Rajastan 3 wks Dec w 5 year old - Itinerary Help

Siena · May 9th, 2005, 12:27

Hi,
My husband and I and our 5 year old daughter are travelling to India for 3 weeks in December. I was there 20 years ago as a backpacker ( I vowed never to return!) so I know what to expect and this time we can afford to travel a bit more comfortably. Our budget for hotels is $50 - $80 per night and I was thinking of doing Delhi - Agra and Agra - Jaipur by train. For the rest we were going to hire a car and driver. Below is the first draft of our itinerary - what I need to know is are we being to ambitious, are we staying too long in certain places and not long enough in others, What should I delete, have I got it all the wrong way around!
Any advice gratefully received. Also any hotel reccomendations in the above price bracket.
Thanks and regards

DAY DATE ITINERARY OVERNIGHT IN
Friday 9 Depart Melbourne on QF404 to Sydney 06.30, then QF 123 to Mumbai. Arrive Mumbai 16.15 Mumbai Airport Hotel x 1 night
Sat 10 Fly to Delhi Delhi x 3 nights
Sun 11 Delhi
Mon 12 Delhi
Tues13 Train to Agra Agra x 1 night
Wed14 Day in Agra, pm catch over night train to Jaipur
Thurs 15 Arrive in Jaipur Jaipur x 3 nights
Fri 16 Jaipur
Sat 17 Jaipur
Sun 18 Pick up car and driver. Drive to Bikaner Bikaner x 2 nights
Mon 19 Bikaner
Tues20 Drive to Jaisalmer Jaisalmer x 3 nights
Wed21 Jaisalmer
Thurs22 Jaisalmer
Fri 23 Drive to Camp Manvar Camp Manvar x 1 night
Sat 24 Drive to Jodpur Jodpur x 2 nights
Sun 25 Jodpur
Mon 26 Drive to Rohet Garh Rohet Garh x 1 night
Tues 27 Drive to Udaipur. Release Car and driver.Udaipur x 3 nights
Wed 28 Udaipur
Thurs 29 Udaipur
Fri 30 Fly to Mumbai Mumbai x 2 nights
Sat 31 Mumbai Mumbai
Sun 1 Depart Mumbai on QF 124 18.30pm.

Lily · May 10th, 2005, 11:54

Your itinerary is quite similar to the one we normally recommend for "an anticlockwise" Rajasthan tour from Jaipur. This is specialy suitable when you are planning to fly out of Udaipur.

We are certain the new often-announced train from Agra to Jaipur will become operational much before December, 2005, so it's a good bet to use trains for Delhi - Agra - Jaipur.

For hotels I'd sugest you use the better family hotels. The five stars are further expected to raise their tariff by another 15% looking at the demand-supply situation. Also, book in advance - last year we could not obtain rooms for our guests in most of the hotels we normally use, specially from the 22nd of December onwards. The young Indians also travel a lot these days and Rajasthan is a favourite destination for the last week of the year.

Siena · May 12th, 2005, 15:52

Thank you Lily,
I appreciate your time.

LaContessa · May 12th, 2005, 17:05

Hi there. This is a good intinary, I have done a similar trip myself, but it is ambitious for the time you have which means you will be spending quite a big chunk of your time actually travelling, and the distances are quite lengthy especially with a young child who may well get bored in the car.. I don't want to pee on your parade, but I might be tempted to leave out a couple of your destinations in order to spend more time somewhere and less time travelling.

Whatever and wherever you decide, have a fabulous time.

Adventurer_Prince · May 12th, 2005, 17:31

Have A nice Journey Siena !!
Cheers!!

Siena · May 12th, 2005, 18:10

Thanks La Contessa & Adventure Prince.
La Contessa - which destinations would you be tempted to leave out in order to have longer in other places? I was wondering whether we were attempting to do too much. So what places are dispensible???
Thanks

LaContessa · May 12th, 2005, 18:52

Mmm, well it's difficult to say, because you obviously want to see these places and it wouldn't be fair for me to say leave them out, especially as I haven't been to Jodphur, Jaipur or Bikaner.

Siena · May 12th, 2005, 19:00

No problems, thanks again.

