Family Travel to India - 2 weeks at Christmas
 

Our school break is 2 weeks this year and was thinking of a family trip to India for the two week break. 2 college age kids and one out of college that would be coming along. Can anyone suggest places or things we should definitely do during that time and any ideas for itinerary would be much appreciated. I'm just starting the planning now. I would love to do something with elephants and maybe a day in a tiger park if possible so any suggestion on that would also be really appreciated. Thanks so much in advance.

contact a delhi operator to assist you.. make sure you use an SUV for transport...

I like castle and king in delhi

Rajasthan would make a wonderful trip...

If you do the golden triangle (Delhi-Agra Jaipur), you can add a couple extra days at Ranthambore park. You can ride elephants at the Amber Fort in Jaipur. Or, there is a park further north where you can hunt tigers on elephants. Can"t remember the name off hand.

I don't really think tiger hunting is worth the time and effort to do on a first trip. Odds for spotting one are not good, and the parks usually involve at least one full day of getting there, and another leaving.

Doing the triangle is easy. You just hire a driver (with an SUV for 5 people) and pick up daily guides in each city.

Varanasi and Udaipur are also great cities, but far apart and in opposite directions from Delhi. Don't pack in more that 3 cities if you will be flying in-between. Fog can delay flights at that time of the year.

Make sure you leave some time at the end in Delhi to do your shopping and to avoid having cancelled flights delaying your international flight.

If you'll give an idea of your budget, we can suggest some hotels.

The golden triangle or Delhi-Arga-Jaipur is a good way to go for two weeks in India. You can ride an elephant in Jaipur though I must say for me once was enough.

You can look up a Mr. V.P. Singh at www.legendsandpalaces.com for guide info.

Do be aware that going to India at this time is great weather wise though flying into Delhi can be problematic if your arrival is at night as its often foggy this time of yr.

Book hotels/trains very soon. Christmas is high travel season for Indians too.

I have just posted the blog for our April Golden triangle trip. We started our trip on April 10 in US arriving in Delhi and left India for Europe on the morning of April 18.

Two weeks would be good for this trip....we really needed more time in each city.

Look at our Blog. It is a day by day report with pictures:

www.Springmix3013.blogspot.com the last post comes up first, scroll to the bottom, use the blog archive to click on the first post.

Thank you for all the great ideas. As I start planning, I'm sure I will ask more questions along the way. Will keep you posted.

You need to apply for visas through BLS International USA.
http://www.visa.blsindia-usa.com/index.php
Check under which jurisdiction your state falls under because you must send the application to that office. If your office is Houston please note that the zip code listed under their website is incorrect it should be 77008.

You will have a wonderful trip, India is magical!

Contact at least 3 tour companies/guides and look at some of the itineraries of general tour companies. Read a few guide books. Keep searching this Forum.
We used VP Singh, Legendsandpalaces.com, who we thought was terrific.
Good luck and have a great trip.

Start the visa process now, if you haven't already. People are experiencing delays/problems with Indian embassy's new contractor BLS. Their requirements are very specific too.
e.g. - do you have 2 blank "VISA" pages on your current passport? We discovered we didn't - that the 2 last pages don't count - they are not VISA pages. Therefore decided to renew passports early (a year left) rather than get new pages, which seems to take about as long and cost 75% as much. .. .
So now we have to wait to get our renewed passports before sending em off for the Indian VISA. We're going in early Jan. so fingers are crossed that it all gets done.