We are a couple in our late 40's, very adventurous when it comes to food and like to travel independantly if doable, we don't like tour groups. We have two weeks available from 12/7-12/21 for our 20th anniversary. Would like to see some major sites and maybe a few days on a beach to chill out at the end of the vacation. It's easiest for us to fly in/out of Delhi. Would like clean, nice accomodations, but not willing to spend big $$ for the 5-star hotels, although we could splurge for a night or two if it's worth it.

Looks like a car/driver is the way to go, along with trains and flights where recommended. Definitely would like to go to Varansi, Agra to see the Taj.

Suggestions?

We could add a day or two to the trip if really needed.

Thanks

the more days you can add the better....try one of the delhi based tour organizers to assist you....i used castle and king and was very pleased with them....try to book your own hotels and you will save money....we stayed at the sheraton in both agra and jaipur and were happy with them....we stayed at the nikko in delhi....take a look at the neemrana fort palace hotel for a couple of days of rest instead of the beach....great pool there and only a few hours from delhi on the end of your trip....

Is it only more cost efficient to book your own hotels if you are going with a chain? For example when we return to Varanasi we def want to stay on the river so are you able to book those small hotels yourself via internet? It has been a few few years since we were in India but are beginning to need to return. Hopefully my question will help eyeski also.
J

eyeski I hope you don't mind me adding onto your post but you had similar questions to what I would have. We have been to India before but it was a few years ago so I don't have real practical info for you. However I can tell you that we are set to return to Varanasi and on our next trip we would have at least 2 nights there. We are also set on returning to Agra where again we will be at least 2 nights.
Happy planning & travels

J

many hotels will take bookings over the internet, if they have a site....others can be booked through internet agencies...

i found the prices offered by the organizers to be much higher...

I would have some more comments later, but initially I would say that if you want to go to the beach at the end of your vacation, you may want to look into flying out of Mumbai or another city that may offer better connections to a beach area which in December are going to be the west coast and south like Goa or Kerala.

I don’t know where you live and where you will be coming from, but Bangalore. for example, offers many international flights and is a much better airport (smaller not under construction) and may offer better connections for getting to places like Cochin in Kerala or the Goa area. (I actually prefer Kerala to Goa, I like the whole houseboat thing.) International flights from Mumbai tend to go out quite late in the evening or early morning hours (same with Delhi), but that may work out OK better with flights from beach areas than going back into Delhi. (Mumbai does not really offer a lot to the tourist, with only 2 weeks, I really would not recco that you include it.) Flying into Delhi is fine, but you don’t have to go out unless you want a non-stop from the US, which do tend to go into Delhi. However, Singapore Airlines goes non-stop to Bangalore, and then you could maybe get an SQ non-stop to the US somewhere. From Bangalore you could go to Mysore and also get to the beach areas of Kerala.You have many flights options in to India these days, look around. Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai are major gateways cities now. Singapore Airlines also goes to Hyderabad, a very interesting city in South India. While Agra and Varanasi are certainly interesting, there are lots of places to go. Do some reading and see what interest you. . Jet Airways, a very good Indian carrier is flying internationally too, so consider that.

You are going in quite high season, but just before Christmas which is probably the highest, but you will find hotel rates quite high. You can book directly with hotels, you don’t need an agent or a chain. Agents may help if you can get good airfares and rates at hotels, but YOU should pick the hotels, not the agents, who IMO don’t know what they are doing or get a commission from hotels and so steer clients to certain hotels. Get a copy of Alistair Sawday's book called Special Places to Stay India. This has literally hundreds of very interesting places to stay, many in the range of less than US$60 a night and several in the range of less than US$30 a night. They also have a website at http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. The vast majority of these hotels are not in the luxury range and some are in the very low budget range, but all look interesting.

Thanks
We're coming from San Antonio, TX. There is a direct flight from Chicago to Delhi, flights from Mumbai involve an extra stop or longer layover. There seem to be good flights from Delhi to Goa and back, just a little longer and more expensive than Mumbai. The flight back home from Delhi leaves around midnight. In my experience, the fewer connections, the better.
I've bought Lonely Planet India and am working my way through it, that should give me some ideas where to go.