FIRST time 5 days for Rajasthan
Aug 10th, 2004, 12:23 PM
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FIRST time 5 days for Rajasthan
Help!!
Never been to India, going for a wedding will have 5 days to see Rajasthan. Any suggestions!! Should we just do Jaipur and maybe Agra? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Never been to India, going for a wedding will have 5 days to see Rajasthan. Any suggestions!! Should we just do Jaipur and maybe Agra? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Aug 10th, 2004, 01:17 PM
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Hi there. Well, 5 days is not alot of time to see Rajasthan, but you can see a side of Rajasthan, and visit two or three places to give you a feel for the region. i am assuming the wedding is in Delhi, so you will be centrally located for a foray into Rajasthan and a visit to the Taj which is in the state of Uttar Preadesh. SO, beginning in Delhi, i might suggest first a visit to Agra by train or private car for one night, and then onwards to Rajasthan via private car where you can visit perhaps Rathambore, (wildlife park), and then on by road to JAIPUR. Or, if Rathambore doesn't interst you, you can go directly to JAIPUR,and from there continue to either jodphur or Udaipur via either private car,train or domestic flight, and to save on time at the end of the five days, a flight back to delhi from one of the final destination.. Okay, there are many options anc choices, but these are just some ideas for you, food for thought. can give you more suggestions/help if needed..take care. bonita..
Aug 10th, 2004, 07:22 PM
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Think what is called "The Golden Triangle" In India i.e. Del, Jaipur, Agra will be ideal. Do not know how long you have in Delhi but Delhi has at least 1 day of sightseing and 1 day of great shopping. Del-Agra you can transfer by train, Do overnight in Aggra so you get to see the Taj twice in different lights, def once at sunrise when it is the most peaceful. Then Agra-Jaipur transfer by car seeing Fathepur Sikri en route. Jaipur-Delhi again car is probably as efficient as air given check in times, etc and road is actually very good. One interesting thing you could do is break journey en toute Jaipur-Delhi at Neemrana Fort Hotel which is about 1 hour outside the city of Delhi - www.neemranahotels.com. Is a gorgeous property and will be a great way to end your trip.
Aug 11th, 2004, 12:48 AM
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What time of year is the wedding and where is it? Are you limited by budget or are you OK with spending more to fly between cities to save time? What city or cities are your international flights ariving into and departing from? The answers to all of the above would affect the type of itineary I would recommend for only 5 days.
An Indian wedding is a great experience, I am sure you will enjoy it.
An Indian wedding is a great experience, I am sure you will enjoy it.
Aug 11th, 2004, 08:52 AM
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Thanks for all the info. I am going to India last week of February and would like to see Delhi and Jaipur for sure. The wedding is in Punjab but we want to spend 5 days in delhi and do Jaipur and Agra before we head out to Punjab. Please keep the tips coming, first timer to India. Another question how safe is it?
Aug 12th, 2004, 01:17 AM
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First of all, that is a great time weather-wise in Northern India. Temps in the low to mid 70s in the day, cooler at night. Lots of sunshine, very little rain. Second, with 5 days you will NOT be able to see Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, at least not in any way that you would enjoy the trip, IMO. The schedule above is WAY to ambitious. I would pick two places. Getting to and from each place will take some time. Also, where in the Punjab are you going and how will you get there? That will add time as well.
Note that the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, so work around that if you want to see it.
As you are going to the Punjab, I would actually suggest you skip Jaipur. While the Punjab is Sikh versus primarily Hindu Rajasthan, I think the geography and architecture of both places is similar enough that you will get a good flavour of it all in the Punjab, esp if you are going to someplace like Amritsar, which is very interesting and has a lot to see and do. Chandigarh is a fascinating mix of 20th century architecture (most of it by Le Corbusier) and ancient buildings. I have not been to Patiala, but have heard wonderful things about it, it might compare well to Jaipur.
I assume you are arriving from the US and that your flight will arrive into Delhi very late at night or early in the morning. I assume you have 4 nights and 5 days. Your first day may be a bit of a washout as the jet lag hits you. I would therefore say you do your 5 days as follows:
Delhi 3 days/ 2 nights. This gives you two full days plus a bit, so you can get a good idea of the place. Depart for Agra on the afternoon of the third day by train or car ( 2-3 hours).
Agra 2 days/2 nights. To me, spending one day in Agra is not worth it, as you need to see the Taj at sunrise, sunset and during the day to really appreciate its beauty. You have come a LONG way to see it, and to glance at it for an hour seems like a huge waste. Two days will also give you a chance to go to Fatephur Sikri outside Agra. This is the ancient and very well preserved former capital. The best would be if you take an overnight train from Agra to the Punjab. You could fly from Agra to the Punjab on the afternoon of the second day, most likely you will have to connect via Delhi, but that probably would work fine.
