FromDC

Thanks everyone for your responses to my earlier threads and to Filmwill for letting me hijack one of his. Using miles, I have 2 business class seats reserved (two more days before I have to book them) but for a bit longer trip than I was originally planning. I've been working on this itinerary: DEL(2)-AGRA (2)-Varanasi (3)-Jaipur (3)-Bundi (1)-Udaipur (4)- DEL (1), I feel like it might be one day too many in some of the stops and I'm afraid of getting "forted out".For that reason, I don't want to add Jodphur, etc. If I took away one day each from Agra, Varansi and either Jaipur or Udaipur, perhaps we could fly somewhere close out of Dehli at the end of the trip for some lovely scenery and relaxing. I was thinking about Shimla but worried about the weather in early February. Is it crazy to think about a side trip like this? Any thoughts or suggestions (could be ex-India but easy to get back and forth from DEL)?

MmePerdu

It's unclear from your description how much time you're actually planning to be in each place. Using "nights" rather than days is usually clearer and allows us to determine if you've left time for travel between cities, or not. Two nights equals 1 day so we might be able to help if we knew exactly.

The trouble (or good thing, for some of us) with travel in India is that for a variety of reasons one must slow down to allow for the general pace of things there. Yes, you can rush through, as you seem to be planning to do, in which case in my experience there won't be much point in going at all.

Please clarify using "nights" to count your time and consider the possibility of reducing the number of stops and staying longer, not fewer nights, in each place. You'll be surprised how relaxing and worthwhile a difference it will make. Although if you rush you'll never know I suppose.

FromDC

Or maybe a wildlife or tented camp related detour - - any suggestions about where that might fit in?

Kathie

You are covering a lot of territory! How many days/nights do you have in India?

Craig

I think Mme makes a good point regarding time in each place. That being said, we really appreciated having a couple of nights at Ranthambore Park to take in the scenery. My recommendation however would be to cut another destination to include it. Ranthambore is about 7 hours by train from Delhi and 4 hours from Jaipur. It is also reachable from Agra but we have not been that route and had heard that the road between them wasn't that great. Ranthambore may have changed a bit since we were there several years ago, so more research would be advised. We stayed at Sher Bagh tented camp, which was wonderful - it still gets good reviews. More upscale is the Oberoi Vanyavilas. There are also a number of new boutique places in the area.

FromDC

15 nights, Kathie but the departing flight leaves after midnight giving me a full last day. I've already abandoned the idea of flying elsewhere at the end of the trip, I probably posted this thread before thinking things through. And I just realized that I can be at the TM during the full moon but it would mean spending 2 nights in Agra.

So I might take one day away from Varanasi (flight gets in at 4pm on day one, be there all day on day 2, leave around noon on day 3) and take one day away from Udaipur (will have 4 full days there) to do a detour to a camp- - and perhaps instead of Bundi. I'm a bit worried about how DH will handle Varansi is part of the issue. Could use advice on this.

Craig

I think it is certainly possible to "do" Varanasi in 2 nights with your schedule, especially if you skip Sarnath (which I didn't think was that great anyway). You could cut 1 night from Udaipur but then you won't have time to do a day trip to Kumbhalgarh Fort and the Ranakpur Jain Temple. If you do Ranthambore, keep in mind that the park is sort of in between Jaipur and Agra (they form a triangle)...

Kathie

I wouldn't add anything without taking something away. And I'm not sure what the point of one night in Bundi is unless you are just breaking yup a long drive. One night stays are exhausting and you don't get to see/do/experience anything at the destination.

julies

IMO 4 nights in Udaipur is way too long. Have you thought about adding in Amritsar? It's been on our list, but we just haven't been able to fit it in so far (and you can fly there from Delhi). Orchha is a very nice place on the Varanasi/ Agra run. We only had one night there because of logistical problems and so wished we'd had two nights. I liked Bundi a lot and found two nights there perfect. FWIW, we aren't huge fans of Delhi and found that just taking a half a day at a time of sightseeing there (while going in or out of the city) has worked well for us. We've now had four half days and feel we've got a pretty good handle on the sights there.

Varanasi is more than just the cremations going on. And, yes, it is dirty, but we loved it (make sure on stay on the riverbank so you can just stroll out the door and walk the ghats). Take away the plastic and the cell phones, and it could be India 500 years ago.

FromDC

Thanks, the trip is taking shape and I'm feeling more comfortable with what we've planned. We made some significant changes including to the order in which we visit the cities, did cut Udaipur to 3 nights (will be 2 full days plus a morning) and we will be staying on the river in Varanasi. Sightseeing/shopping TBD...we do have several months to plan these details...first getting set with accommodations..nearly done.