WinterTravel

Thanks to all who have helped thus far in our trip planning for our trip to Rajasthan at the end of the year. We have settled on the following itinerary: Delhi (2 nights)-Jaipur (3 nights)- Jodphur (2 nights)-Jaisalmer (2 nights)- Udaipur (3 nights) -Delhi (1 night).

We have our hotels booked, but are still trying to decide whether to arrange a driver for the whole itinerary or to fly parts of it. Given our dates, it seems that we could likely fly for the Delhi-Jaipur leg and the Udaipur-Delhi leg. As far as we've been able to research, flying direct between the other cities would not be possible.

To assist in our planning, it would be great to hear from others who have done this route by car. We'd love to know realistically how long each leg takes by car. It would also be great to hear if anyone has done any of these legs by train instead.

Thanks so much for the help!

celeste60

Delhi to Jaipur is about a 2 1/2 hour drive which is mostly on a highway. We flew from Jaipur to Udaipur. We drove from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer - long, long drive, mostly on a one lane road, used frequently by the indian army traveling back and forth between jodhpur and the Indo/pakistan border through Jaisalmer. If there is a train which will take you from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, take the train.

vp_singh

a. Delhi - Jaipur/248km/4hrs. 30min from connaught place. Stopover for tea/coffee at Rajasthan motel, Behror. Excellent road, very busy between Delhi & Manesar & at places under construction.
b. Jaipur - Jodhpur/335km/7hrs. Take packed lunch as there is no good eatries before fort at Nimaj. Jo Hukam near Kishangarh good for a break.
c. Jodhpur - Jaisalmer/280/5hrs. Some good eatries at Pokharan.
d. Jaisalmer - Udaipur/555km/will need overnight at say Rohet, 40km south of Jodhpur. The road passes through some most beautifull scenery of Rajasthan.
Bon Voyage!

hobbes

Drive Delhi - Jaipur. If you make an early Am start you should make it in 3ish hours.Good highway. Udaipur Delhi definitely the flight. For the rest, given the order you will perforce have to go with a car - which is not such a bad thing, Rajasthan scenery is interesting. TRains are a good option. Given costs I would say have a car driver start with you in Delhi and be with you through out even if you take the train he will meet you at your next halt. We enjoyed having the same driver and the luxury of dumping shopping in the back.

AKSYDAISY

Hi,
We did a drive through trip in Rajasthan a couple of years ago and it was exhausting. The roads are long adn honestly, after the first couple of days, the desert looks the same everywhere. I would recommend taking trains from one destination to another: these are faster and also one does not miss too much scenery- and then hiring cars with a driver in each city.
Having a local driver also means that you have a sort of local guide.

Have a Great Trip!

lcuy

I took a train from Delhi to Agra, then drove Agra-Jaipur and Jaipur-Delhi. I found the roads to be exhauting.... The road conditions, even on the "best' roads are marginal, with are lots of huge trucks, animals and potholes. You know what they say about the statistics of getting in an accident on american roads? Well, it is way worse in India. Frankly, I so was worried about my driver being tired or inattentive on these loooong drives that I couldn't relax at all.

The trains are very comfortable and very cheap. Next time I'm going to take a fly or take trains when possible and arrange drivers (or the same driver)to drop/meet me in each station.

Craig

But...when you fly or take the train you miss out on so much of the local scenery. I agree that for long distances flying or going by train makes sense but within the Golden Triangle use a car and driver for at least some of the time.

vp_singh

The real flavour of Rajasthan lies in it's rural rustic scenery & honest people. You miss out on it by taking a train or flight. If the idea is just to see the major cities, than certainly train/flight is comfortable & quick!
Incase you were too scared on these roads, i am inclined to think you did not have a good driver, who failed to earn your confidence!

Bonita

Hi there. Generally speaking, the route you envion is way to much to be done soley by car/driver in the time-frame and routing u have suggested, especially the last leg from JAISALMER TO udaipur!..However, u can certainly do it by car/driver if you shake it up a bit, slow it down and re-arrange some segments...Overall, for a trip of this nature i might suggest combining car/driver, a train or two and a flight or two...I am on the Delhi-JAIPUR road all the time and at a lesurely pace it takes a good 5/6 hours with lunch stops, pit stops, camera stops, etc! it MAY take a bit less with s small car that can better wiz about the cows as i am often on a large private bus with tour groups and less maneuvering space...About the road on this sector, it is new and one of the best out there-goes all the way down to Gujurat and bombay, but it still moves slow, alot of big vehicles carrying just about everything to everywehre, road blocks, truck stops, etc....This first segment, Delhi-jaipur is mainly industrial, but it does lighten up as u get into Rajsthan and the colors of the people, the landscape, the dress, the buildings, the Aravali hills make the drive interesting, varied and colorful...Oh, and all the animals en route u meet on the road. ***As a general rule of thumb, u can plan something like this**....On the Rajasthan roads u average about 40km/hour or roughly 25 miles, so u can figure out distances-roughly that way..From Jaipur to Jodphur is will take about 7-8 hours and then from JODPHUR-Jaisalmer again 7 hours..U might want to consider the overnite train from Jodphur-jaisalmer to change up your journey and to experince a overnite train experince. From JAISALMER TO udaipur direct would be a big mistake in a day! IT is way to far, we are talking about a close to 600 km, so that can be about a 15 hour drive..I would probably suggest to go JAISALMER-JODPHUR, AND then jodphur-UDAIPUR, using JODPHUR as your midway..Jodphur-uDAIPUR will take u about 6 hours or so and/or u can fly it....also, remeber, times are relative, prepare for the unexpexted..But basically speaking, for a good tour of Rajashtan and covering all the places you envision, i would probably suggest a combo of all modes of transport, car/driver, and train, and perhaps a flight or two, and of course a camel ride in JAISALMER and a elephant in Amber.I do beleive to get the full-on taste of India, it is fun and best to experince all ways/modes to travel~@Each has it rewards....i WOULD probably put in a domestic flight either from JAIPUR to JODPHUR and maybe later FROM uDAIpUR back to Delhi as the train routes in/out of UDAIPUR are not great as it is on a differnt system, so flying in/out of Udaipur can be a good option as u tweak your trip..There are so many many ways to create a journey in Rajasthan. Oh, one more thing....i would probably suggest to spend more time in JASIALMER..it IS so far/hard to get to, and such an incredibly fascianting magical place, (one of my all-time favorites in INDIA!~) so spend at least three nights there..u can also do a mini-camel trek!~happy travels and fee free to drop me a line with any questions..

WinterTravel

A thousand thanks to everyone for the advice about trasport in Rajasthan. Given that we are going in the busy holiday season (and had to reserve hotels early to get the ones that we wanted), we probably don't have the option to change the itinerary now. What we can do is sort out the best fly-drive-train strategy -- it sounds like most people are suggesting a combination of the three.

Any advice on the best way to look into the point-to-point train options would be most helpful. Are there websites that give information on train routes/schedules/etc...? For those who have taken the train, could you give us a sense of how luxurious (or not) the trains are (do they compare to trains elsewhere in the world? how private/comfortable are overnight accommodations on night trains? etc...). Since this is a relatively short vacation, we are not at all keen to "rough it" in transport or accommodations.

In terms of flight options, we have checked on the Jet Airways website. Many postings seem to have positive feedback on this airline. Are there other airlines serving the cities in Rajasthan that people have had good experiences flying?

In terms of arranging transport (since we've done our own hotels already), is it best to try to book flights/trains direct (if the latter is even possible), or would a travel agent in India be willing/able to arrange trains for us?

Many, many thanks for the thoughts and suggestions -- keep the advice coming if you have a few moments to post. We are grateful for the help.

Craig

The website with the train schedules for India is www.indianrail.gov.in
I have not used it much - others have expressed that it is difficult to use. We had our agent purchase the tickets for us - there was no markup. The agent also met us at the train (see below) which was helpful.

