We will be going to India for Christmas/New Year vacation. Family group with grandparents, parents, two girls (4 and 6 years). Going to Goa first for R&R, then on to "Golden Triangle". We need to fly in and out of India thru Mumbai. Want to go to Jaipur, Agra, National Park to see lions, tigers, birds. (What else?) Should we buy "See India" special fare on Jet Air($500) for the flights? What itinerary would work best? Want to do as few flights as possible. Do we go between Jaipur and Agra by car and driver or by train/air? Which city should be first? We will have between 12/27 or 12/28 and 1/4 after Goa. With the children we cannot have too ambitious a trip, but then when will we get back to India??? We can book the Oberoi hotel in Agra, and the Taj hotel in Jaipur. Any other ideas??? Please, India travel experts help us plan. Thanks!

December January are such a great tine to be in North India! Warm (but not hot) sunny days and cool nights. One thing is that morning and evening fog is a problem in Delhi and Agra in the winter months. This can mean delays in air travel. When you fly, try to take late morning or afternoon flights into or out of Delhi to avoid fog delays. Jaipur does not have quite the same problem as it is a bit drier there, but to be on the safe side, if you fly into or out of Jaipur try for late morning or afternoon flights as well.

From Goa, I would do as follows:

Fly to Mumbai (morning flight)
Fly to Delhi (lunchtime or early afternoon arrival)
Train or car to Agra
Train or car from Agra to Jaipur
Car to Ranthambore National Park (I assume that is where you are going)
Car back to Jaipur
Fly Jaipur to Mumbai

I would definitely go by car or rail from Delhi to Agra, as it a short journey, under hours. You can take a train from Agra to Jaipur or get a car and driver. The trip takes about 5 hours. Look at the train schedules at www.indianrail.gov.in.

I think Delhi is worth 2-3 days, as there is the Red Fort, the Friday Mosque and a number of other interesting sights. The Oberoi in New Delhi is a very nice hotel, but I am not crazy about the location, you may end up taking more cabs than you want. Another hotel to consider is the Imperial Hotel on Janpath. This is a lovely low-rise colonial-style hotel which was refurbished about 3 years ago. It is smaller and quieter than any of the Taj hotels or the Oberoi. You can walk to the Connaught Place area (and the great Indian handicrafts shop on the way), or walk in the other direction to Raj Path, India Gate and the Parliament buildings. I find it a very convenient location and I like the lower key of the hotel, the gardens and the friendliness of the staff. You can view the hotel on their website at http://www.theimperialindia.com

The new Oberoi hotel in Agra (Amravillas) is supposed to be fabulous, it was not open the last time I was there. Sounds like you already want to stay there, so I don't have to talk you into it, but it would clearly be the best hotel in Agra, and way above its next competitor, which is probably the Sheraton. I really like Agra, others have different views, but try to see the Taj at sunset, sunrise and ruing the day. If you are at the Oberoi you should be able to see it very well, so don't have to pay the $12 entrance fee each time. . .I would also recommend Fatephur Sikri, the preserved royal city about an hour outside Agra. This could be done as part of the drive to Jaipur. You would want 2-3 hours here, more if you can.

In Jaipur, I assume when you say "Taj" you mean one of the several hotels in Jaipur run by the Taj group. My favorite is the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur. The grounds and ambience of the Rambagh are better, IMO, than the Jai Mahal which is also run by the Taj group. (The Ramgarh Lodge, the third hotel run by the Taj group in the Jaipur area, is about 25 miles outside of Jaipur and is not really convenient for sightseeing in Jaipur.) At the Rambagh, you get the feeling you are really in a palace (which you are), and can have fun trying to figure out where the women's quarter was, etc. It is also outside the congestion of the city. You have to take taxis more than you would at the Jai Mahal, but I think it is worth it. There is a small but nice shopping arcade as part of the hotel. There are many types of rooms at the hotel, so old some new, some good some bad, so ask about different room types and sizes. I would avoid rooms in the basement. The hotel as recently been added to the Leading Small Hotels of the World Group, which signals to me that they have done renovations since I was last there about 3 years ago. Their main competition is the Rajvilas, which is truly a luxury hotel, see below, so they have tried to catch up.

I have also stayed at the Rajvilas in Jaipur, which is also an Oberoi "vila" hotel. We stayed in the tents, which were wonderful. They also have a nice spa and a pool (which you won't use much in December). The hotel is about 5 miles out of town, so the Rambagh Palace might be a better choice. You might want to look at both. Webiste for Oberoi is oberoihotels.com. Website for the Taj group is "tajhotels.com".