LaContessa · May 12th, 2005, 19:11

I might well get shot for saying this, but many people I've spoken too were not that enamoured with Jaipur or Jodphur and didn't stay long... I can't say because I've only passed through these cities. However, I've been to places that I've absolutely loved, that other people have hated... So I'd hate to try to advise you on which places to go to and which to miss out on, because they all have their attractions and benefits, and for some people they are just special.. And when I went there I was travelling without a child.

But I did see parents with young children in Udaipur and Pushkar and the kids seemed to having a marvellous time. There's also the attraction of the camels..

I'm planning a trip either India or Thailand for 3 weeks in December with my 6 year old, it will be her first big trip outside of europe, and can't decide yet which area will be the best / most interesting for her, and which will give us variety but without lots of long distance travel. If it was down to me I'd head for Kolkata and East Bengal... Lol.

Lily · May 12th, 2005, 22:02

Siena,

If you are planning to leave Bikaner out, a fresh itinerary would look like
Jaipur
Deogarh
Jodhpur
Jaisalmer
Rohetgarh
Udaipur

This, however raises the question of room availabilty in Deogarh and Rohet - this should be sorted out early!

desertrose2005 · May 13th, 2005, 03:51

Have A nice trip Siena .
india is a land of contrast and i m sure you would love the way few things are kept in its original order.
regards
happy travel

Siena · May 13th, 2005, 04:17

Well I'm now onto draft 4 of the itinerary- see below. I've piffed Bikenear and substituted Pushkar and instead of Jodhpur (there were probably too many big cities on the agenda and I think Jodhpur would be the one I could live without) and substituted 2 nights at Rohet Garh. All that leave is where to stay between Jaisalmer and udaipur? Perhaps that stop could be rohet Garh and we could stay somewhere else after Pushkar. Any idea's? As soon as I finalise the actual itinerary I will immediately get onto booking the accommodation.Thanks everybody.

9 December Depart Melbourne Arrive Mumbai 16.15 Mumbai x 1 night
10 Fly to Delhi Delhi x 3 nights
11 Delhi Delhi
12 Delhi Delhi
13 Train to Agra Agra x 1 night
14 Day in Agra, pm catch train to Jaipur Train x 1 Night
15 Arrive in Jaipur Jaipur x 3 nights
16 Jaipur
17 Jaipur
18 Pick up car and driver. Drive to pushkar Pushkar x 2 nights
19 PushKar
20 Drive to rohet garh Rohet garh x 2 nights
21 rohet garh
22 Drive to camp manvar Camp Manvar x 1 night
23 Drive to jaisalmere Jaisalmer x 3
24 Jaisalmer
25 jaisalmer
26 Drive to ? O/N ???? X 1
27 Drive to Udaipur. Release Car. Udaipur x 3 nights
28 Udaipur
29 Udaipur
30 Fly to Mumbai Mumbai x 2 nights
31 Mumbai
1 Depart Mumbai on QF 124 18.30pm. Arr Syd 11.25

Callous · May 13th, 2005, 04:54

Hello,we were in India in Dec/Jan for 5 weeks with our children .Our youngest Eliza was nearly 5 and she had such a great time.I was sorry to read of you giving Jodhphur a miss,I know it is hard to work out a route but this are my thoughts.We hired a car and driver in Agra and headed south to Rathambhore Nat Park,the kids enjoyed this but it was very dry. We went on a safari in the hope of spotting a tiger but no such luck,Nevertheless it was a lovely spot and I imagine it would be even more wonderful when it rains.From there to Pushkar,Brett and I had lovely memories of there from a trip many years ago.Still a nice spot but now very touristy.From there we passed through Jaipur and then on to our favourite spot in Rajastan,Jodhphur.The fort truly is magnificent ,I remember Eliza really did enjoy this.Bikaner I would not visit again.You will have a great time,travelling with children brings out the best in many people and we were very warmly greeted throughout our time in India.We loved it that much we are heading back on the 10th June,fly into Mumbai and then hope to head to the Punjab and up to Kashmir.Please pm me if you would like my ph no and we can have a yarn about our trip,Kindest cheers,Carol Wilson QLD Australia.

