009; Delhi / Agra / Jaipur then Safari then Beach!

KDUK

Hello all,

I've been pouring over these forums with a great deal of interest recently and think it is the right time to post up some thoughts and questions for any advice / comment. It's my first time so please be gentle with me!

I am coming to India with my girlfriend later in the year. We fly on Friday 16th and land in Delhi at 09.15 on Saturday 17th October.

I am trying to work out the best, easiest, most enjoyable and workable itinerary for us. Lots to try and factor in.

The holiday is essentially split into thirds...a few days at the top seeing the sights, a few days in the middle on safari, and a few days at the back end chilling out on a beach!

So far I am thinking along the following lines...

Sat 17th Oct - Land in Delhi. We have a free transfer from the airport to any hotel courtesy of our business class upgrade (we've been flying with the same airline for years to get this, we're very excited!). When we arrive we plan to spend day chilling / recovering / wandering / eating and stay overnight in a hotel to be booked.

Sun 18th Oct - Have a driver meet us, take us round Delhi a little then over to Agra, see some sights then dinner and stay overnight in a hotel to be booked.

Mon 18th Oct - Early morning start to see the Taj Mahal, any other Agra sights before driving over to Jaipur and some late afternoon sights, then dinner and stay overnight in a hotel to be booked.

Tue 19th Oct - Morning elephant ride in Jaipur before driving back up to Delhi, some sights if we want then dinner and stay overnight in a hotel to be booked.

Wed 20th Oct - Chilled out morning, go for a wander or whatever before being picked up and taken to the train station for the 16.10 train to Katni which arrives 08.10 the next day.

For this portion I have requested a quote from Four Wheel Drive India who seem to have a good reputation on here. Have requested a Ford Fusion but am not too concerned so long as it is comfortable and has A/C! I understand that FWD with a driver will take care of everything, car, driver, sights, petrol etc and drop us off /pick us up at hotels that I will choose and book online. I want the flexibility to choose my own hotels, and also to see all the sights but be able to enjoy dinners / evenings alone with my girlfriend should we so wish, which might not be so easy on a 'package' tour. I also want to find some nice, unusual, boutique style hotels, a taste of something authentic perhaps or Indian opulence or whatever...a memorable experience! I will be doing a lot of research online and using the forums / Trip Advisor to help me here.

After the overnight train to Katni we will be going to Bandhavgarh for 2 nights...we will have our Lodge pick us up for the 2 hour transfer (cost 2200 INR...reasonable?) to the lodge and I hope we will get in an afternoon safari on the Thursday and both AM and PM safaris on the Friday and Saturday. The place we have found to stay in looks fabulous and from my research Bandhavgarh is a really good park to see tigers and other wildlife in. We'd also like to do an elephant safari while we are here which is catered for in this park.

Thu 21st Oct - arrive Bandhavgarh, afternoon safari, overnight in lodge.

Fri 22nd Oct - morning and afternoon safari, overnight in lodge.

Sat 23rd Oct - morning and afternoon safari, transfer to Pench or Kanha NP, overnight in lodge.

Any advice / suggestions as to which one would be best? Our main aim is tigers but I'd like to see as much variety as possible. Is one better than another for that? We are going to stay in a really (excessive!) expensive place in Bandhavgarh so the next 3 nights in a lodge will be somewhere more reasonable to even that out, but we still want somewhere nice.

Sun 24th Oct - morning and afternoon safari, overnight in lodge.

Mon 25th Oct - morning and afternoon safari, overnight in lodge.

Tue 26th Oct - transfer to Nagpur airport and flight to...

We are unsure whether to go to South Goa or somewhere in Kerala. We're looking for nice beaches, some good restaurants and bars to enjoy in the evening (but not the banging techno parties in North Goa!), a good romantic spot to enjoy and relax for a few days. I like the sound of Petnam or Palolem or maybe Varca, Cavelossim & Morbor. Similarly, some of the beaches in Kerala sounds really nice. We don't want a Robinson Crusoe style place where we don't see anyone for miles / hours, as we want to enjoy the evenings in some bars and restaurants, but don't want to go somewhere REALLY busy and touristy.

Wed 27th Oct to Sun 1st Nov - in beach resort before flying back from there to Mumbai for a 22.20 flight home which arrives in London 07.05 on the Monday.

How does that sound in principle...I am keen to fit in as much as possible but don't want to kill ourselves and spoil our enjoyment. Seeing the tigers and enjoying a beach is a must, but I don't want to miss the Taj so it seems sensible to whizz round the Golden Triangle while we are there.

Any advice, input, suggestions etc are most welcome! Thanks in advance!!

Kerry

KDUK

I know it is a long way away yet but my thread is in danger of slipping off the page so I thought I'd bump it back up for any comment

KDUK

Bumpy bump, fell off the page without comment!

Anyone? Ridicule also welcome

OceanTragic

I can't believe you had no interest; I'm sure PeakXV will be along soon to talk about Bandhavgarh.

Your itinerary looks pretty good to me, I'd do it, although I do not understand why you'd want to go back to Delhi from Jaipur just to catch a train to Katni. For my forthcoming trip I am going to Ranthambhore and was looking at Bandhavgarh too. There's a train, the DAYODAYA EXP, which goes from Sawai Madhopur to Katni, overnight, and a Tuesday one that goes to Umaria, which is even closer to Bandhavgarh.
Possibly after Jaipur instead of returning to Delhi you could get dropped off at Ranthambhore for an afternoon safari before catching the train from there.

There go, you've had a reply and I didn't even need to ridicule you

OceanTragic

Oh yeah...

Welcome to IndiaMike...but you should really introduce yourself properly in the Introduce Yourself forum.

Then I'd post your safari stuff in the Wildlife forum.

Hal

Welcome to the site!

Monday the 18th looks a bit full. 3 hours to Agra, and 4-5 hours to Jaipur doesn't leave a lot of time for the Taj and Jaipur. Why go to Jaipur at all for just the evening and an elephant ride?

What about Delhi-Agra-Ranthambore-Jaipur, then fly to Goa or Kerala?

KDUK

Thanks for the feedback everyone

I think you are right about the 18th, I will try and rework that to get a little more time in each...time enough to see everything without quite so much of a rush.

We really want to go to Bandhavgarh, part of the experience will be the overnight train plus from what I can gather, it is the best place to get a tiger sighting. We'd like a couple of different safari locations which is why I was thinking Bandhavgarh then Pench or Kanha. Maybe we could do Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh but that makes it a long journey for 'just' Bandhavgarh. I shall have a think about that one, going to Ranthambore from Jaipur then down...that might be a good idea instead of going back to Delhi...thanks!

I will also get myself onto the other forums