Itinerary Question India
 

We are flying into Delhi in the late evening and are wondering if we should stay near the airport and fly to Udiapur first thing in the morning on the next day , making it our first destination with our final stop in Delhi, or if we should tour Delhi first before moving on.

one thing you might think about is possible jet lague....you will have it if coming from usa...

i think you would find touring in udaipur easier than in delhi and thus i think i would prefer it as a first stop... but adjustment might be easier in delhi, depending on your hotel situation...

along those lines have you allowed a down day to recover from the flight?

potential flight delays are another thing to consider---frequent in delhi at certain times of year.... nov/dec fog

I would stay near the airport, get a good night's sleep and head to Udaipur not too early the next day. That way you will be traveling, not touring as you recover from jet lag.

Thanks for your replies. We will be traveling in Sept/Oct so fog should not be a problem. Do you think 2 nights in Delhi at the end of the trip should be sufficient?

The following is our revised itinerary. We are wondering if we are including too much and if we should keep Bikaner in or omit it? If we do go to Bikaner, should we see any other places in the surrounding area? If we leave Jaipur early enough, do we have time to see the Fort in Agra that same day or should we count on another night in Agra? Are we leaving enough time for Delhi? Any other suggestions would be most appreciated.


Sept 15th – arrive in Delhi late – sleep
16 – Early morning flight to Udaipur
17 – Udaipur
18 – Udaipur
19 – To Jodhpur (Drive by way of Kumbalgarh fort and Rankapur)
20 – Jodhpur
21 – To Jaisalmer
22 – Jaisalmer
23 – Jaisalmer
24 – To Bikaner
25 – Bikaner & rat temple
26 – to Jaipur
27 – Jaipur
28 – Jaipur
29 – To Agra – stopping at Fatehpur Sikri
30 – Agra
1 – By train to Jahnsi – Drive to Orchha
2 – Orchha
3 - Drive To Khajuraho
4 – Fly to Varanasi
5 – Varanasi
6 – Varanasi
7 – Fly to Delhi
8 – Delhi
9 - Delhi
10 – Leave home 1 AM

Isn't September 30th a Friday? I think the Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays.

Darn...you're right and we knew it was closed Fridays. Any suggestions?

for the first part of your journey, we did pretty much the same thing and thought it worked beautifully. Gently into India. We flew from Delhi into Udaipur and after a couple of days drove to Jodphur by way of Kumbalgarh fort and Rankapur and then to Jaisalmer and then Jaipur. It worked really well, for us anyhow.

How early can you get to Agra on the Thursday? Yes, the fort is def'lly worth seeing(a definite do-not miss)--switch it to Friday? Go straight to Agra on Thurs, for the Taj Mahal, then see Fatehpr Sikri on Friday (about a 45 minute drive from Agra) and return to Agra for your train to Jahnsi. Agra Fort and FS are open every day of the week
Also, get feedback here and elsewhere if FS is worth the extra trip. Opinions vary.

Cali - thought of seeing the Taj on Thurs, but really wanted to get there for sunrise and sunset. Don't think it would be possible to be there for sunrise if we leave from Jaipur.

One thing we have to figure out though is whether we should go to Bikaner or skip it. Any thoughts on that? If we skip it, we can arrange to be in Agra a day earlier. If we decide not to do Bikaner, where should we allocate our time? Is there any other small villages or places along the way worth spending time at?

the drive from jaipur to agra is not that long so you could easily do FS... it is a worthwhile stop for sure---1 to 2 hours....

but i think i would forge on and visit the taj that afternoon and call it a day.... the entrance fee is $17 or more btw, so not sure the entry is worth it twice.... the day we were there it was very foggy in the early morning so we never went until mid to late morning and it was perfect... in the afternoon i think you might miss some of the tour groups too...

by cutting bikner you could have an extra day in jaipur which you would enjoy and also go earlier to the taj....

maybe experts here can tell us if jaisalmer and bikner are that much different... i am going to both but considered cutting bikner too until i found a decent looking haveli to stay in there...

Bob - will you be venturing into the rat temple?

we went to the back of the Taj, across the river, at sunset the night before and it did not cost anything and then saw it at sunrise inside the Taj grounds

live42day - That is our intention. I don't think we should have the fog that Bob refers to as we will be traveling in Sept/Oct.

So...the question is - how do we rearrange this in a logical sequence?

I would be wary of planning a narrow window for visiting the Taj Mahal. Stuff happens. For example, the Taj Mahal is closed when VIPs are visiting. You won't know about that until you arrive in Agra. If for any reason you're delayed in arriving in Agra on Thursday afternoon, you'll have to wait until Saturday to enter the Taj Mahal.

If you're stuck with the dates, you can definitely get from Jaipur to Agra in time to see the Taj. We left Agra in the morning (I forget what time, but not terribly early) and we were in Agra by lunch. We checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and went to the Red Fort and then the Taj. I thought had plenty of time at both. If you want to see Fatehpur Sikri rather than the Red Fort, you might be able to fit both it and the Taj in on that day.

You could then see the Red Fort on Friday morning before leaving for Orchha.

It means you'll miss sunrise at the Taj, but honestly, sunset is also beautiful. I didn't see sunrise, so don't know what I'm missing, but I was completely satisfied with our afternoon/sunset visit.

(Your itinerary is really shaping up!)

Oops, I mean we left JAIPUR in the morning and were in Agra by lunch.

Any other thoughts on Bikaner - my husband is inclined to cut it and I'm not sure. It would allow more leisure time elsewhere and insure we get to Agra with an extra day in case something goes wrong (Taj closed for visitors, etc).

i don't like to squeeze things in either.... too many ifs...maybe best to cut B??

if my haveli does not have big enough rats we may venture into it.... detail planning will not be done until summer...

we are leaving on march 1 for 5 weeks in spain/morocco and italy and we have not done the detailed planning for that so we need to get on that...