redtiger · May 13th, 2005, 06:28

Hi siena,
just to confuse u more.... I really recommend Jodhpur.. the fort is stunning.
jodhpur is know as the blue city and thats what U see. visually it is a beautiful city. people may hate what what im going to say next but i would give up pushkar, it really is a hangout place for western long stayers.
it really depends on what your into and that should direct u where u want to go......

also · May 21st, 2005, 01:03

I visited Jodhpur in 1996 and found the fort stunning. There are a couple of other nice objects to view there as well. We spent just a day there so i cant comment on the city itself.

We did our trip by car (with driver)
Delhi-Jaipur 2 nights-Jodhpur (1 day)- Jaisalmer (4 nights. Was great- a lot of activities and places to see in and around Jaisalmer)-Bikaner (1 night. didint find it that great)- Deshnuk Rat temple (absolutely out of this world-Rats crawling all around)-Ranthambhor (2 nights)-Bharatpur (0.5 days)-Fatehpur Sikri (0.5 days) - Agra (1 night) - back to delhi.

IT was a great trip. We are heading for India in October with our 1.5 year old child and plan to take in some of these sites again (our umpteenth trip). Although Bundi beckons as well.

For first timers my reccomendation in Rajasthan is as follows:-

Jaipur - the 3 forts of Amber, etc
Ranthambhor- tiger tiger burning bright (still)
Udaipur-Kumbhalgarh (really really great fort just an hour from Udaipur)-Chittaurgarh OR Jodhpur-Jaisalmer

May 9th, 2005, 12:27	#1
Siena Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 40	Rajastan 3 wks Dec w 5 year old - Itinerary Help Hi, My husband and I and our 5 year old daughter are travelling to India for 3 weeks in December. I was there 20 years ago as a backpacker ( I vowed never to return!) so I know what to expect and this time we can afford to travel a bit more comfortably. Our budget for hotels is $50 - $80 per night and I was thinking of doing Delhi - Agra and Agra - Jaipur by train. For the rest we were going to hire a car and driver. Below is the first draft of our itinerary - what I need to know is are we being to ambitious, are we staying too long in certain places and not long enough in others, What should I delete, have I got it all the wrong way around! Any advice gratefully received. Also any hotel reccomendations in the above price bracket. Thanks and regards DAY DATE ITINERARY OVERNIGHT IN Friday 9 Depart Melbourne on QF404 to Sydney 06.30, then QF 123 to Mumbai. Arrive Mumbai 16.15 Mumbai Airport Hotel x 1 night Sat 10 Fly to Delhi Delhi x 3 nights Sun 11 Delhi Mon 12 Delhi Tues13 Train to Agra Agra x 1 night Wed14 Day in Agra, pm catch over night train to Jaipur Thurs 15 Arrive in Jaipur Jaipur x 3 nights Fri 16 Jaipur Sat 17 Jaipur Sun 18 Pick up car and driver. Drive to Bikaner Bikaner x 2 nights Mon 19 Bikaner Tues20 Drive to Jaisalmer Jaisalmer x 3 nights Wed21 Jaisalmer Thurs22 Jaisalmer Fri 23 Drive to Camp Manvar Camp Manvar x 1 night Sat 24 Drive to Jodpur Jodpur x 2 nights Sun 25 Jodpur Mon 26 Drive to Rohet Garh Rohet Garh x 1 night Tues 27 Drive to Udaipur. Release Car and driver.Udaipur x 3 nights Wed 28 Udaipur Thurs 29 Udaipur Fri 30 Fly to Mumbai Mumbai x 2 nights Sat 31 Mumbai Mumbai Sun 1 Depart Mumbai on QF 124 18.30pm. Last edited by Siena : May 9th, 2005 at 13:30. Reason: to be more suscinct

