AmaliaPrinsloo

Can you perhaps advise us if it is a good idea to get a Guide/Driver with a car to take us through parts of India for 10 days!
Which company can we maybe arrange with?
Two woman travelling - thus we want to feel safe!
Tour Route: Bagdogra - Darjeerling - Varanasi - Orchha - Agra - Jaipur - Delhi (maybe Jodpur)

Kathie

lol - really? you think you are going to cover all that territory in 10 days?? I'd suggest you start by getting a guideboook and a map. Your idea is totally unrealistic.

rhkkmk

i use castle and king for my arrangements...

kathie is right... cut that list in 1/2

JerryS

Suggest that you contact VP Singh at Legendsandpalaces.com. He will work with you on a reasonable and practical itinerary. He is a fantastic Guide and can arrange your entire trip at a very reasonable cost.
Have a great trip.

thursdaysd

Not only are you trying to do too much, long stretches, such as Darjeeling to Varanasi (which would actually be Darjeeling to Kolkata and Kolkata to Varanasi) would be better done by train or plane than car. The roads in India, aside from a very few new sections, while they can be fascinating, are not suitable for long trips.

AmaliaPrinsloo

Wow - thank you for the advise so far! Been very helpfull - Thanks.

rhkkmk

for comparison, on our first trip we did delhi, agra, jaipur and a short stop overnight at neemrana in 11 days with a car and driver.

Jaya

Be advised that many of the cities on your list are not of a driveable distance. You will have to take a train or fly and pick up a new driver and car at the next city.

For whatever stretches of your trip you decide to do by car, don't travel after dark. Roads are often in poor condition and you are at a greater risk for an accident in the dark.

CaliNurse

Here is a ten day trip--entirely flexible--which would cover part of your desired places. Faith Pandian, who runs Indianpanorama, is terrific--very aware of needs of single women traveling in India. I've booked two trips withher--others on this forum (Rinda and Lippgirl) have happily gone with her planned trips as well.
Her cpmpany's drivers are fantastic--super sfe adn personable (part of the secret of a great trip, IMHO, to India) and she is skilled and intuitive at putting together what you want in terms of price, time spent, etc.

There are other travel planners highly recommended on this forum (including on this post). All sound terrific to me--but i love India and am open to any new ideas! Check out a few and compare.

CaliNurse

ps-Apologies , Amalia. The ten day itinerary i referred to is:

http://indianpanorama.in/central_northindia.html

peg

Hi Amalia, I used VP Singh of Legends & Palaces for my trip in May. I was a single woman traveler. I just booked another trip with VP Singh for this November.

bluewater111

You may check with one of the agency we were booked with for our recent trip to India. we found them pretty much reasonable and reliable.though we did check with few of the agencies out there in Delhi but just could not beat down their price for couple of weeks trip around Rajasthan and Khajuraho, Varanasi.
drop them a email and see how it goes.their email address is [email protected]

Cheers up Mate!!!

AmaliaPrinsloo

Thank you very much. Peg - we booked a trip with VP Singh and what a joy! We are leaving in a weeks time and he made everything very easy at a good price!!!

Kate - thank you for your initial wake-up call with regards to distances etc.

We are really looking forward to an amazing trip and cant wait!

Fodors Rock!!!!

essexness

Hi . We've just booked a trip with VJ Singh Legends and Palaces and would be really appreciative of any feedback from your experience. We will be on the move a lot on our trip and any suggestions as to what type/how much luggage/clothes to take (we go in April) would also be appreciated bearing in mind we have internal flight plus lots of road travel (& train). Also any hints and tips from your experiences there would be helpful. Kind regards

Kathie

essexness, please start your own thread asking about Legends and Palaces, as I fear your question will get lost on this more general thread.

BTW, there have been a fair number of reports from people using this company, and they were quite positive.