Advance Rail Bookings Advisable?

mtstack

Hi--

I have been avidly using your site to research my imminent trip and am thrilled with the amount of information readily available.

My son and I are travelling to India next week to volunteer with a group based in Dharamsala for three weeks. After the three weeks, we return to Delhi and I plan to spend one week seeing the sights in Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, spending two nights in each place.

Delhi: We've booked a room at Wongdhen House: I'm worried that I won't be able to get to the rail station for a 6am departure for Agra--1)are taxis easily bookable? and 2) surely there are more trains available than the two I see on http://www.irctc.co.in/ (6am or 7:15am)
or 3) should I just stay in the Parharganj area near the station?

Agra: I am considering booking at Taj Plaza unless members advise me that Hotel Kamal or another is a better option--I have read mixed reviews on every hotel in Agra. I'd like to spend one day visiting the Taj Mahal and Red Fort and the next day head to Fatehpur Sikri.
I would like to catch the late afternoon train from there to Jaipur and it appears that there is only one which departs Agra at 17:40 stops in Bharatpur and gets into Jaipur at 22:20

Jaipur: I've tentatively booked a room at Hotel Pearl Palace which won't hold bookings after 4pm--should I worry about arriving late at night and not knowing if I have a reservation?
I have read many favorable reviews of Pearl Palace, but was also considering Umaid Bhawan (different price ranges) for the experience of staying in a heritage guesthouse--any recommendations?

Jaipur to Delhi: only train getting in to Delhi at a reasonable hour (22:35) is waitlisted. Should I worry about getting a seat? Is it imperative that I book a seat one month in advance? Should I just wait until I get to India in a week's time? It also appears that my back-up could be bus service, which seems to run frequently.

I am reluctant to have everything for the week planned out in stone, but it appears that with rail tickets, perhaps I should. Please let me know if it's true that tickets can be obtained by agents/hotels even though the website has limited offerings.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanking you in advance for wading through my lengthy post.

bruce3404

I would certainly book all tickets in advance. You're already looking at one wait list situation and if you wait until the last minute, you might find yourself waitlisted on every train. For the wait list you're looking at now....just go ahead and book it and you can watch yourself move up the queue...you'll probably be OK. If not, there are tourist quota tickets available, though it involves a trip to the station and sometimes a lot of waiting around. I've never used that option, preferring to distance myself as much as possible from Indian bureaucracy.

I would also stay in PaharGang the night before your 6AM train. There are some decent hotels there and you can't beat the proximity....might gain you a half hour's sleep.

mtstack

bruce--thanks for the helpful advice. i'll work on it this weekend--when you were there, which class of train travel did you take?

capt_mahajan

Mod note

mtstack, your thread has been moved to the indian railway forum.

That was the forum where you started a duplicate thread to this one (which is not allowed) and then replaced all the text from your first post in this thread with '???' (which was odd, since it had a reply and another post of yours after that)

Anyway, all been fixed now, I hope.

In future, please PM any moderator if you would like your thread moved- or even leave a request in the thread.

This way is harder

mtstack

Capt Mahajan:

Thank you for correcting my error--obviously I am brand new to IndiaMike and had difficulty even figuring how to post let alone where to post. After I posted under Introduce Yourself, I worried that was more of a "get to know others" site and wouldn't generate any useful responses, since I really need info re: train bookings.
Thank you for rectifying the situation and not just deleting both threads entirely.

capt_mahajan

No sweat.

You are right; the thread is better off here.

Welcome, and enjoy indiamike

bruce3404

Generally 2A, but I did try 1A for a trip from Jaipur to Delhi; it was nicer, but not worth the extra $$$. On my particular 1A trip there were a bunch of spoiled noisy Indian brats in the car, so that partly influences my opinion. I also traveled CC on the Shatabdi to and from Amritsar and I liked that class and train very much. I would avoid non-AC since you're from a cooler part of the country (as I am).

mtstack

Thanks Bruce, for the info.

I managed to book 1A for Jaipur to Delhi (was worried about being waitlisted in 2A) and CC for Delhi to Agra and Agra to Jaipur.
I really appreciate your help.
Thanks again.

bruce3404

You're most welcome. I spent 12 days in Dharamsala in 2003 and very much enjoyed the town. Good luck!

mtstack

I'm relieved that my first three weeks will be in Dharamsala. The last week of our trip seems to require the most planning in advance, something I'm not used to doing. I like being able to not have definitive plans and hop on a train as the whim strikes. . . so having to book all of our rail tickets in advance and research hotels and such has been worrisome. Having the internet available is great, but almost provides too much information.
I'm very grateful to have stumbled upon this site which is frequented by very helpful travellers!

michellew

When we were booked at Hotel Pearl Palace and were arriving from Bharatpur, we learned our train was going to be late. We rang and they held the room for us with no hassles. We arrived quite late at night - close to midnight.
It is a great hotel by the way. You will enjoy.

mtstack

thanks Michelle for your opinion of Hotel Pearl Palace. They have recvd my request for a room and I am awaiting confirmation of my booking!