Rajasthan itinerary feedback and how do I get to Varanasi?

Hello,
I've has such a wonderful time reading all the post on IM so I though I would post my proposed itinerary and get some feed back (I only have hotels and transport booked in Delhi & Udaipur). As well as some on advice on getting to Varanasi.

I will be in India for 20 days.

Arrive Delhi
2 nights in Delhi
Fly to Udaipur
3 nights in Udaipur
1 nights in Ranakpur
3 nights in Johdpur
2 nights in Bikinar
3 nights in Shekawati area
4 nights in Varanasi
1 night in Delhi

Is this itinerary too crammed? If so what should be cut? And is it even possible to make it to Varanasi in this configuration. I have heard that all of the trains are booked solid. I have no problem flying.
Any feedback would be loved.
Thank you!

Sounds quite nice. Travel from Bikaner to Shekawati may be a bit tricky, but you can almost always book a taxi at fairly reasonable rates. Have someone start checking on trains right away if you can or try it yourself online, you may get lucky on some runs. What is your hotel preference or budget range?

Sounds like you have your Udaipur hotel booked. We stayed at the Pal Haveli in Jodhpur. Stayed in the prime minister's room which was very special. (www.palhaveli.com). The location is great and the people are exceptionally nice. In Bikaner we stayed at the Hotel Harasar Haveli (www.hotelharasarhaveli.com) which was inexpensive (Rs800 for a great room), but was tops for service and had a nice rooftop restaurant with very good food.

seems you have a tight itinerary and little time to do it all.
I went to Varanasi from Jaipur by train recently, had no problems
with it being booked up, got a ticket on the first train I asked about
and it was nowhere near full.
the rub is this though. the train was scheduled to take 17 hours.
ended up taking 27 hours, eating into an extra days travelling, not a problem
for me, but if you have 20 days in total it might be a pisser for you.
apparently trains travelling in the other direction have priority, and on much of the route there is a single track only. we got delayed once, throwing us off time and meaning we had to give way to all oncoming trains.
got there in the end, and varanasi really is a great place.
don't miss it if you can.

begreen,
Thank you for your hotel recommends. I have booked 3 nights in the Pal Haveli. It looks great! I am still trying to decide between staying in Rajasthan after Jodphur and taking a really long train to Varanasi. But most of all I am just excited to get to India!
klowe

Hi there !

Seems like this thread was made for me..

I have an itinerary that is similar. 3 weeks in Rajasthan. Then I go to Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai.

Up to now, I wasn't worried with reservation. Should I ? For hotels, I thought I'd make a reservation the day before. In Lonely Planet and on IM, there are so many hotels listed that it would be surprising if the were all full, wouldnt it?

Same thing for the trains. I thought I'd buy the ticket for my next destination as soon as I arrive in a city (1 or 2 days in advance).

Am I OK or should I worry a bit more ?

One last thing : Is it easier to take a train to Varanasi from Delhi or Agra ?
And is it a good idea to take the train from Varanasi to Mumbai ?
Anyone ever tried it ?

Thank you so much for your help !
This site (and the people who keeps it alive) is amazingly inspiring.

Hi Klowe

We are also heading to India in a few days -- first time trip and we too have 20 days. We are doing a combination of overnight trains and a car/driver for Rajasthan. Its a tight itinerary but we have scheduled some 3 night stays at a couple of places, plus overnights in Rohet and Deogarh to break up the trips and relax a little.

FWIW - here is how our itinerary ended up--->

Arrive Delhi afternoon, transfer to overnight train to Jodhpur.
Day 1 -Arrive early am Jodhpur (Meet car/driver)-- whole day to sightsee/stay overnight in Jodhpur.

Day 2- leave Jodhpur in morning, drive via Osiyan to Jaisalmer (overnight)

Day 3/4/ Jaisalmer

Day 5 Drive via Jodhpur to Rohet - Stay at RohetGarh to relax

Day 6 Drive via Ranakpur and maybe Kumbhalgar to Udaipur (overnight)

Day 7/8 Udaipur

Day 9 Drive to Deogarh -- Relax

Day 10 Drive to Jaipur

Day 11/12 Jaipur (sightsee/shopping)

Day 13 Drive to Agra in afternoon

Day 14 Visit Taj and Fort (End of car/driver portion) transfer to overnight train to Varanasi (about 12hours ride).

Day 15/16/17 Visit Varanasi -- day 16 get overnight train back to Delhi,

Day 18/19/20 (arrive am -- meet car/driver) --Visit Delhi/sightsee/shopping trasfer to airport afternoon of day 20


It is a little rushed and we did want to see the Shekawati region, but Varanasi 's "calling" was stronger so I figure that since Shekawati is closer to Delhi hopefully I will get to see it on the next trip

Also, this itinerary was planned on rather short notice... if we had more time to figure things out, we might have stayed one overnight in Delhi, but the disadvantage is that you can't see though the windows very well during the day anyhow, which is why we chose to take only night trains, and not for example the overnight train to Udaipur that takes over 24 hours from Delhi ...

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begreen9 -- Wow -- Palhaveli looks great! I wish I had known about it before we booked our hotel....