You can look at train schedules at www.indianrail.gov.in. I have a lot of trouble using this site, but others here may be able to give you better guidance on using it.
For the inter-India flights, I prefer Jet Airways. Website for Jet Airways is jetwairways.com. Website for Indian Airlines is http://indian-airlines.nic.in/ (Not to be confused with Air India, which is international flights only.) Note that early morning and early evening fog is a big problem in north India in the winter. Try to take late morning or afternoon flights to avoid delays.
In general, India is very safe in terms of personal safety (i.e., no purse snatchings, etc). On the international scale, India is in the middle to upper range; i.e. not as safe as Switzerland maybe, but safer than many other parts o the world. They have some internal religious strife and issues with Pakistan but that does not affect Western tourists, and not in the places you are going. In general, I think the Punjab is very safe, some would depend on how close you will be to the Pakistan border, but even then, I would not be overly concerned. You may want to read the US State Department warnings, go to http://travel.state.gov, click on "International Travel", then from the menu on the left, read the "Current Warnings" and the "Consular Information Sheet" for India. I would suggest you also read them for places like the UK, Italy and Germany (or other places you might consider very safe), so you can get an idea of the somewhat alarmist nature of the warnings in general.
Note that the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays, so work around that if you want to see it.
As you are going to the Punjab, I would actually suggest you skip Jaipur. While the Punjab is Sikh versus primarily Hindu Rajasthan, I think the geography and architecture of both places is similar enough that you will get a good flavour of it all in the Punjab, esp if you are going to someplace like Amritsar, which is very interesting and has a lot to see and do. Chandigarh is a fascinating mix of 20th century architecture (most of it by Le Corbusier) and ancient buildings. I have not been to Patiala, but have heard wonderful things about it, it might compare well to Jaipur.
I assume you are arriving from the US and that your flight will arrive into Delhi very late at night or early in the morning. I assume you have 4 nights and 5 days. Your first day may be a bit of a washout as the jet lag hits you. I would therefore say you do your 5 days as follows:
Delhi 3 days/ 2 nights. This gives you two full days plus a bit, so you can get a good idea of the place. Depart for Agra on the afternoon of the third day by train or car ( 2-3 hours).
Agra 2 days/2 nights. To me, spending one day in Agra is not worth it, as you need to see the Taj at sunrise, sunset and during the day to really appreciate its beauty. You have come a LONG way to see it, and to glance at it for an hour seems like a huge waste. Two days will also give you a chance to go to Fatephur Sikri outside Agra. This is the ancient and very well preserved former capital. The best would be if you take an overnight train from Agra to the Punjab. You could fly from Agra to the Punjab on the afternoon of the second day, most likely you will have to connect via Delhi, but that probably would work fine.
You can look at train schedules at www.indianrail.gov.in. I have a lot of trouble using this site, but others here may be able to give you better guidance on using it.
For the inter-India flights, I prefer Jet Airways. Website for Jet Airways is jetwairways.com. Website for Indian Airlines is http://indian-airlines.nic.in/ (Not to be confused with Air India, which is international flights only.) Note that early morning and early evening fog is a big problem in north India in the winter. Try to take late morning or afternoon flights to avoid delays.
In general, India is very safe in terms of personal safety (i.e., no purse snatchings, etc). On the international scale, India is in the middle to upper range; i.e. not as safe as Switzerland maybe, but safer than many other parts o the world. They have some internal religious strife and issues with Pakistan but that does not affect Western tourists, and not in the places you are going. In general, I think the Punjab is very safe, some would depend on how close you will be to the Pakistan border, but even then, I would not be overly concerned. You may want to read the US State Department warnings, go to http://travel.state.gov, click on "International Travel", then from the menu on the left, read the "Current Warnings" and the "Consular Information Sheet" for India. I would suggest you also read them for places like the UK, Italy and Germany (or other places you might consider very safe), so you can get an idea of the somewhat alarmist nature of the warnings in general.
Aug 12th, 2004, 02:12 AM
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If you don't already know this, you will need a visa for India. It takes several weeks to organize, so you would need to start this in the late fall. For information about visas and other requirements, consult the Embassy of India, 2536 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008 (202/939-9806/9839) or nearest Consulate General: Chicago (312/595-0405), Houston (713-626-2355), New York (212/774-0600) or San Francisco (415/668-0683). Internet: www.indiagov.org
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