India-wanting some ideas for trip planning?
 

My 22 year old daughter and I are planning on visiting my son in India who is currently over there for a 6 month microfinance internship.He was supposed to come home in December but is loving the experience and has an offer to stay longer so I would like to visit him. He has been based in Deehra Dun and has also been living part-time in Delhi.
We want to visit him the first part of November before the holidays but am at a loss as to time,what 3 towns to visit etc.I have contacted several Indian travel agents and am horrified at the prices that they have offered so am hoping to put this together myself.
Details-we are flying into Mumbai(Bombay) and then plan on taking a flight to Delhi. We are planning on seeing Delhi,Agra and possibly Jaiphur for a 10-12 day period.(Husband and my mom are having some health problems at home so don't want to be away that long even for such a long flight.)My son said that he would try and get some time off to travel with us particularly to Agra.
Questions-do I need to have a private driver as others have suggested in other Fodors threads?
How would you arrange the routing of this trip?
Any hotels that are reasonable,safe and in interesting areas?
Is there any other areas in that northern region that are not far to travel that should be on our list? I do not want to spend 5-10 hours on trains or even a private car to travel between towns as I am in need of two knee replacements and cannot sit for that long.
Thanks for any tips or opinions-I really would appreciate and thoughts!

the prices i have found for hotels these days in india are outrageous...

i was able to save quite a bit by getting sheratons in both agra and jaipur....prices were around $100+ each with advanced booking.....

book your car with one of the agents....i paid about $600 for 11 days doing the three cities....24/7 car availability, although we only used ti during the day and occasionally at nite for dinner....

Driving Delhi to Agra is about 4 hours in a car...2.5 on the train. From Agra to Jaipur is another 5 hours or so in a car, not sure about train times. Jaipur to Delhi is another 5 hours or so by car.

These three towns will give you a nice glimpse of India.

I'm pretty sure the horrifying part of those tour prices comes from the hotel costs. Have you asked that the travel agents break down the fees, so you can compare the rates you'd get on your own at the same hotels?

We're going in two weeks, and hotels are ranging from $400 to $700 a night. Riduculous, but true.

Perhaps you might consider an hour or so flight to Jaipur or Udaipur (I prefer Udaipur) then doing the express train to Agra from Delhi?

You can still stay in an Indian hotel for much less than $400. See www.sawdays.co.uk, and there was a post about a great-sounding B&B in Delhi on this board quite recently. Also, take a look at Lonely Planet or Footprints or Rough Guide and tripadvisor.com.

You don't have to have a car and driver - you can use trains and rickshaws. However, you may get a more reasonable quote from this outfit: www.rajasthantravelservice.com/ Your driver may speak little English, and you may be in a car rather than a Land Cruiser, but they took very good care of me for the few days I used them.

Thanks for the tips. Yes, I did ask the travel agent to lower the type of hotel but it still was ridiculous.
I am expecting to probably be pretty sick the whole time there as I have stomach problems in the states on good days...so want to have things arranged so my poor daughter doesn't have to deal with all the dealings. Any other thoughts?

This is the website for the B&B - www.delhibedandbreakfast.com/ It's around $80/night for a double (or single) with AC and en-suite bathroom, incl. tax and breakfast.

Best would be to fly straight into Delhi but I reckon the airline you want doesn't fly there directly.

My recommendations: Agra - take the Shatabdi Express train to and from Delhi. Stay at Oberoi Amarvilas for the night. It is bloody expensive but it is also a memory you will remember for a long, long time.

Give Jaipur a wide berth; current-day Jaipur is uninspiring. Instead, fly to Jodhpur from Delhi (1 hour flight). Then take the 6 hours drive to Jaisalmer and stay a couple of nights there. Then back to Jodhpur for a night. Fly back into Delhi. This way you will get a very good flavour of Rajasthan. Besides, in Jodhpur there is some fabulous designer shopping (search for BostonHarbor's posts on this forum, or hope that she is reading this). Ask Compass Tours for a plan and a quote - they are the experts in this region.

Thanks for the further help. I just want to clarify that I cannot afford ANY expensive hotel in India even for the experience.I would just like to find a reasonably priced chain of hotels over there that won't break the bank but would provide a safe clean place to spend the night.
My trip to India is primarily to visit my son and to see the Taj along with other places of interest.I am the world's biggest shopper but not for designer clothing(too old,too fat and I fly to Paris and Rome (almost everyweek for work)so am interested in more of places with the cheap scarfs,tops,etc. that you pay a ridiculous price for in the states.
Keep the tips and advice coming as I am copying all of this.

dutyfree - I don't think there is a chain of inexpensive hotels in India. Expensive, yes, inexpensive, no. However, there are plenty of inexpensive hotels run by independents. You just have to research each places separately. However, if you're only going to three places that shouldn't be such a big deal.

I would recommend going with one of Alistair Sawday's recommendations for Delhi and Jaipur (I liked Jaipur) and hitting the books for Agra. In fact, you could do Agra as a day trip from Delhi, although I do think you see the Ta at sunset or sunrise - preferably both. You can do the trip both ways by comfortable express train, or one way by train and one way by car and driver, visiting Fatehpur Sikri and the Bharatpur bird park. If you stay at the Delhi B&B I linked p thread they will get the train tickets for you, and probably the car and driver. They may be able to recommend an Agra hotel, too.

