My husband and I are active 62 yr. olds and have traveled extensively on our own planning ourselves. We are considering a trip to India this November and feel we should have a guide and driver. We have not done our homework this time due to unforeseen circumstances so are looking for any help out there.
We love adventure and off the beaten path experiences but also want to see the highlights. We are thinking about staying 3 weeks this trip.
Typically we don’t love cities and prefer countryside. We love markets, meeting the local people and experiencing their culture. Touring some temples interests us but too many. We think this trip we should stay at more high end hotels to recover from the expected onslaught to our senses each day. Perhaps we are being overly cautious in doing this but we thought perhaps it is best for our first trip there.
We definitely want to visit Varanasi for a couple of days at least as we think it sounds really interesting.
Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

Advice above is good, consult a travel agent specifying your interests. I’ve used Indian Panorama and India by Car and Driver with great success. I’ve also met Mr VP Singh of Legends and Palaces. Last year he kindly treated us to a night in his home city of Patiala. We had a brilliant time with him. You can read about it in my report from November 2018.

For a first time visit I’d suggest Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, then focus on Rajasthan. So many choices in Rajasthan, the hugely interesting historical city of Jaipur, maybe time in the painted havelli of the Shekwati region, Jodhpur with an amazing fort and great markets, Udaipur on it’s pretty lakes, while Bundi is another small town in Rajasthan worth visiting for its views, relics and ease of getting around. There’s countryside options too. We loved the Hacra desert experience near Jodhpur.

Deciding what you can accomplish in three weeks is a challenge.
Refine, research, refine, ask questions - that’s what I do :)

We used VP Singhs services before and I can vouch for him if you want a private guide.

Thank you for your advice.

Thank you. Will do.

Thank you. Sounds good.

Thank you Mme Perdu. That is great advice which we will consider.

hurrygirl,

Congratulations on your decision to visit India! You’ve gotten a lot of good advice here and I just want to second (or third or fourth) the recommendation for Tim and his team at Indian Panorama. We just returned from our second trip to India and they did an amazing job.

India is an incredible place with so many options that it can be so difficult to pare it down for a limited time frame. Of course you know what your own interests are and what you’re looking for, but there is a reason why the “same old itinerary” is recommended and used frequently - it’s an amazing selection of places! You aren’t going to be able to see it all, so focus on those things that are of most interest to you.

On our first trip, we went to Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, and Rajasthan, staying in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bundi, Udaipur, and Jaisalmer, with several fascinating stops along the way. We loved our trip - and as an introduction and seeing some of the world famous sights in real life was nothing short of mind blowing. We loved pretty much everywhere we went.

Varanasi was as intense as intense as any place I’ve ever visited, but also a wonderful experience. It’s not an easy place to visit, yet it captures so much of what we loved about our first trip. Of course, seeing the Taj Mahal is remarkable - and even seeing all the other visitors from all over the world was fun! In Rajasthan, you’ll likely see more forts than temples (although you’ll see the latter, too). My favorite fort was in Bundi, a smaller and less-visited city, and the art work within the fort and palace was stunning. We stayed in a number of heritage hotels and havelis, which we loved. These are usually older buildings that were part of estates, palaces or wealthy homes.

You might want to look at my trip report from that trip:

https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...-india-966289/

Our more recent trip was to Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It’s a little less dramatic and probably a good place for those who are timid about the challenges of India. Tamil Nadu has thousands of temples, many of them are part of large complexes, with remarkable soaring towers and smaller temples and shrines within. Here is the heart of the culture in this region.

Kerala is lovely, much of it lush, and no surprise as it is filled with small,waterways, making it a relaxed place to visit. We really enjoyed our stay in Cochin, too.

My current trip report is, alas, only partly written, but you can see some of the (many!) photos from that trip!

https://www.fodors.com/community/asi...-back-1669259/

Hope this helps!

Hi Progol,
thank you for your detailed note. Your trips report is great.
We are now working with Tim with Panorama to plan a trip to Rajasthan area this Nov. He seems great and is working madly to get it to come together for us so last minute.

Thanks again

Thank you Larry. Good advice. We usually plan our own travel but were uncomfortable doing so for this trip. We have just booked through Tim with Panorama. We are finalizing plans right now and will be there in s few weeks! We are very excited!

Thank you inquest ! Great advice! We felt that despite usually planning our own trips, this time we would hire a company to help us and a driver. We are almost all booked now with Panorama. They have been really helpful and expedient in planning a trip so soon.
We are really looking forward to the experience.

My pleasure. As progol said India can be a challenge so good idea to follow your instincts. We’ve been there 7 times BTW as my wife is from there. 8th trip upcoming early next year.

All the best. Enjoy your trip.

Wow! You have been there a lot! I hope we enjoy so much that we want to keep going back to explore more.

Thanks again,
Tanya

Its been since 1978 the year we were married. India was our honeymoon :love: