My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to Northern India in Nov. Below I have listed our itinerary as it now stands, and I am trying to figure out the 'best' means of transport between the places, and if this itinerary is in a logical order.

We are budget to mid-range travelers, prefer to travel by local transport when possible, but we could take a flight or two if it makes more sense. I am also wondering if it would be worthwhile to hire a driver for some of the legs, like Jaipur to Udaipur, Udaipur to Jodphur ? The night trains seem like a good plan to save sight seeing time but maybe there is a leg or two where we should hire a driver and stop off at places along the way?

Two of the long legs I am particularly concerned about are from Varanasi to Ranthambore and then Jaisalmer back to Delhi, I would really appreciate ideas on these as well.

1)Paris - Delhi Direct flight arrive 22:00
2)Delhi
3)Delhi - Agra afternoon/evening train
4)Agra night train or fly to Varanasi
5)Varanasi
6)Varanasi
7)Varanasi
8)Varanasi to Ranthambore by ????
9)Ranthambore
10)Ranthambore
11)Ranthambore to Jaipur car or bus ?
12)Jaipur
13)Jaipur night train(or driver ?) to Udaipur
14)Udaipur
15)Udaipur
16)Udaipur night train(or driver ?) to Jodphur
17)Jodphur
18)Jodphur
19)Jodphur evening bus (or driver ?) to Jaisalmer
20)Jaisalmer
21)Jaisalmer
22)Jaisalmer afternoon/night train to Delhi
23)Delhi, leave late pm

Thanks in advance!

Your itinerary sounds pretty wonderful, and you have chosen some great cities! You may make it a little more efficient by going direct from Ranthambore to Udaipur, thus leaving Jaipur for a later occasion during your visit. There are two trains daily from Sawai Madhopur (the railhead for Ranthambore) to Chittaurgarh, each talking about 7 hours. The train numbers are 282 and 9020A. Change at Chittaurgarh for a train to Udaipur, also two a day, each taking about three and a half hours. These train numbers are 431WR and 9765. You can check their schedule on www.indianrail.gov.in to see which connection suits your needs (Sawai Madhopur is not considered an "important station" so you will have to find it through the button "find your train&quot.

A site I used a lot when planning our trip to Rajasthan last October/November was the Indian Rail map on www.indianrail.gov.in/testmap.html. This may help you plan a rail journey where you don't have to double back too much. I will have a look at it later to see if anything comes to mind.

One thing that occurred to me when looking at your itinerary is that you have enough time to add Khajuraho to your schedule as a side trip (preferably by air) from Varanasi. It's a great place to visit, but compact enough to see in one day and one night.

Hello again!

Found some more trains on that site which may be of interest. After Udaipur the train to Jodhpur means a change at Marwar, about seven hours from Udaipur (two trains daily, nos 452 NW and 484NW), so you don't have to go to Jaipur on that leg, either. From Marwar to Jodhpur is only 2 1/2 hours, and there are no less than thirteen trains listed on the railway site, around half of which go every day -- it should be easy to find a connection where you didn't have to spend more than an hour or two at Marwar (it's a good idea to give yourself that hour or two, anyway, in case of delays which result in missed connections; this never happened to us, but I have heard that delays are not uncommon).

The train from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer leaves early in the morning and gets to Jaisalmer about 11:30; the return train to Jaipur is an overnight one (so that when it passes through Jodhpur you'll be sound asleep and will never know) so this won't seem like a long trip at all. Finally, Jaipur to Delhi is a major route with transport options galore.

We found the railway system in India excellent; we travelled almost-exclusively in Class 3 AC, which is cheap and comfortable; we always asked for SL and SU bunks, so that it was really like having second class without paying the higher prices. It really helped us save a lot of money on our holiday, and when you have your itinerary all worked out, you can go along to New Delhi Station and buy all the tickets in one go; the Foreign Tourist office there is very helpful, and they'll help you co-ordinate everything. Otherwise, you can book all the tickets on-line, and pick them up when you arrive.

Have a great trip!

I'm always a bit hesitant when I see people schedule for Ranthambore, full of hope they are going to see tigers. Well, chances are pretty slim, and depending on whether you are at your first trip to India or at your 75th, it may be wise to wonder whether you want to spend 15 per cent or so of your useful time in India on chasing very very elusive tigers. There are plenty of alternatives of places to visit.
Besides, your transfer from Varanasi to Ranthambore is going to be quite an investment in time and effort as well. Why do you not build in a sequence like Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi and travel from Varanasi to Jaipur, which may require a change of planes in Delhi (I don't know). I do however know that the transfer Agra-K can be done, either by plane either by a combination train+car and that K-Varanasi can also be done by air.
I am not a very great fan of Ranthambore, you see. Seen too many people getting disappointed, ... of course you may be lucky, but definitely do not count on it

Thank you both so much for your responses, you have given me a lot to consider.

I like the idea about moving Jaipur to the end of my trip, right before Delhi. That would break up the too long train trip from Jaisalmer, especially since we are flying out the next day. That would be a really long couple of days.