I remember the posts back when your son was planning to go to India - sounds like he is doing fine? Can't he help with this? And don't you want to go up to Dehra Dun?

It is indeed possible to find not so exencive hotels in India. Maybe not so easy in Delhi and Agra.
For Rajasthan you can find smaller palaces and private homes turned into hotels, take a look at Alistair Sawday's recomendations.
If you go to Jaipur, you can contact hotel Jas Vilas http://www.jasvilas.com/
a small, very plesant place to stay.
The owners can help you to plan your trip, arrange for a driver and book hotels, and give you a lot of tips for shopping.
We have really enjoyed having a car and driver, making a stop whenever we want and driving through the country.
You can take a look at another forum for travel in India http://www.indiamike.com/
they have a list of reasonably priced hotels.
No matter where you deceide to go, you are in for a very special experience.

Do a search for Heritage Hotels of Rajasthan. Many great places for less than $100 per night - plus lots of character.

Thursdaysd-yes, my son is loving India, the people and his work over there. He was up in "Dun" for most of the summer but he is now traveling around more between Delhi and the Dun with limited access to the computer.
After hearing about his hostel experience in Riga(while studying in Prague) with bloody sheets,etc.-I think that I will try and do most of the planning!We would love to go up to Deehra Dun but if it is a 5 hour train ride each wayand he is not there at the time,we probably won't go. We have limited time and I am waiting to see how my husband's health is doing before I pick the actual day of departure for November.
I will definitely contact the B and B in Delhi and the other hotel chain.Apreciate your efforts!

dutyfree - glad he's having a great time - hope you do also. You could take one of the night trains up to Dehra Dun - likely the one that leaves New Delhi at 21:05 and arrives at 8:00. www.sawdays.co.uk isn't a chain, it's the online version of Alastair Sawday's guidebooks.

I also recommend Jas Vilas (http://www.jasvilas.com/) which is excellent, with very comfortable accommodation, lovely garden and excellent swimming pool. All meals are served outdoors by the pool and the food is wonderful. It's a real oasis in the chaos and madness that is Jaipur's traffic. My wife and I stayed there earlier this year and were extremely happy.

A good local Jaipur car/driver organisation is Rajasthan Four Wheel Drive. It's highly reliable and we paid $25 US a day for a spotlessly clean driver and vehicle. The drivers are safe, speak good English, and the cars all have seat belts. It was a pleasant change having a driver who actually pulled over to the side of the road to answer his cell phone instead of driving while he used it! The head guy is called Anil, and his website is www.fourwheeldriveindia.com and the email address is [email protected] .

We used his company for road transport from Agra to Jaipur. The trip was $90US compared to the Oberoi ArmaVilas cost of $350US!

We simply rang Anhil the day before left for Jaipur and booked him over the phone. And everything was so perfect, we booked the car for each of the four days we were in Jaipur.

The company operates throughout Rajasthan and can put together multi day trips/sight-seeing. Email for more info if you wish.

I would recommend looking into heritage hotels as recommended by others, looking in the Sawdays book/website and other sources. The Sawday member hotels respond rapidly by email I find, if you go through their website - getting responses to other, direct emails can be spotty. Im a little hesitant to be too positive since I havent made my trip yet, but there is no reason on earth why you need to stay at a "name brand" chain. YOu should be able to find plenty of places to stay in your price range. One agency that seemed more reasonable in its prices for car and driver/hotel arrangements was Namaste
India Tours, out of Delhi. Also very good communications.
FWIW Ive booked with Rajasthan 4WD for my upcoming trip and its costing considerably more than $25 a day for this, in an Innova.

You guys are the best! Thanks for the information-this is what I was hoping for.

jjkbrook, the $25 a day was for casual travel in and around Jaipur, and that was the price in April this year. Obviously, if you are involved in long distance travel as opposed to no more than about $30 km a day, it is going to cost a lot more. Remember I also paid, with the same company, $90 for the Agra Jaipur journey.

Two nights in Agra is sufficient. Basically, it's a dumb of a city. If you have the funds, stay at the Oberoi Amavilas (heaven on earth with every room having a Taj view - it's 600 yards away). Try for a balcony room.

The Amavilas provides electric golf buggy trips to the entrance to the Taj (600 yard is not a lone walk, byt the buggy means you can avoid being harassed by touts, merchants and beggars).

First night go to the entrance to the Taj about an hour before sunset. Turn right and walk down to the river, where you'll get 'different' views of the Taj. There's an old guy there with a boat who, for about $1, will take you out to a small island in the middle of the river, the the views are splendid. Pay him after he has collected you (gives you peace of mind, for he'll have to collect you to get his money!).

The next day get to the Taj when it opens (about 6 am I think).

If you like photography, you'll be able to find a guide who - in the space of about 15-20 minutes (and for about $10-$15 depending on your negotiating skills) will rush you to all the best places to get your sunrise photos. It's worth the money.

I have some 'river view" Taj shots and Oberoi shots at http://www.jmprphotography.com/portfolio14724.html

Wonderful Photos. It is clear that you are a professional photographer -- and a very good one!

Wish that it was so, CFW!!

I am a well meaning amateur and geriatric hippie who took up photography as a hobby 15 months ago!

I have yet to sell a shot *grins* but as do it primarily for fun and enjoyment. I do like getting off the beaten track, however...