Hi everyone

A friend and I are planning a trip to India and I have mapped out my own itinerary. But recently a local Indian travel agent was telling me that it wld be very difficult to try to do this on my own (and of course that he wld be happy to help). So I wondered if you guys would have a look at my itinerary and help me with a few questions? Much appreaciated. And we are planning to leave in end of this month(Jan) so we need to decide fast.

My route is for:
delhi(3D)-jaipur(2D)-agra(2D)-varanasi(2D)-mumbai(2D)-goa(3D)-cochin(2D)-mumbai or delhi-home

Sorry but i have loads of questions. bear with me.

1)I plan to do this in 17days. too much? should i cut out cochin?

2)i seem to have trouble booking internal trains and planes from the internet. Must all this be arranged only when in Delhi or mumbai? Is getting train tickets there a personal hell or well worth the money to pay the travel agent to do it?

3)can someone give me an estimate cost of a clean, central place to stay with hot shower and a/c? thats for the total of 6 nights in delhi,agra and jaipur? someone quoted me but it doesnt look right. Doesnt need to be a hotel or luxury, as long as its safe, not dinghy and livable with abve ammenities.

4)i was quoted 6000 rupees for the car for the 7days from delhi to agra and 900 rupees for the train ride for 2 from agra to varanasi. is that resonable? sorry for counting the dollars but on top of hating to be fleeced, i also want to know if this guy is honest.

5)how can i get from goa to cochin?

thanks very much for your help!

I forgot:

6) is there a train from varanasi to mumbai and how long wld it take? Only cos i looked up soem flight costs and they were really expensive! Or any cheap flights?

You can certainly travel independently in India and almost anywhere else....just see Lonley Planet's Thorn Tree forum for the evidence.

However, a travel agent and a car and driver will make more comfortable and possibly feasible to see more in a shorter time.

You can certainly travel independanly in India. My boyfriend and i just got back from a great 3.5 week backpacking trip to India having arranged everything on our own.

1) I didnt visit mumbai, goa or Cochin so I cant comment on that but I didnt care at all for Delhi and I would cut that down to 1 or 2 days at the most and add an extra day to Jaipur. In Agra we stayed one day and one night and that was fine. We were able to see the Taj, Fatephur Sikri, Red Fort and Baby Taj in one very busy day starting at 7 am and finishing around 6. This was unusual for us as we are slow travelers (especially in the am!!!) but wanted to save a day for elsewhere. We spent 3 days/2 nights in Varansi and that worked well.

2) I didnt have any internal flights but all our train tickets I booked on the indian rail site ahead of time with little trouble at all and was very glad i did this. The tickets were delivered to my hotel in Delhi and waiting for me when I arrived. I heard too many stories of travel agents and train stations to want to have to deal with this on my trip.

3) I have no place to recommend in Delhi even though we stayed in 4 different hotels there! The first was in Pahar Ganj for 400r and a dump. Delhi is very expensive for hotels compared to the rest of India and I would plan on 2000r for something decent there. I stayed in 2 other places for 3000 and 4000r but thought they were overpriced.

In Agra we had booked (and reconfirmed) at Hotel Sheela for 400r for a room with hot water and upon arrival they didnt have this room, only one with bucket hot water, which they still wanted to charge me the same rate. We eventually got it for 250r but would rather have had the hot water.

Jaipur we had a nice hotel that I can easily recommend, the Arya Niwas.

http://www.aryaniwas.com/

We paid 700r for a double non air con room and it was probably the best value hotel we stayed in in India. It is pretty central, an autorickshaw to the Wind Palace is 30-40r. The staff is very professional and the service excellent even with the non-tipping policy. The restaurant is good, open all day and they have a lovely garden area to relax. Also cheapest and best laundry service we found.

If you are going at the end of Jan you dont need air con in the these places, it is quite chilly at night. Dont know about the south.

4) 6000 for a week sounds reasonable, but I would verify what that all includes. I would also consider just taking the train as it is cheaper and not really any longer (we did Delhi-Agra-Varansi-Jaipur by train in that order)

900r for 2 is cheap for that night train but you dont say what class it is for. I would recommend the 2A or 3A. Sleeper would be cheaper but I wouldnt have wanted that one. You can check the exact prices on the India rail site.

Cant help with 5...

It was our first time in India and we really had a blast so please let me know if I can help in any other way!

Of course you can travel independently - but there are many ways to define "independently". My experience has been limited to arranging things as I went along - which is eminently doable - but you do need TIME!! For instance, it is easy to book your train tix at the foreigners booking office in Delhi - but be prepared to wait - fine if you have time, but not, perhaps, for you.

17 days I would say, is a bit tight for your itinerary. How do you get from Goa to Cochin? I know you can do it by train but it is awkward and time-consuming - can't you fly?

If it was me, I would skip Goa. India is a big country and large portions of the days you have allocated will be spent travelling. Add the days to Cochin and kerala - beaches there too if that is what you are after.