In Ranthambore, the Oberoi group has another "vila" hotel, the Vinayavilas which had not opened last time I was in Ranthambore. I am sure it is really wonderful We stayed in the tents at the Sawai Madophur, run by the Taj group. Really enjoyed the experience, and I think your kids will too. Please brings hats, gloves and warm jackets, as it is quite cool on the morning jeep rides; you start before sunrise and it doesn?t get warm until the sun has been up for about an hour.

You could consider adding Udaipur to your itinerary, but with about 8 days to see Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Ranthambore, you may feel you had done enough. Others may have a different view. With kids, you probably don't want to hit 5 places in 8 days, as that is a lot of moving.

Jet Air is a great airline, but as you want to fly so little, it might be cheaper just to price the individual flights. I would take a Jet Air flight over a domestic Air India flight in a minute, even if it costs more. You get what you pay for!

There have been several recent threads here about India, run a search for more opinions and advice. Remember that you will need visas to enter India. A good place to start is travel.state.gov/foreignentryreqs.html, which is the US State Dept website for entry requirements for US citizens to many countries, with links to the embassies.

Thank you for your very informative reply. I think we may go directly to Jaipur from Goa (Jet has a flight thru Mumbai) and then go to Ranthambore National Park. My daughter and family will return to London Jan.1 while my husband and I will stay to the 4th (or later if I can talk him into it). I think with their limited time, Jaipur and the park may be enough. If there is time would you recommend Agra or Delhi? If she flys out of Delhi that will be the answer, but she does not have her reservations yet. We have our tickets and we will return from Mumbai. We will do Agra after they leave. Is there anything you would recommend instead? I will try to book the places you recommend at Ranthambore National Park. The Oberoi chain is not yet taking reservations for many of its hotels over the Christmas period. I can get reservations at the Rambagh Palace and will do so immediately. The Jet Air flight to Jaipur from Goa is $260 one way, so the See India seems to make sense. I was happy to get your recommendation for the airline. Obviously this is our first trip to India, we welcome suggestions. I have been following this discussion for the last several months. We are all experienced travelers, including the kids. But India is new to us!

Sounds like a good plan so far. If I have counted the days right, your daughter will have at most 6 days for Jaipur and Ranthambore. I would say you want 2 nights at Ranthambore, so you can go on 2 morning and 2 afternoon rides. There are several different tracks through the park, and you will see different wildlife on the various tracks. With the 4?hour drive down and back from Jaipur, all told you will need the better part of 3 days. That leaves about 3 days plus a little bit more for Jaipur. I think she may need all that time for Jaipur alone. It may make sense for her to fly right out of Jaipur back to Mumbai and then connect to the international flight.

I recall that the Taj may be closed on Fridays. You should confirm this and whether it will be closed during the Christmas/New Year holidays at any other times before your daughter makes any further decisions. It would be awful to go all that way and find the Taj closed!

I just looked on the Jet Airways website, and they don't seem to have service from Agra. (Indian Air does have daily service via Delhi, the flight time is about 3 hours.) . If she doesn't fly That would mean taking the driving from Jaipur to Agra (3-4 hours). She would then have to drive or take the train to Delhi to get a flight via Delhi to Mumbai to connect to her international flight. This would probably be more time in planes and on the road than she would want, esp with children.

While Jaipur does not have the Taj Mahal, it is a more interesting city than Agra with more sights and some great shopping. Of course it is a hard decision to make, as the Taj kind of is the quintessential Indian experience. However, IMO while it might be possible to "do" Agra in one day, whether she will enjoy it (esp with children) and appreciate what she is seeing is another question. Others may have different views.

Stayed at both the Amarvillas in Agra & Rajvillas in Jaipur. The Rajvillas won my heart as my most favorite hotel on the planet earth. The kids wil love the Rajvillas to run around with the wild peacocks & hang out in the pool, maybe get some henna painted on there hands or something. The Amarvilas had only been opened one month when I was there & not everything was quite complete & open yet. The views of the Taj from the bedrooms are amazing. It's fun to hop on the hotel golf cart to go down the road at sunrise at the Taj, it's very quite & the wild monkeys walking around was my favorite part. I would advise taking a train from Delhi to Agra as I did. I was quite impressed on how well the train was run & how clean it was. I booked a first class cabin ticket, which I would advise so the famliy can be together. Have a blast, I wish my family would have gone with me.

We have changed our plans and are not going to Agra. This will give us more time in Jaipur and Ranthambore. Can't book the Oberoi hotel in Jaipure until September as they have not yet decided on prices, but I could book the one in Ranthambore. I spoke to Jet Air and they are very helpful. Plus we can cancel before we go to India without penalty. One never knows what can happen in the next six months. Getting excited! Thanks to all!