14 Day India Tour, March 2006.
 

Hi
My husband and I, plan to tour India for about 14 days, next March. One of our colleagues has suggested Rajasthan, for our first trip to India. We have in mind Jaipur, Taj Mahal, Jodhpur and Udaipur. Could you kindly recommend some travel agents, along with their websites. Any other suggestions are welcome.
Thanks.

I suggest you try to go early March - temps start rising in March and the latter part of the month tends to get warm. I guess you will fly in and out of Delhi or if cities appeal to you you could fly into Delhi and out of Bombay. Jodhpour entails a long car journey - if you like wildlife you could also consider Ranthambore making your trip Delhi-Ranthambore--Jaipur-Udaipur-Delhi with a short side trip to Agra.

We used www.presidenttravels.com, email - [email protected] for a trip Delhi-Ranthambore-Jaipur-Agra and were very satisfied with the arrangements. They are a small agency so very flexible. To give you an example we wanted to splurge on Amar Vilas but our overall budget was fixed so they found us lovely smaller, cheaper properties in Ranthambore and Jaipur such that we managed Amar Vilas within an overall budget. Feel free to make requests like that.

Please advise budget. Take a look at www.heritagehotels.com and www.neemranahotels.com for some great old properties.

Rajasthan is where many people have their first travel experience, in India. Me included. We love www.jasvilas.com, they can organise everything for you. Cultured, lovely people. We've stayed with them & they've booked accom for us in a beautiful fort palace called Deogarth Mahal Palace and hired a car/driver for us. They book accom & make travel arrangements at family run upmarket establishments in Rajasthan.

However, there are so many other places which are less hectic and more traveller friendly.

March is beautiful in Mumbai. Goa, with it's Portuguese influence, lovely beaches & churches is glorious and the State of Karnataka with its mountains & tea plantations, are also fabulous destinations for first-timers. The south of India to me, appeared less stressful to travel around. The people are not ALWAYS on the take & make and you could consider doing something in the south, for your first trip.

We travelled independently so I cannot help with travel agents, in the south. Some websites to look at for info are www.tourindia.com & www.india-traveldirect.com. Good luck and have a wonderful journey in India.

Rajasthan is a good place to start in India. Since you will likely be flying in and out of Delhi, I suggest you spend at least 2 or 3 days there, especially if you like to shop. Since it is also the capital city, there is some interesting history to learn about there.

If you are into wildlife at all or are just looking for a break from the chaos of India, Rathambore National Park in Rajasthan would be a great place to spend a couple of nights. If you are going in March, you may even see a tiger.

Do not try to do too much. You will have to cover some distance to reach Jodhpur and Udaipur - flying may be your best bet.

We used Compass Tours (www.compasstoursandtravels.com) but I suggest you contact 2 or 3 agents with a proposed itinerary and then pick the one you get along with the best.

You should move quickly on deciding hotels - India is very popular this year and lodging (especially upscale lodging) is somewhat limited.

YOU WILL LOVE INDIA!

For your first tour of India, Rajasthan is certainly a very good choice. However, you may keep a few things in mind:
a. The distances that you cover, must not be too long. The roads are by and large very good but not as good as you are accustomed to, in the west. You get exhausted very soon, partly due to the climate & partly on account of the traffic bottlenecks in the bigger cities.
b. The bewildering amount of stimuli that will affect your senses, while in India, must be ‘chewed’ & assimilated; therefore, hurrying through your itinerary, should be avoided.
c. Rajasthan offers opportunity to combine your specific interests like golf, horse riding, bird watching etc. with your tour itinerary
d. The choice of Jaipur, Agra (taj) & Udaipur is excellent. However, to break the monotony of the tour, in place of Jodhpur, which is some 300km south-west of Jaipur, you may substitute Ranthambore. All these locations have beautiful hotels & to suit all budgets. One does not need to stay in super-properties to enjoy your Indian travel!
There are several tour operators/guides, along with general tourists, who write regularly on the Fodors. You may get in touch with any of them. Incase you need any more info you may be pleased to contact me on email.

Craig: Lets hope next time he "singhs" a different tune. Sorry, but I had to. :S- Anyway the old boy is a bit off. :-)

Actually the answer Craig is all too obvious. Go to: www.legendsand palaces.com. Mr. V.P. Singh is listed as the contact person at the branch office and his co. specializes in India tours, alot of which are for, guess where, Rajasthan. His comment is self revealing!

As someone has said before, Mr. Singh is bad news for this forum. If he continues his monkey antics, it may not be a bad idea to bring him to the attention of the Fodors moderators.

My very dear Mr Singh, just who are you accusing of what, pray tell?

If you are accusing me of not being a legitimate traveller and having affiliations with any Indian establishment, then you can belt up as I simply am a enthusiastic well-travelled Australian who recommends establishments that excel in their area of expertise.

I have no affiliation with anyone in India, except my friend Arindam in the lower Himalaya. He is not involved in the travel business!!

I have experienced travel in India twice and just love to tell others of people and places who & which made out stays so memorable and enjoyable.

In Australia we tell people with no basis for their accusations to go jump in the lake. Pick one close by!

Lyndie: BTW we use that expression here in the states as well. :-).

Here is a website that is full of information on travel in India

www.indiamike.com

I would recommend a visit there if you are prepared to take a mid-range tour. For the high end traveller, this is the best place on the internet!

hey jw-maybe he did as I asked! Cannot believe you guys are using our lingo!

LOL! I suppose you could call him a yob. A very wet yob. :-)

I plan to go to India in December. I have booked with Sita Trail India, a big and reliable travel agent. Please contact them at :
"Pankaj" <[email protected]>

They can arrange anything you want. Just tell them. If you don't like, they change it for you.

Have fun.

Wow, this thread confuses me. It is started by jane65 with a question and then is answered by jane65. I don’t get it.

Plus, I won’t even ask about this line: Lets hope next time he "singhs" a different tune.

Well the answer to the "singhing" part is simple. Mr. V.P. Singh, another poster and an Indian travel agent made commments that were deleted. Were those comments still there then you would see the relevance of what followed.

Thanks to Craig's reccommendation,I have been working with Durjay at compasstours.com. He has been most helpful booking private arrangements for my sister and I in Rajasthan as well as in the south including the backwaters on the Oberroi Vrinda. Wendy