sarge56

I have a friend who is going to be sent to India to train some new employees. He will be in Kolkata for 3-4 months.

While he is in India, he'd like to take some time to see Agra (and possibly Mumbai).

I looked at several train schedules and that does not appear to be an option (17hrs?).

But cannot seem to find info on flying from Kolkata to Agra.

What are his best options for getting to Agra? Can he fly into Agra or is he better off flying into a different airport and renting a car? Are there days of the week that are better to visit than others?

He will be there from May thru July or August this year.

Thanks for any/all input!

thursdaysd

Do not even think of renting a car!!!! A car and driver possibly. Indian roads are amazing, but not for reasons conducive to driving yourself.

There is nothing wrong with taking the train and sleeping on it. See seat61.com/india for full details.

Sometimes you can fly into Agra, sometimes not (the "airport" is an air force base). Otherwise you can fly into Delhi and take a train or a car and driver. Flying to Mumbai would be the best solution, although there are MANY more interesting places to visit, starting with Varanasi, which is a lot closer. The Himalayas and Orissa are a lot closer, too.

The Taj is closed on Fridays, although I have seen a suggestion it may be going to open in the mornings at a much higher than usual fee.

sarge56

thrusdaysd- thanks!! I'm certainly interested in passing on any info that allows my friend some great day trips or weekend getaways from Kolkata!

Any more info you have with that regard would be great! thanks!

thursdaysd

Lots of Indian TRs on this board, although I think a majority are about Rajasthan. He could always fly there, but as I said, lot of interesting places closer to "home". He really needs to get a good guidebook - I like Footprints, Lonely Planet, Rough Guide, for logIstics, and the glossies for picking where to go.

My first trip to India started on that side of the country, so might be useful even though dated - see wilhelmswords.com/asia2001 - includes the toy train up to Darjeeling. Also look for Kathie's TR on Sikkim.

sartoric

The Sunderbans Tiger Reserve is in the Ganges delta a few hours South of Kolkata. He could make a weekend of that (plenty of Indians do).

thursdaysd

Come to that, Bangladesh is right next door.... Although he would probably prefer Nepal, it's only 1 hour 15 minutes by plane to Kathmandu. Several TRs for that on this board, too.

sarge56

thanks Fodor friends! Good starting point for planning! I'm fairly sure he'd be interested in Kathmandu for sure as well as the "toy train" up to Darjeeling.