TO BE BRIEF; IF HAD 7 NIGHTS FOR INDIA (DAUGHTER A TEACHER NEEDS TO MINIMIZE DAYS OUT). WHICH SITES TO SEE. ITINARARY DELHI UDAIPUR JAIPUR AGRA KHAJURAHO VARANASI MUMBAI(BOMBAY-ELEPHANTA CAVES) THANKS THINKING OF DROPPING JAIPUR

Please don't yell!

Your itinerary is hopeless - you have seven places for seven nights (presumably six days) - you can't travel in India at that speed. Even if you could you wouldn't see anything plus you'd be totally exhausted.

What are your interests? Varanasi is wonderful but it would make more sense to do the standard Golden Triangle: Delhi - Agra - Jaipur. The Elephanta caves aren't that interesting - Ajanta and Ellora are the caves to see.

Yipes! It isn't logistically possible to see all of those places in 7 days. Choose perhaps two or three places.

It would take three weeks just to make a cursory tour of the places you've listed. Remember that India is a huge country, not like Europe, and that travel is complex and sometimes difficult and always slower than you might have hoped.

You might do Rajasthan in a week or the Golden Triangle, but not all.

Aaaah, how great to be back on this board and talking about India
Agree with everyone, cannot do that much in seven days, not in India.

Standard Golden Triangle is too much for seven days

You could do Delhi and Jaipur in 7 days, but that's me. I don't like to rush. Both cities are rich in culture and history. Until you've been to India, you won't understand why everyone is advising you to cut way back on the places you think you can see.

I'd do Delhi and try to do Agra and Udaipur. Drive to Agra for the Taj, Agra Fort etc., spend the night and return to Delhi. Fly to Udaipur to and from Delhi - spend 3-4 days there. It will still be pushing it but this is the itinerary I would recommend if you never plan to return (but you will).

don't drop jaipur---4 minutes there is perfect.

i think i could do a few more days but not a full two weeks from nyc and back to nyc. concerns not being away an additional one week besides school vacation for daughter.

Even adding a few more days you can't visit all of those places. Do you have a good guidebook? Do some reading and you may get a more realistic idea of what you can do in say, 10 days in India.

As Kathie says... 10 days would allow for a less frantic Golden Triangle trip.

Besides a guidebook, and a map, and maybe some plane and train timetables, take a look at some of the guided tours, and figure you would be a bit slower. Not that I'm advocating a tour, which is unnecessary, but you're unlikely to travel <i>faster</i>. Intrepid, which tends to use public transport, does have a seven day Golden Triangle tour, but it only visits Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, with one overnight in a "heritage stay".