travel by train: I'm lost here ,confused

I'm new to this forum, and apparently even hours of spending in this site wouldn't be enough for me to understand how the Indian transportation really works...
So originally the plan was to arrive in Delhi and from there move to either Agra or Udaipur. I tried to look for flights but apparently there are no flights there in the evening(?)
So we were thinking of a train, we even considered a luxury train trip from Delhi for a couple nights, but then i realized no luxury trains in may
So, then i started looking for just a normal train, thinking that we could probably book a privet compartment. So i opened the India railway site....and i got lost...
So what do i do?
We are supposed to arrive in New Delhi in the evening, i need to know if we have to book a hotel and take the morning flight, or is there an option of booking the train so we wouldn't have to stay in Delhi.

Your help will be much appriciated...Thank you!

www.erail.in is easier to use than the Indian Railway website.

New Delhi to Udaipur.......

Train 2963 departs Nizamuddin daily at 19:00 and gets to Udaipur at 07:00

First Class air con costs Rs1917 per person.

If you look at the schedule of the train, it calls at Bharatpur at about 21:30, Bharatpur is about 60kms from Agra, if you wanted to visit Agra first, you could then take this train from Bharatpur to get to Udaipur.

You can book trains online via the http://www.irctc.co.in/ website.

The following is from the train info thread.

I-Ticket = book on the net, have it delivered to an address in India, a hotel or travel agent for example, you can no longer pick these tickets up at the station.

E-Ticket = Book on the net, then print the ticket on your home computer.


Advance reservations.

Most tickets can be booked 90 days in advance, a few tickets can only be booked 30 days in advance. (Some Intercity and daytime, short distance trains)


Opening times for train bookings.

Booking through Internet is allowed from 5 AM to 11.30 PM (IST)
23:30 - 18:00 GMT

Thanks for the quick reply. Thing is, we land in Delhi 20:20, that's if we do not have all sorts of delays. So we wouldn't be able to make it to any of those trains. Which brought a whole new question - what's the distance from Delhi airport to the train station? and another thing - is there more then one train station in Delhi?

3 main train stations in Delhi, about 60-90 minutes to them from the airport, but arriving at 20:20, so getting out of the airport by 21:30, there isn't any train you can get really, you'll have to use a hotel.

Then you could get a flight to Udaipur in the morning, or get an early train from New Delhi (about 06:15) to Agra (journey time 2 hours), then see Agra, maybe Fathepur Sikri (35kms from Agra), then the overnight train to Udaipur from Bharatpur (25kms from Fathepur Sikri).

New Delhi station is next to Paharganj, an area of Delhi full of cheap hotels.

Thank you,very much! Well i guess that's what we'll do.
However, we don't necessarily look for a cheap hotel, we're more looking for a decent, clean, air conditioned hotel to make the landing the smoothest possible...any recommended hotel in that area?

I always go for the cheap ones (Rs200-300) in Paharganj, and to be honest, none are great and none are awful, they are all OK and you get what you pay for.

About halfway along paharganj, there's a whole group of hotels targeting the Israeli tourists, that's either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view, but I find the hotels OK, a little noisy, but everything is open 24 hours.

Sorry, not much help I know.

Have a look in our hotel section to see if anything stands out.

http://www.indiamike.com/reviews/showcat.php/cat/13

I have stayed at http://www.yatrihouse.com/ twice, but their rates are climbing towards luxury.

It is very quiet and reliable and they do airport pick-up (also quite expensive).

Cottage Yes Please was a good option for us - reasonable price and pretty comfy. Its at the other end of Paharganj from New Delhi station, but in a nice quiet area - we caught 2 early morning trains from there and it was easy - a 10 minute walk or autorickshaw depending on how much luggage you have.

Agra-Delhi Bus Terminal

Where is the bus terminal in Delhi of buses coming from Agra? Is it in ISBT Kashmiri Gate or Sarai Kale Khan Station?

Where do these buses leave from Agra? Agra Fort or Idgah bus station?

Considering the arrival Delhi terminal of buses coming from Agra, where is it nearest to board the HRTC bus to Shimla? Himachal Bhawan or Kashmiri Gate?,

Appreciate all info.

R.E.Ferido

There is an option to travel by overnight train from Tundla (25kms from Agra) to Kalka, the train then meets the scenic toy train to Shimla, just an idea.

From Agra buses arrive at Sarai Kale Khan Bus Terminus in south-east Delhi on the Ring Road. Himachal Bhavan in central Delhi is nearer than ISBT, Kashmere Gate.

Thank you very much for the advice and the link. It does look like a nice place, although they write that each room has it's own bath, when in fact the pictures only show showers... am i too naive? Anyway, i wrote to them, hopefully they will respond soon and we will have a bath after that loooong flight...
When they say free WI-FI Internet - they will not try to charge for it right? and another thing, how long is the way from the airport to the hotel and how much should the airport transfer cost?

Taltul, "bath" does indeed mean bathroom with shower, no bathtub - at least I haven't seen one yet.
Airport pick-up cost me a whopping Rs 700 last time and took about 45 minutes in the dead of the night.

All this: Yatri House as mentioned above.

The only place in India I had a bathtub was at Fairlawn in Kolkata! Everywhere else, "bath" means a place to clean yourself. Sometimes a shower, sometimes a tap with a bucket.

If you want a hotel with bathtub, you will have to go fot 3-star at least.