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north India Itinerary

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Old Sep 21st, 2005 | 08:50 PM
  #1  
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north India Itinerary

After getting feedback, I have a revised itinerary:

Delhi - 2 nights
fast train to Agra, stay in Agra 1 night
get driver in Agra, drive to Jaipur
Jaipur - 2 nights
Pushkar - 1 night
Jodphur - 1 night
Jaisalmer - 3 nights
drive back to Jodphur, leave driver, fly to Udaipur
Udaipur - 3 nights
fly back to Delhi, stay 1 night
home next morning

Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!
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Old Sep 21st, 2005 | 10:35 PM
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I would take one night off Udaipur and add it to Jodphur, as three nights is too many in Udaipur and one night too few in Jodphur esp given the time and distance getting there.

Personally I would do two nights in Agra as it seems you won't get there until the afternoon, so trying to fit in the Taj, the fort plus a bit of the town might be tough; also IMO you need to visit the Taj in full daylight, sunset and at sunrise as it is very different in all lights and when empty versus when full of tourists. Best photographs will be at sunset and sunrise.

Hopefully you are stopping at Fatephur Sikri for a few hours on your way to Jaipur.

I see from previous posts that you are at the Sheraton in Delhi. Try to see if you can get into ITC One which is the boutique hotel within-a- hotel which is much more luxurious and more 5-star than the rest of the Sheraton, which is a pretty ordinary hotel with average rooms in my view. (Although the rest of the hotel may have had a redo recently, ask Hobbes). Ask about ITC One, they don't always mention it at reservations and it is not specifically listed on their website. Please be sure to eat at Bukhara or Dumpukth or both when you are there.

For your last night in Delhi if you have a late flight back from Udaipur and don't want to go back into Delhi, consider staying at the Hilton Trident in Gurgaon, which is simply quite fabulous both in term of the stunning architecture and the great service. It's hard to get a room, but worth it if you can, if you have points even more so. Look then up on the Hilton website. It is about 15- 20 minutes to the airport, so is very convenient, much more so than going back into town.

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Old Sep 22nd, 2005 | 03:57 AM
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I agree with Cicerone re increasing Jodhpur by reducing Udaipur. I assume you are taking the morning fast rtain Delhi-Agra? IN which case I think 1 night in Agra is enough. Go to see the Taj the afternoon you reach, see it again next day at sunrise, see Agra Fort in the morning, back for lunch and early afternoon drive Agra-Jaipur with FS en route. Not as nice as the Trident but again very comvenient for international airport is the Radisson.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2005 | 05:56 AM
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Thanks for the feedback. How would I go about booking the Delhi-Agra train? Is this something I should ask a travel agent to do for me? Where is the best place for schedule info?
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Old Sep 22nd, 2005 | 06:07 AM
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Definitely a travel agent. Ideally you should get all your internal transfers tied up with an agent in advance eg the agent will transfer you from your hotel to the train station early AM for the fast train to Agra, then the same agent will have a car-driver waiting for you in Agra. A guide will join you in Agra, see you through Fatehpur Sikri then you will proceed without guide but with same car driver to Jaipur where you may pick up another guide, etc.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2005 | 05:22 PM
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I am doing a rare thing for me and disagreeing with Hobbes on this one; you can easily get your hotel I Delhi to get you the train ticket for Delhi-Agra, and you can take a taxi to the station. IMO you don't need to pre-book either with a travel agent, as the trains are frequent and taxis readily available. You can also pick up a taxi in Agra, again no need for a driver to take you to your hotel. I am usually a big advocate of pre-arranging hotel transfers (and would strongly urge you to do this for your airport arrival in Delhi as the chaos of the airport is frankly overwhelming), but IMO it is not necessary for a train station arrival in India, esp. in Agra which is quite small.

When you arrive in Delhi just ask your hotel to arrange for the train tickets, the concierge or the hotel travel desk can do this for no fee or a very small charge. IF you want, you could e-mail your hotel or send them a fax a day or so before your arrival and ask them to arrange this.

I think a guide is good for the fort in Agra and definitely for Fatephur Sikri, but other than that, you do not need a guide in Agra. Read up on the Taj and then go enjoy it yourself.

A guide in Jaipur is helpul, most especially for the City Palace which is huge. Do try to spend at least a day on your own wandering about the city, esp the area near the city walls just to get a feel for it.
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Old Sep 22nd, 2005 | 05:35 PM
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No worries, Cicerone, to each his/her own...where I am coming from campfire is that in India it is fairly cheap to have all this stuff pre arranged hence I would just do that - eg rather than a taxi Agra station to the hotel the same car which you will use for your Agra sightseeing will just start a couple hours earlier and the net difference to you in terms of cost will be like US$10. Rew guides, again this is personal preference. I saw the Taj once in the afternoon with a guide and once the following without and the perspective the guide gave me helped IMO - but then I am a guide person eg used one in Siem Reap tho I know Kathie and others feel it is not necessary. In a lighter vein the guide is also very useful to take your photographs ensuring all of your party can be in it!
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