As for accommodation - if you are on a budget check out the lonely planet and rough guide. I always just found somewhere when I arrived - some great places; some not so good; some real dives. But at that end of the scale,things change - so forgive me if I don't recommend anywhere particularly.
But as someone has already said, you don't need a/c in Northern India in January - it gets quite cold at night.

Happy travels.

http://indian-airlines.nic.in/scripts/index.asp

http://www.jetairways.com


We will travel India in March and have made all of our arrangements from home with the internet. Our itinerary is quite different from yours except for Delhi and Agra.

I will comment on two of you questions. Indian Air and Jet Air both have web sites and I think that you can pre-purchase tickets on both. We have purchased the tickets that we need on Indian (I have pasted the the airlines address above). As to car hire, I have taken two quotes so far, and they range from US$45 to US$95 per day.

i am planning to do delhi-agra-jaipur-delhi in 14 days and that seems just right....we will have a private driver the whole time....

from everything i have read, you will want help with getting train tickets and navigating stations, etc....best to have that...

i think you will spend lots of time getting things organized once you are there and then you 17 days will boil down to a lot less...

trust the travel agent...lots have been suggested here and i would use one of them....its pretty late to be starting this exercise...

You can travel independently in India, but to make things a LOT easier, you can use a travel agent there to take care of the details.

For the type of travel you are doing, I would highly recommend Vinny at VINstring Holidays. His email is [email protected].

He was the travel agent for my daughter's college group. Arranged all their air, rail hotels and drivers both for the class movement (20 people) and for all the kids' free travel. The kids went super budget all over the country, and without exception were very happy that he'd made good choices.

When I had just a few days to get all my reservations, I used him to get train, air and hotels for part of my trip in December, and his quotes were very good; the same or better than I could book myself. He had no problem with just doing some aspects of the trip; I had already booked some of the hotels at special rates.

Compass travel was also very good, but they are used to doing a bit more high end hotels and with a liittle more advance time, so Vinny might suit you better. He arranged everything within 2 days and emailed me all the details. The day I arrived in Delhi he called to come and deliver my tickets. Since I wanted to use a credit card, he sent a car to take me to his office (close to the Imperial off Connaught Place)then had the car take me "anywhere you want", which I thought was nice. His office is at the YWCA.

YOur costs for the car and train to Agra both sound very reasonable, but I would check what class you're in on the train. Train travel is very cheap; some costs we incurred were:

Delhi to Agra morning train- 2nd class AC was about $15

For two trips -Udaipur to SAwai Modhopur (Ranthambore game park) a seven hour night train in first class sleepers, and then Sawai Modhopur to Delhi in 2nd Class AC- a six hour trip-we paid $92 dollars total for two of us.

A lot of people here love driving in India, but I have to say I much preferred the trains (or planes)for the long hauls. You get to meet other people, and they are a lot safer than the roads. My first trip, we had a car for the Agra-Jaipur-Delhi roads. While scenic, we found it stressful. I knew in advance that that the Delhi-Agra portion of the Grand Trunk road is one of the most dangerous roads in the world, so that was by train and I wish we'd taken the train everywhere. Just arrange in advance for drivers to pick you up at the stations.


If you choose to not use an agent, one thing I recommend is that you book your tickets online. Booking them in person can be a nightmare and there are so many scam ticket offices that you really don't want the aggravation.

Jet Airways has a really nice web site for booking internal flights, but are either of you under 25? If so, you can get 30% off, but you can't do it online. This is where an agent would be handy.

Check out www.indiamike.com for great travel tips on India. Indian rail now allow e-tickets booked online & paid for by credit card then printed out on your home printer, for specific trains. You could do this at www.irctc.co.in, as the trains you'll want are probably the express trains starting with the number 2...-they can be e-ticketed very easily. You need to register as a user to do this. Easy to do. www.airdeccan.net will allow you to book, pay and print out air tickets also for any route they fly.

You can take a bus from Goa to Cochin. Buses run all day and all night all over India on popular routes. Why not take a train down there and fly back to either Mumbai or Delhi? It won't be cheap as Cochin airport is an expensive private airport for airline movements. We flew Indian Airlines from this airport to Bangalore and it cost US100 each-the second most expensive airticket we paid for in India.

It's extremely easy to do India independently by air, rail & bus if you're short of time. Post your questions on India Mike and you'll probably be given the train numbers to book etc. Many posters on india mike are familiar with travellers who want to travel independently & save big bucks.