May 10th, 2005, 11:54	#2
Lily Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Jaipur, India Posts: 342	Your itinerary Your itinerary is quite similar to the one we normally recommend for "an anticlockwise" Rajasthan tour from Jaipur. This is specialy suitable when you are planning to fly out of Udaipur. We are certain the new often-announced train from Agra to Jaipur will become operational much before December, 2005, so it's a good bet to use trains for Delhi - Agra - Jaipur. For hotels I'd sugest you use the better family hotels. The five stars are further expected to raise their tariff by another 15% looking at the demand-supply situation. Also, book in advance - last year we could not obtain rooms for our guests in most of the hotels we normally use, specially from the 22nd of December onwards. The young Indians also travel a lot these days and Rajasthan is a favourite destination for the last week of the year. __________________ Lily

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Rajastan heat	jebr12	Indian Railways	4	May 21st, 2005 04:39
keralla-rajastan	jennifericous	Kerala	10	Apr 2nd, 2005 20:29
hampi to rajastan	iggy_sandokan	Indian Railways	2	Aug 20th, 2004 20:48
Rajastan	Erw	Packing Tips for India travel	4	Oct 27th, 2003 17:37
Rajastan	Nixy	Rajasthan	1	Apr 23rd, 2002 14:38

May 12th, 2005, 15:52	#3
Siena Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 40	Thank you Lily, I appreciate your time.

May 12th, 2005, 17:05	#4
LaContessa Diabla Supreme Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 122	Hi there. This is a good intinary, I have done a similar trip myself, but it is ambitious for the time you have which means you will be spending quite a big chunk of your time actually travelling, and the distances are quite lengthy especially with a young child who may well get bored in the car.. I don't want to pee on your parade, but I might be tempted to leave out a couple of your destinations in order to spend more time somewhere and less time travelling. Whatever and wherever you decide, have a fabulous time.

May 12th, 2005, 17:31	#5
Adventurer_Prince Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: New Delhi Posts: 236	Have A nice Journey Siena !! Cheers!!

May 12th, 2005, 18:10	#6
Siena Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 40	Thanks La Contessa & Adventure Prince. La Contessa - which destinations would you be tempted to leave out in order to have longer in other places? I was wondering whether we were attempting to do too much. So what places are dispensible??? Thanks

May 12th, 2005, 18:52	#7
LaContessa Diabla Supreme Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 122	Mmm, well it's difficult to say, because you obviously want to see these places and it wouldn't be fair for me to say leave them out, especially as I haven't been to Jodphur, Jaipur or Bikaner.

May 12th, 2005, 19:00	#8
Siena Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 40	No problems, thanks again.

May 12th, 2005, 19:11	#9
LaContessa Diabla Supreme Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 122	I might well get shot for saying this, but many people I've spoken too were not that enamoured with Jaipur or Jodphur and didn't stay long... I can't say because I've only passed through these cities. However, I've been to places that I've absolutely loved, that other people have hated... So I'd hate to try to advise you on which places to go to and which to miss out on, because they all have their attractions and benefits, and for some people they are just special.. And when I went there I was travelling without a child. But I did see parents with young children in Udaipur and Pushkar and the kids seemed to having a marvellous time. There's also the attraction of the camels.. I'm planning a trip either India or Thailand for 3 weeks in December with my 6 year old, it will be her first big trip outside of europe, and can't decide yet which area will be the best / most interesting for her, and which will give us variety but without lots of long distance travel. If it was down to me I'd head for Kolkata and East Bengal... Lol.

May 12th, 2005, 22:02	#10
Lily Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Jaipur, India Posts: 342	Siena, If you are planning to leave Bikaner out, a fresh itinerary would look like Jaipur Deogarh Jodhpur Jaisalmer Rohetgarh Udaipur This, however raises the question of room availabilty in Deogarh and Rohet - this should be sorted out early!