I keep going back and forth about Ranthambore. I know the chances of seeing tigers aren't that great, but I also thought it would be a good place to break up the trip a bit with something more relaxing. Is it still good to see even if you dont see any tigers ? I read it is a really beautiful parc and it seems to be something we would still enjoy, but maybe there is somewhere else better (but still slow paced) ? I was thinking we have too many big cities and we usually like to spend part of our trips hiking or doing other outdoor activities.

Thanks again!

Ranthambore is a very pretty park. There is much other wildlife even if you don't see a tiger. When we went, it was a nice break from the Indian cities. If you go, I think it is best if you schedule one game drive per day. The drives are about 4 hours each. If you do two in a day, it does not leave much time to see the fort or just relax.

Ranthambore is a beautiful park and worth seeing even without tigers. Yes there is an excellent chance you will spend days there and not see one. But if you do ...

I spent a day and a half in Ranthambore & as I have learned I was quite lucky. The first 1/2 hour of the first morning we saw one sleeping, camouflaged in high brush.

The afternoon trip we heard one calling but didn't see it.

The next morning we were just about ready to turn in when we heard the birds screaming in a panic. We looked and saw a male and female gallop across a wide field. It was sixty seconds of nearly orgasmic excitement and one of the greatest moments of my life.

I would walk across boiling lava to see tigers again.

See the adventure: www.waynehazle.com/india/

You are all very lucky, seeing tigers. I was three days in Ranthambore, made six outings, and only saw the tiger on the picture in the lodge's dining room. But I agree that the park is nice to see also without the tigers. It is only a matter of not putting your expectation beyond realism and to find out for yourself how much time you want to spend trying to see tigers instead of doing something else which is probably less elusive.

Thanks again for the replies! I am pretty sure I want to keep Ranthambore, I think it will be a good place to unwind even if the chance for seeing tigers is slim. I am thinking of hiring a driver from Agra to Ranthambore (after having taken the night train Varanasi - Agra) since it seems from looking at the Indian rail site that we will arrive too late to make the early am connections.

I am also trying to figure out how to go between Ranthambore and Udaipur. I looked at the connections Alan suggested but it seems it would take 2 days to get there as the trains at Sawai and Chittaurgarh all leave in the wee hours of the morning and once arriving in Chittaurgarh I would have to spend the day there and leave again after midnight. Is there any other cities with better connections? I have been playing around with different cities but cannot come up with anything. Maybe I should hire a driver here too? Can this trip be done in a day driving? Also, if I am just hiring a driver for a day here and a day there do I need to arrange it ahead of time or can i just find someone once I am there?

Thanks again for your help. Wayne, your journal is fantastic, thanks for sharing that! You are a very talented writer and photographer. I hope we enjoy our trip as much as you did.

Chittaurgahr is not a bad place to stay. The site is really very nice to visit. There will not be an easy way to get to Ranthambore, I suggest you hire a driver/taxi

Kelly,
I think you might find my trip report helpful...search for
Long India Trip Report---Rajasthan Nov/Dec 04

WE had a great time and particularly enjoyed some of the smaller heritage properties including one at Bassi outside of Chittaurgarh. WE also liked Bundi which was very low key compared with most of the other cities.

I highly recommend travelling by car which gives you the opportunity to stop and see things along the way. It was also very reasonable. We used Parul Tours and Ramesh the owner was honest, freindly and professional...we found their prices cheaper than the company we used around Jaipur. Their website it listed in the above trip report.


All in all we enjoyed the countryside stops the most...they seemed to offer the most insight into Indian life and an opportunity to talk to people at the smaller hotels.Of course these places were best to get to by car.

Hope this helps

Ranthambore -- surely that was a tiger we had seen. But somehow the big cat disappeared. Couldn't see it. It must have vanished in the brush. It was there one moment, gone the next. So I aimed the 135mm at where it was last seen, and clicked the shutter.

Weeks later. The film was developed and printed. Sure enough, there was the big cat, hidden from my live eyes (and all others in our van), but not hidden from the camera. The cat's face, traced ever so carefully with my magnifying glass, stood out perfectly clearly -- in the photos. Amazing.

And that's what I remember most clearly, and will keep pasted in my album for all to see -- yes! -- we actually DID see a tiger -- or, at least, my camera did.

Ranthambore was definately nice. A break from all of the hustle and bustle of Indian cities..The open air jeeps were refreshing. We did not see a tiger and we got there early in the morning and stayed until dark!! I was never so dirty in my life..But the good thing was, on the way back to the hotel, in the dark, driving as fast as the jeep could go, we ran into a festival where they were burning some some sort of stick man with fireworks and all..It was really quite exciting..Then later we had an outdoor buffet and dancers and fire eaters, so it was alot of fun..I can't remember where we stayed..
Having just said that,as nice as it was, I preferred the rest of Rajasthan that we saw and if I would have to give up any of that trip, it would have been Ranthambore! Maybe if we would have seen a tiger..But we did see plenty of deer and monkeys..Also forgot to mention that the Fort at Ranthambore is a beautiful site as well..Have fun planning, India is amazing, we are off to Kerala in November and I can't wait!!

Kelly,

Glad you enjoyed the journal. Please let me know how your India trip goes. I dream of India day and night!