a. As the destinations you have chosen for the itinerary are far flung, 17 days are a bit on shorter side. If you travel by air alone, you may be able to cover all destinations within this time. The axe will therefore fall on either Varanasi or Cochin. The choice will have to be yours in consonance with your preferences. Varanasi is the oldest living city & a lot has already been written on it. However, if you do not plan Kerala Backwaters as part of your itinerary, Cochin can be left out.
b. Train bookings have to be done either on your arrival or an operator given the responsibility. It is certainly much easier when this is handled beforehand, as ques in India could be long simply on account of density of population.
c. In New Delhi you can stay at Westend Inn, just a couple of km from the Radisson on Jaipur road. The second choice & fairly cheaper is Sundeep Inn F-22/3 Vasant Vihar. It is clean. Ask the receptionist to give you accommodation on 3rd floor as it is less noisy there. In Agra don’t stay at any place less than Man Singh Palace. In Jaipur you have the superb Arya Niwas or Dera Rawatsar, just behind Sindhi Camp.
d. The car at Rs. 6000/= for seven days!...how does this fellow pay for the taxes in Agra & Rajasthan…or does he plan to give you a non-commercial vehicle…which will not be covered in your travel insurance. The smallest non-ac car should cost you atleast Rs. 1500/= per day.
e. You can travel from Goa to Cochin by train or air. The train runs from Madgaon to Ernakulam (Mangla-Lakshadweep Exp no. 2618). You also have flights between the two cities. The cheaper airline are the Kingfisher (very good).
f. The train from Varanasi to Mumbai (Mahanagri Exp no. 1094) takes eternity…24 hours!

Train bookings do not have to be done on your arrival or by an "operator". mr vp singh is supplying incorrect information here.

I've just booked two tickets Kolkata to Varanasi on train 2313, paid for by credit card, printed the e-ticket & no trouble at all. It's simple & I'm happy to give you some tips if you need them, HH.

I guess I have better experience with the Indian railways than just buying an e-tickets from a to b...!

Really! Well blow me down!

I'd think you'd need more experience than lil ole me. You're an Indian travel agent, aren't you?

It's not good to give people incorrect information here. So you should cease forthwith, imho.

Mr Singh, are you touting for business here? Because if you are then it's not tolerated on this board.

It's my understanding that while some routes and trains can be booked online yourself, there are many that cannot be booked online. If the route you want is one of those that can't be booked online yourself, I think it would be best to use an agent and arrange to have tickets delivered to your first hotel rather than try to navigate the ticket counters and the guys hanging around the counter who try to lead you to their office or tell you all the trains are sold out etc.

I forgot to add that foreigners are often allocated a special quota of tickets on many trains in India. It's often a matter of requesting a ticket from the foreigner's quota either on the net or at major stations or paying more and buying a taktal ticket (kind of a last minute ticket). See www.indiamike.com for comprehensive explantations.

Everything is possible in India if you've got the money! Train bookings so simple now & the travel agents hate Indian Rail for simplifying the booking process! YES!

Kim, most train tickets can be booked on-line! Many cannot be e-ticketed. Many can be!

HerHighness is travelling on many routes where the superfast trains are used. They can be booked on the net by e-ticket.

One can always book and pay on the net and have the ticket sent to one's hotel prior to arriving in most major cities in India. Have done this before. Simply fax an authority letter to your hotel & they give it to India Rail's delivery person. Nothing complicated about any of this. The PNR number is necssary & a reference for every transaction. As I've said before, all this is spelt out on India Mike.

Some people like to make things out to be more difficult than they are! Not sure why?

Delhi/Jaipur is a superfast route and an e-ticket is simple. Jaipur/Agra is easy on an express bus for 150 rupees. Agra/Varanasi is possibly an overnight train which could be booked via the net & tickets sent to her hotel.

I'd fly the big legs! Depends when she's going as to how hard it is to buy tickets on the ground.

As I've already said, there's a foreigners quota.

The touts disappear if you're abrupt & tell them to go away. You don't have to tolerate them or let them ruin your holiday. Tell them you'll call the police if they bother you! Works for us.
If one is polite to touts then they will take advantage of you. Just be abrupt like Indians are with them!

I guess we just love the railway stations where you get a taste of how intriguing India really is! Touts & all!

When were you in India, Kim?

I haven't gone yet. I said it was my understanding of online ticketing based on the research I'm doing now for a future (hopefully soon) trip to India....here, indiamike and a plethora of sites for people who are dying to book things for you. Our trip will probably be a bit outside of the ordinary first trip to India, so maybe that's why I'm finding train tickets that can't be booked online.

Hi Kim-if you're an independent type and love saving bucks, you'll find India train travel most satisfying, and if you've got the time and the inclination, the planning is a big part of the fun.

Enjoy yourself.

I've yet to hear of a train that cannot be at least, BOOKED and paid for on the net. E-ticket is new though!

Thank you for the info Lyndie.

You're very welcome, Kim. You were a big help to me with our Japan trip in May 2005 and I hope I can assist you with India!

BTW if you go to www.indianrail.gov.in & look for "Trains between important stations" you can enter details & see when the trains go & what class is on each train. The catch is you need the station name, not the town close by, in many cases. It works a treat for e.g. Jaipur to Jodhpur(where station choices are unnecessary) but in the case of Agra or Delhi (there's about three or four stations there or Varanasi where an alternative is Mughal Sarai) it can be a bit cumbersome.

The fact that the 2... series trains can be booked by e-ticket is just so brilliant for us and I've sourced out many trips & found out availability of seats to enable us to decide if we want to book now from home or wait until we are on the ground and 7 days out before we decide where we'll go to.

Flexibility is the key and that's difficult if one only have 2 weeks to see a lot of places. Hence, the e-ticket is so brilliant!

I love Indian Railways! But not train toilets!