Advice on Rajasthan itinerary with toddler

indy500

I'd like to run the following itinerary by everyone to find out whether it sounds like a good pace for a family with a 3 year old.

Delhi - Jaisalmer by overnight train
Jaisalmer, 3 nights
Jaisalmer - Jodhpur by overnight train
Jodhpur - 2 nights
Jodhpur - Ranakpur by car and driver, 1 night
Ranakpur - Udaipur by car and driver
Udaipur, 3 nights
Udaipur - Jaipur by overnight train
Jaipur, 5 nights
Jaipur - Alwar by train, see Sariska Tiger Reserve, 1 night
Alwar - Delhi by train

Thanks in advance for the feedback!
Indira

steven_ber

You should consider either flying Delhi to Jaisalmer (Indian Airlines flights start on December 1st), this is an expensive option, but gaines you an extra day.

Or

Turn the whole Itinery upside down.

I think the long flight to India, then the long train journey to Jaisalmer will be hard work for the parents trying to keep a 3-year old happy.

Member Dhans will be along soon to give better advice and a link to his excelent info about traveling with toddlers in India.

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Train information.

Aishah

Your itinerary looks good, but I thoroughly agree with Steven - if you can't afford to fly or stay a few days settling yourselves after your journey in Delhi before you do this trip, turn it around and start at the end i.e. Delhi - Alwar. You are giving yourselves nice stops on the way - certainly don't rush from place to place.

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indy500

Thanks Steven and Aishah for the feedback. I forgot to mention that I'll be in Delhi for 10 days prior to touring Rajasthan! So we'll have some time to recover from the long flight from Tasmania. Glad to know the stops look good. Any "must-do's" in those areas?

steven_ber

The Monkey Temple in Jaipur is a must, try to go on your first day, you'll want to return on another day.

It's very relaxing, and at the top of the hill there are great views over Jaipur, very relaxing place to watch the sunset.

Be warned though, the monkeys can be vicious toward each other, I'd keep a toddler close to me to be safe, also, I enjoyed walking from the centre of Jaipur, through the Muslim area and up the hill to the Monkey temple, a long, but enjoyable walk, however, after watching the sunset I decided to walk back, the cute monkeys that sat either side of the footpath on the way up, didn't look so cute walking back down in the dark.

The hill is to the east of the centre of Jaipur.

Try to stay at Jasvilas in Jaipur, though they may already be full.

machadinha

http://www.indiamike.com/india/artic...h-kids-t43531/
http://www.indiamike.com/india/journ...urnal&j=9 402

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Aishah

Also check out threads with the names of your stops - there will be information about 'must dos' there.

camelgirl

Apart from the very long train from Delhi to Jaisalmer (you may consider just going Delhi to Jodhpur and hiring a car & driver (very reasonable) from Jodhpur to Jaialmer. It is a fun but exhausting train trip.

Otherwise, I think your plans are perfect. You have allowed for enough time to deal with a toddler and traveling.

We went to Sariska last November and be warned, it is VERY cold there at night and early morning. We spent one night at the tourist hotel and it was comfortable and warm enough. But the morning drive was quite cold. We had winter clothes with us so no problem, but most others were uncomfortable for a couple of hours.

Also, no tigers in Sariska anymore, and not much wildlife. But still, an interesting area. We took the Fairy Queen train one way from Alwar to Delhi. Excellent, if slow. They offer a variety of trips, including one direction, which we did.
http://www.railtourismindia.com/cgi-...ueen_HTML.html
http://www.indianrail.gov.in/fqueen.html

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dhans

Thanks for the trust Ye Olde Indiamikers.

Follow the links indeed. As you may notice I'm working on the report of the last trip. This takes too much time, but there is the daytime job to do and we moved from Belgium back to the Netherlands.

Most important advice: take it easy. We tried to do too much last holiday, which isn't good for anybody's health.

As for the schedule: we left out Jaisalmer and the tigers, but added Bundi and Agra. It seems a bit much, but you've built in some slack. Do add Kumbalgarh on the way from Ranakpur to Udaipur, it's a fine fort.

Hans

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edwardseco

Liked the car and driver part as it reduces stress on a toddler..

Aishah

An Indica will cost you 2500 rupees Jodhpur - Jaisalmer; a larger vehicle around 3000 or so. You could stop at my favourite stop Manvar half way - beautiful gardens, good restaurant both outdoors and indoors. And the best thing of all, washrooms and toilets western style and spotlessly clean! You will also have clean,clear windows for viewing, will see many animals - chinkara, peacocks, camels in wild etc. Difficult from the train.
Apart from flying, the next best thing is Mandore Express to Jodhpur, stay one night, then car to Jaisalmer. Mandore Express is an overnight train - leaves just before 9p.m. from Old Delhi station and gets in around 8 a.m. Is notoriously late so you can expect sometimes 9.30 a.m. arrival.

camelgirl

We paid 1500 rs a day for a new air conditioned car with driver. Told that's the going rate. It was perfect. We were able to make interesting stops along the way that you cannot do if you take a train. And when we didn't like our hotel in Jaisalmer, he drove us all around until we found one we liked. Felt like royalty. The driver takes care of himself, gets his own place to sleep. Nothing extra in the price.

Aishah

camelgirl that used to be the rate a year ago - you can still get this rate in Jaisalmer through Lucky Tours, but it is without a/c. Oops i made a mistake - now, the minimum rate is 2400 with a/c - you may get it cheaper without a/c and i gave the driver 100 rupee gift. Sorry I just had 2,500 in my mind when I quickly posted this morning! I paid this amount in August for a one way trip Jod - Jaisal. You also have to pay for the return trip back. You might get 1500 rupees a day if you are doing a several days tour. But this is for a single day trip. When my friends toured in Feb. we got a vey good rate because we booked through Mr K's friend - it was slightly less than 1500 rupees but it was also for 10 days.

camelgirl

We hired a car for a week last Nov. Booked through main Rajasthan Tourist office in Jodhpur. Wonder what they charge now.

indy500

I'll be checking out the monkey temple, Kumbalgarh and the Fairy Queen train for sure. Can't find any information about upcoming flights from Delhi to Jaisalmer on the Indian Airlines website though. If we can't do the flight (and since the overnight train sounds really long), maybe we'll just leave Jaisalmer out and take it easier as Hans wisely suggests. A shame though, I would love to visit Jaisalmer, and Manvar and all the animals sound tremendous. Wish it wasn't so far...

Hopefully the car & driver rates will be similar from Jodhpur to Udaipur. Is Lucky Tours based out of Jaisalmer? Thanks everyone for all the great information and advice!