May 13th, 2005, 03:51	#11
desertrose2005 Account Closed Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: jodhpore Posts: 20	Have A nice trip Siena . india is a land of contrast and i m sure you would love the way few things are kept in its original order. regards happy travel

May 13th, 2005, 04:17	#12
Siena Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 40	Well I'm now onto draft 4 of the itinerary- see below. I've piffed Bikenear and substituted Pushkar and instead of Jodhpur (there were probably too many big cities on the agenda and I think Jodhpur would be the one I could live without) and substituted 2 nights at Rohet Garh. All that leave is where to stay between Jaisalmer and udaipur? Perhaps that stop could be rohet Garh and we could stay somewhere else after Pushkar. Any idea's? As soon as I finalise the actual itinerary I will immediately get onto booking the accommodation.Thanks everybody. 9 December Depart Melbourne Arrive Mumbai 16.15 Mumbai x 1 night 10 Fly to Delhi Delhi x 3 nights 11 Delhi Delhi 12 Delhi Delhi 13 Train to Agra Agra x 1 night 14 Day in Agra, pm catch train to Jaipur Train x 1 Night 15 Arrive in Jaipur Jaipur x 3 nights 16 Jaipur 17 Jaipur 18 Pick up car and driver. Drive to pushkar Pushkar x 2 nights 19 PushKar 20 Drive to rohet garh Rohet garh x 2 nights 21 rohet garh 22 Drive to camp manvar Camp Manvar x 1 night 23 Drive to jaisalmere Jaisalmer x 3 24 Jaisalmer 25 jaisalmer 26 Drive to ? O/N ???? X 1 27 Drive to Udaipur. Release Car. Udaipur x 3 nights 28 Udaipur 29 Udaipur 30 Fly to Mumbai Mumbai x 2 nights 31 Mumbai 1 Depart Mumbai on QF 124 18.30pm. Arr Syd 11.25

User Name		Remember Me?
Password

May 13th, 2005, 04:54	#13
Callous Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Australia Posts: 113	Hello,we were in India in Dec/Jan for 5 weeks with our children .Our youngest Eliza was nearly 5 and she had such a great time.I was sorry to read of you giving Jodhphur a miss,I know it is hard to work out a route but this are my thoughts.We hired a car and driver in Agra and headed south to Rathambhore Nat Park,the kids enjoyed this but it was very dry. We went on a safari in the hope of spotting a tiger but no such luck,Nevertheless it was a lovely spot and I imagine it would be even more wonderful when it rains.From there to Pushkar,Brett and I had lovely memories of there from a trip many years ago.Still a nice spot but now very touristy.From there we passed through Jaipur and then on to our favourite spot in Rajastan,Jodhphur.The fort truly is magnificent ,I remember Eliza really did enjoy this.Bikaner I would not visit again.You will have a great time,travelling with children brings out the best in many people and we were very warmly greeted throughout our time in India.We loved it that much we are heading back on the 10th June,fly into Mumbai and then hope to head to the Punjab and up to Kashmir.Please pm me if you would like my ph no and we can have a yarn about our trip,Kindest cheers,Carol Wilson QLD Australia.

May 13th, 2005, 06:28	#14
redtiger Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: australia Posts: 12	Hi siena, just to confuse u more.... I really recommend Jodhpur.. the fort is stunning. jodhpur is know as the blue city and thats what U see. visually it is a beautiful city. people may hate what what im going to say next but i would give up pushkar, it really is a hangout place for western long stayers. it really depends on what your into and that should direct u where u want to go......

May 21st, 2005, 01:03	#15
also Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: germany Posts: 14	I visited Jodhpur in 1996 and found the fort stunning. There are a couple of other nice objects to view there as well. We spent just a day there so i cant comment on the city itself. We did our trip by car (with driver) Delhi-Jaipur 2 nights-Jodhpur (1 day)- Jaisalmer (4 nights. Was great- a lot of activities and places to see in and around Jaisalmer)-Bikaner (1 night. didint find it that great)- Deshnuk Rat temple (absolutely out of this world-Rats crawling all around)-Ranthambhor (2 nights)-Bharatpur (0.5 days)-Fatehpur Sikri (0.5 days) - Agra (1 night) - back to delhi. IT was a great trip. We are heading for India in October with our 1.5 year old child and plan to take in some of these sites again (our umpteenth trip). Although Bundi beckons as well. For first timers my reccomendation in Rajasthan is as follows:- Jaipur - the 3 forts of Amber, etc Ranthambhor- tiger tiger burning bright (still) Udaipur-Kumbhalgarh (really really great fort just an hour from Udaipur)-Chittaurgarh OR Jodhpur-Jaisalmer