We took a train from Sawai Madhopur (near Ranthambore Nat'l Park) to Delhi, about a 6 hour trip. We had an A/C first class compartment to ourselves. I would not call it luxurious but it was comfortable and spacious. The styling was sort of 1950's. The window was very dirty so we couldn't see out very well. There were electrical outlets in the compartment so we could charge our cell phone and our camera batteries. I think if you have an A/C first class sleeper it will be private and comfortable enough.

Kenstee

Jet and Indian Airlines (which some people don't like but personally I've had no probles with) are the only air carriers with any broad service in Rajasthan right now.

As to trains, be aware there can be significant delays in northern India (incld Delhi, etc.) during the winter because of fog. Actually, this is true for flights in and out of Delhi for that matter. This could be a more of a problem in locales that don't have many trains such as to/from Jaisalmer, for example. Unfortunately, there is no air service in or out of Jaisalmer.

Craig

The weather (fog) problems seem to be more common during the cooler months - December and January. We had no problems with fog (we did not see any at all, just clear blue skies most of the time) in late February this past year.

WinterTravel

We have been looking at the train website today but have found it a bit confusing -- it is not completely clear which class/service is the nicest, for instance.

It does appear that there are train options from Jaipur to Jodhpur, and from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer as well. Both look like they take many hours, so not sure that we'll save time over being driven by car.

For the train fans on the board, is it because you found the trains to be more comfortable than a car over the many hours? An overnight train sounds like it could be a good way to get all the way out to Jaisalmer from Jodhpur in particular -- can anyone who has taken this particular leg (either by car or by train) comment? Also, any insights into what the food situation is on trains?

Craig

Well, the nicest is 1st class, A/C, sleeper. Our 1st class cabin appeared to be equipped for sleeping even though on our trip it was not necessary.

Train will definitely save time over traveling by car. Our 6 hour trip to Delhi would have been 10 hours by car and much more stressful. Travel by road is slow. On long trips your driver who must concentrate for long periods of time, may not be as sharp as you would like especially with the "competition" that occurs on Indian "highways".

On long trips you place your order at the beginning of the journey. We brought our own food. Train food tends to be very spicy and we did not want to deal with that but if spicy food is ok with you, it is should be just fine.

hobbes

Re booking internal transfers. I would advise you book your car-driver-guide, trains and internal flights through one travel agent so they have an onwership over your itinerary and a holistic picture of your trip. Doing it piecemeal will not be as efficient IMO. For example, you could have the same car driver thru the trip and the guides just join you at various points pre arranged by the travel agent with the driver. An offbeat suggestion and may be too late as you have booked your hotels - the luxury train, www.palaceonwheels.com - maybe they will let you do a few legs? Re train vs car. ON very long journeys it is more comfortable as you can sleep and more reliable in terms of time coz road traffic cen be unpredictable. Re food for train journeys. All top hotels will also provide you with a apcked meal in case you order it so you can avoid eating on the train.

WinterTravel

Continued thanks for all the input. The fog has been mentioned as a potential delay-factor for December travel in India. Does anyone know if trains are delayed by fog, or would this not be an issue (we presume fog could also affect driving, at least from a safety perspective).

Craig - was there a reason that you decided to do most of your trip driving rather than on the trains?

Craig

Yes, trains can be delayed by fog and driving would be inhibited as well.

We did most of our trip driving as we did not venture out as far as Jaisalmer, Jodhpur or Udaipur.

hobbes

The worst delays due to fog are to flights. Also, the fog in Rajasthan is not as bad as that in Delhi. Trains will probably be delayed the least of all modes of travel.

Kenstee

Fog - if it occurs - is most likely more of an an issue for trains which originate in New Delhi. So, even if you are many hours away from ND if the train you are waiting for orginated there and leaves late you will be affected. The worst case scenario is you will waste ? hours at a train station waiting for a train. I imagine your hotel could establish if there is a delay or not before you depart for the station though.