India, Rasjasthan Golden Triangle
 

My husband and I are travelling to India end of Oct into November.

We plan on doing the Golden Triangle with an extension into Pushkar.

We only have from 30 Oct to 8th Nov.

Firstly, we would like to spend two full days in Delhi, is that enough or do we need more.

Secondly, with the triangle we go to Pushkar, and then I would like to go to Mandawa. Is it worth going there and then driving onto Delhi or is it a better idea to just go to Pushkar and catch a train back to Delhi from Ajmer Station.

Is the road travel to difficult or fun and full of things to see.
Is it better to rail travel as much as we can.

We are 58 and 64 years of age.
What to do.

that is a lot in that short time...

why not eliminate pushkar??

2 days in delhi will allow you to see the main sites but not much shopping time, if that is important to you...

a drive to agra from delhi takes most of the day and to jaipur slightly less...

roads are fine, but traffic can be heavy....i feel you see a lot more via car....a train to agra is faster however...

Where will you arrive in India - Delhi?

You have only at most nine days on the ground, so I would trim your itinerary dramatically. You can't see it all. That's just a fact of life. You might be able to do Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, then back to Delhi. That would give you a few nights in each place. You might be able to take a day trip to Shekawati from Jaipur.

I agree with rhkkmk about eliminating Pushkar. From what I see on the internet, the Pushkar Camel Fair is later in November, so you'll miss the main reason to go there.

A few more details needed. Is Oct 30 your date of arrival into India, or your date of departure from wherever (?) Is November 8 your date of departure? Wil yo have a full day then, or does your lfight depart early in the day?

i agree with rhkkmk--book a car. Agree with Indiana..you need to "trim dramaticaly" !!You are trying to see way too much 9 days.

With such limited time, a full day in Delhi will suffice (i.e perhaps book for two nights,with one full day in between for sightseeing).

Here's but one of many examples of what you can see if you have a full ten days, as I sense you want something a bit beyond the basic 6 or 7 day "Golden Triangel tours.

http://www.indianpanorama.in/224gold...ife_rural.html

There are several highly recommended tour planners mentioned on this forum ( search). I and others will recommend that you contact a few , giving info such as your budget and interest requirements, for different options, then compare.

My axe would fall fair & square on both Pushkar & Mandawa. There is nothing in Pushkar except the Camel fair, when a night, there, is fine. Why not a night's stay in Samode Palace, which has perhaps some of the finest painted frescoes, in the Durbar Hall. And it is also one of our finest Palace Hotels in Rajasthan. Or you could also see if a night in Neemrana Fort Palace could be spared. you shall have some magical moments sitting, as you do on the terrace / balconies of that 14th century fort rooms.
Happy travels!

The first thing I would note is that Diwali, a major holiday in India, starts on November 5. So you may run into traffic, crowded trains and planes and some closures of sights on, before and after that day. Bear that in mind. It’s a lovely time to be in India, but can be like travelling on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in the US, times a billion (quite literally).

Could you be more specific about what you mean by the “Golden Triangle”? To some people that is Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. To others, it is other cites (i.e. Jaisamler). Agra is not in Rajasthan and so I am not sure if you are also including that in the phrase “Rajasthan Golden Triangle”. But if you mean 3 cities, plus Delhi plus Pushkar plus Mandawa in 9 days, that IMO is waaaay too much. I would say to pick 3 places at most. Otherwise, you will be a far too rushed.

I could spend a week in Delhi and still find many things that I would not have time for. It’s like Beijing or New York, many options. So it’s really up to you as to what you want to see and do.

It is possible to do travel in the Agra/Rajasthan area by a combination of trains, car trips and in some cases flying (e.g. Udaipur to Jaipur as you have a short time.) I personally do not like to be on Indian roads for more than 4-5 hours in any day. It’s quite tiring just being a passenger. Plus you don’t want to spend your whole trip in a car. Trains also give you the option of traveling at night or in the pre-dawn hours, when I would avoid being on Indian roads.

Mandawa to Pushkar is about 200 miles. Bear in mind that an average speed of 35-40 miles and hour is <i>very</i> good time on Indian roads. And that is a trip mostly on highways, on country routes you won’t go that fast (nor will you want to). So that’s quite a “side trip”. I think Mandawa is better as a trip from Jaipur, as it is north of Jaipur (120 miles or so). However if you also plan to go down to Pushkar later from the Mandawa/Jaipur area, at some point you have a longish drive ahead of you.

It’s over 250 miles from Pulsar to Delhi. Not a trip I would do in a car unless there was no other choice, and you do have a choice of a train from Ajmer (which by the way is also quite interesting). There is the Ajmer Shatabhi which departs at 4 pm, makes the trip in 6.5 hours or so and has first class chairs for US$26 per person, hard to beat that price and convenience. (The 64 year old may qualify for a senior discount, worth asking.)

We stayed the night before our flight out at Neemrana fort. It is very drivable from there to the Delhi airport. (an hr and half or so) It was magical, you could just feel the Maharaja's comming up the ramp on their elephants. The room was comfy , and the dinner was very good. we like it so much we may plan 2-3 nights there on our next trip.