Aurangabad to Ellora Caves (& back)

tiger07302

Does anyone know how long it takes in a cab from Aurangabad railway station to Ellora caves and how long it takes from the Ellora caves to the Aurangabad airport in a cab?

Thanks in advance.

aadil

It will take less than an hour to get to the caves from the railway station. Are you sure you don't want to go to Ajanta Caves which also deserve an equally important look?!!!

Cheers,
Aadil.

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tiger07302

Yea, I'm barely fitting the Ellora caves in my schedule. I'm trying to do it in 1 day so that doesn't leave much time for the Ajanta caves.

bijapuri

now, It's none of my business, but . . .

at least for me, there is nothing short of a birth of a child or impending nuclear holocaust that ranks as important as a visit to Ajanta. Certainly nothing in Aurangabad besides Ellora, and nothing in India, really . . .

but you have your own reasons, no doubt.

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tiger07302

Well, I could only do Ajanta or Ellora because of the lack of time and from the articles I read - they recommended Ellora if short on time especially since it's close to Aurangabad.

steven_ber

Seems a pity.

Can you steel a day from another part of your itinerary?

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Train information.

tiger07302

I can, but then I'd have to come over there from somewhere else or forget about going to one of the other cities I have planned on the itinerary. I guess it all depends on if these caves are more important or better than going to some other cities like Mysore, Bhubaneshwar, Konark, Majurai or some of the cities in Rajasthan. I had figured that it would be good enough for me to see either Ellora or Ajanta.

What do you guys think?

steven_ber

Tell us your complete itinerary, it's amazing how the order can be changed and an extra day appears from nowhere.

tiger07302

Well, I land in Mumbai on the morning of the 7th. Part of the problem is I want to do parts of the trip with my friends who will be there around the same time. So I meet with my friends in Mumbai on the 7th.
7th - Get in Mumbai
7th morning - Catch train to go to Aurangabad and see the Ellora caves
7th night - Get back to Mumbai and stay with friends
9th afternoon- fly out to Goa with friends
11 afternoon - fly to Delhi
13 evening - Take train to Amritsar
14 evening - Take train to Haridwar and meet with friends to see Haridwar/Rishikesh
16 - drive back from Haridwar with friends to Delhi
17 morning - drive to Agra
17 evening - take train to Varanasi
19 - take flight to Khajuraho
20 - take flight to Delhi

I'm still trying to finialize how to do Agra-Varanasi-Khajuraho-Delhi in less time but that's what I have so far. After spending a day in Delhi I want to do a trip to Rajasthan and see Jaipur, Ajmer, Pushkar, Udaipur, Mt. Abu, Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Jaiselmer and then another trip to Mysore, Bhubaneshwar, Konark, Madurai, Kolkatta and may be Hyderabad and Kanyakumari.
While I'm typing this up and see how jam-packed everything is, I'm realizing may be I'm better off being done with the trip after Rajasthan. Obviously I realize I can't do every city and will probably take some cities off the itinerary like Mt. Abu, Hyderabad and Kolkatta which might not seem that important compared to some of the other cities. Reason for me going back to Delhi is because I have some family there and I have to please them so instead of not spending any time there, I am kind of making that my base to go into different directions and spend half a day or day there before I head out again. I'm somewhat restricted with dates in Mumbai, Goa, Haridwar/Rishikesh and Agra just cause my friends have less time than me and they'll be in those places at that time so I'd like to do that with some people I know rather than going alone.

Hope all this is not too confusing and let me know if you have any questions.

I was thinking of trying to do Ellora after Goa, but couldn't find a good way of getting there where I didn't waste travel time during the day. Essentially I want to try to use night as travel time and make good use of day time.

Thanks in advance.

tiger07302

And I forgot to mention, I am in India till the 28 and leaving from Delhi instead of Mumbai.

steven_ber

At some point you have to say bye to your friends and get on with your trip, or drop 3-4 destinations.

Delhi, Amritsar, Haridwar/Rishikesh, Varanasi, Khaj, Agra, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Delhi.

You couldn't even do the above in 15 days, you need to lose 2 destinations.

The restrictions with your friends prevent any flexibility regarding Ellora/Ajanta.

tiger07302

Unfortunately that times is on the 17th. So I have about 10 days after that. I guess now I'm trying to figure out if I should try to see as much as I can in the least amount of time or see less places and take my time with them.

julesa

you can also get a public bus to Ellora (and Ajanta), they run from the bus station in Aurangabad.

Ellora is about 1/2 hour or so, Ajanta is a couple of hours, I think.

on your itinerary, there is far too much stuff packed in there. you'll never do it all. i'd cut it in half if i were you. i remember very clearly the pain that is involved in cutting back your itinerary, it's almost like giving your child up to adoption, but it is necessary in your case, in my opinion..

tiger07302

Thanks. I'll probably end up doing that and trying to see the rest of the in another trip to India.

Thanks for all the replies.

bijapuri

Allo wme to plead the case for more time in the Aurangabad area once more:

yes, do try to see both Ajanta and Ellora in the same trip, and don't forget to check out the fort at Daulatabad near Ellora as well. One of the reasons for doing this not yet mentioned is that Aurangabad really is out of the way from the rest of the stuff to see in India, and if one spends 3-4 days there you'll not only be awestruck at one of the world's greatest places, you won't have to return. Contrast that with . . . say Tamil Nadu, where you'd go mad trying to see all the huge temples inone trip, and it's common for people to pick a handful each trip. Ditto with Rajasthan, another multi-trip area, or even the Himalayas. With Aurangabad, once is enough if you do it right- throw in the Bibi Muqbara (Baby TaJ) and Kuldabad (Muslim village near Ellora.

hmmmm, I now realize it's been 15 years since I've visited Aurangabad- time for a redo!