How far ahead to book train tickets?

Sarah in Bristol

Hi Everyone

I'm planning a 3 1/2 week trip around Rajasthan with my partner in August, seeing most of the usual places. We hope to travel mainly by train, mainly 1AC and 2AC with possibly some non-AC on shorter journeys for scenic purposes and once acclimatised to weather & culture.

Would you recommend that we book all our train journeys in advance (thus giving ourselves a totally rigid schedule)? Or can we plan for some flexibility/spontaneity but still get ourselves on the right trains? We've never been to India and don't know which places we're going to want to spend longer in, or how we will find the climate.

Please advise!

thanks, Sarah

Digital Drifter

hmmmm....first timer and in the popular tourist destination circuit too.

Suggest you
a) make a list of must see places in Rajasthan & book those places by train, spread sufficiently far apart that YOU think is good enough time for any one place.

b) make sure you that if you change your plans, there are other places close by to go on short trips till the next journey. that way 'dud' places in your opinion can be made bearable.


Both the above would imply you do a lot more research on the places you MUST see and the optional ones.

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TimMakins

OK, if you are planning on going for the first time, and have the kind of money needed for 1AC travel, then a bit extra won't hurt you I reckon, and will be well-spent for a pleasanter experience of India. Here's what to do: prepare your list of trains ASAP (and I mean ASAP), then contact the friendly guys at http://www.indiarail.co.uk/indrail.htm - they are in London, and have been used by many people here before - they're trustworthy. Tell them you want a 30-day Indrail Pass. They will book all the journeys for you in advance - you just have to confirm when you get to India.

Will that mean that your holiday is locked to a schedule, which can't be changed? No, not at all. What it does mean is that you have those reservations IF you want to use them. If you change your mind, just don't turn up to the train. It costs nothing extra to make new reservations later on, but at least you will have some sorted out beforehand.

Trust me on this - it will make a big difference to your holiday.

Tim in Ireland

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Travelling Tim - http://www.mapability.com/blogs/

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

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Sarah in Bristol

Thanks both of you for sound advice. See my other thread (if interested?!) for the itinerary I am thinking about.

Thanks again.

S