That's a really SHORT trip to see three cities, but it's doable.

Write up your itinerary and post it here you want feedback.

Do able, but rushed. If you are going by road (ie: a driver and a car...do not drive your self) it takes a whole day between cities. Some of the trips have interesting stops, some are just a long day in the car. I find looking out the window at daily life from the road very interesting. The advantage of a driver is, if you see something that interests you have him stop for a while. Get of out the car and go look at the market, the well, the fields , or what every caught your eye. There are alot of trip reports on this forum of the golden triangle if you do a search.

February is a good time to go. 9 nights is fine if you don't include travel time. Let us know what your actual situation is. You need 2 nights Agra, 3 nights Jaipur to do it right - Delhi is the least interesting but necessary for historical background and good museums and sites. We needed 2 full days without shopping.

our first trip was just what you are proposing... it was fantastic... only the 3 places.. if you had a couple more days, i would add varanasi..

click on my name and read my 2006 trip report..

get yourself a delhi based agency... my favorite is castle and king---google them.

you want an SUV for transport and a driver with you all the time..

india is nothing like europe!!!

The roads are getting better. You could add a bit more to the Golden Triangle in those 9 nights. The Agra Express Highway is all ready for opening. With this road the time taken between Delhi & Agra will be no more than, I reckon, 2.3hrs. Depending on how you like to travel, you could stay one night in Agra. The Oberois Amar Vilas is the best out there, with the Taj looming stunningly large over the horizon, from your window!
Jaipur will take some time to come to terms for the metro is under construction. Some areas are more affected then others but the Amer Fort side is fine and that is where all sightseeing lies.
You could add an authentic Fort-Palace hotel to get a feel of staying in an Asiatic fort. Sardargarh is one such place, a battle fort, painstakingly restored...a night will be fine. Or you could stay at the Shahpura Bagh, a colonial style estate, well run by Mrs. Maya Singh!
Happy travels!

Thanks everybody - Glad to be a part of this forum. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to this proposed trip is our ability to handle the long plane ride from Chicago. 15 hours non-stop to Delhi or 17 hours with one stop. Coming back, due to the wind I suppose, those times become 17 hours and 19 hours. Guess we are used to the 7-9 hours on our many European trips. Where is the Concorde when we need it? Thanks again.

If you'd prefer to break up the trip with a stopover, look at finnair. I just got a great fare flying from chicago to Delhi, with long layovers (12 hrs and 22 hrs) in Helsinki, coming and going.

I fly non-stop from Newark to Delhi and actually prefer the non-stop. I thought 14 hours would be too much, but I liked no losing time to a stopover in Europe where I really couldn't do much (most because the stopover is the middle of the night by US time and I'm too tired to go sight seeing).

we always take sleeping pills across the pacific or thru europe to asia

We are in California ......that adds another 4.5 hours to the trip......makes it total of about 18.5 hour flight time. About the same to South America.....LA to buenos aires, Argentina is about 18 hour flight. Non stop to Europe is about 11.5 hours, one stop takes it to 14-18 hours.

To your point, we still prefer non stop LA to Delhi, with refueling stop somewhere in Europe. Most of the flight is during night, so if you can sleep on the plane, it helps.

Look at the bright side,Richarda, your next trip to Europe, after a visit to India will seem like a short flight....only 7-9 hour flight. On the other hand, you might get hooked on India, and go on 2nd or 3rd trip as well, like many of us.
Good luck planning your trip.

Thanks again, everybody. This is why I like Fodor's Forum. Nice people on it.

Richarda, My wife and I used the services of VP Singh(note his posting above), LegendsandPalaces.com for a 17 day trip in 2006.
IMHO, he is the best.
Suggest that you contact him or another India based agency. Usually, the services of a good agency is invaluable and, in fact, will save you money and time, and make your trip more enjoyable and meaningful.
Have a great trip.

Hi Richard,
In the above mentioned time you can do golden triangle with Udaipur a nice city.1 night relax
2 nights-------------Delhi
2 night--------------Agra
2nights--------------Jaipur
2 nights-------------Udaipur
Thanks
naziyaahmed1

I also suggest you to have a trip to Rajasthan with Golden triangle as you will experience the real India nad enjoy the forts & Palaces. You can take a tour package from any local tour operator as he knows each & every thing.

We visited these places in 2001; our trip included more destinations, but I'll refer now only to these you want to visit (they are more than enough for 9 nights you have).

We (three persons) had a private tour, that means only for us: in each place a car with guide and driver looked for us at airport (if we arrived by flight) and take care of us till the moment when we left this place. We booked only 5 stars hotels (I do not make this never in Europe, USA or Canada) because I wanted to be sure that we stay in comfort and in very clean places. I think that it was a very good idea, it gave us the possibility to stay in two marvelous, unique places - in Lake Palace in Udaipur and in a palace (I do not remember the name) of a maharajah in Jaipur. This was a experience of one in a life!

We did not the tour in the order you will do (we started from Mumbai, so we visited first Rajahstan and then New Delhi), but taking in consideration what you will visit and our experience, I suggest to:
- visit New Delhi
- fly from New Delhi to Agra
- visit Agra
- car between Agra and Jaipur, with a stop of 4-5 hours to visit Fatehpur Sikri (the gost town, very impressive. It was built in XVI sec. and it was the Mogul capital for ten years. There are a lot of palaces and temples , very well preserved)
- visit Jaipur. Beside the palaces, please visit the Astronomic Observatory which is incredible. I was tired, it was very hot and wanted to skip it. The guide insisted, and I was so happy that I followed his advice.
- fly to Udaipur

The distances between some of these locations are not so big, but the roads are very crowded and the driving time is very long. We did not use the trains, I can not advise about them.

I remembered the name of the hotel in Jaipur : RAMBAGH PALACE

Be sure to stop at the monkey temple and stepping well between Jaipur and Agra. Both were very interesting.

It has been 11 years valtor things have changed.Roads are quite flat and smooth.Driving distance time wise has reduced.

Yes Ten years is very long period. Now the situation has changed very much in Rajasthan. Good hotels have come up and good environment with new destinations has made the first choice of the visitors.