A FANTASTIC IDEA FOR YOU 2.

my choice for a first trip would be arrival in delhi for say 3 days...fly to Varanasi for 3-4 days.. fly to delhi and pick up a car and driver and go to agra for 2 nights... then visit Jaipur, Udaipur (several nights), a game park? and as many other places as you might fit in with a final night in delhi..

I love castle and king. avrind the owner will work closely with you. he lets you book your own hotels if you want... we combine 3* and 4* hotels and heritage properties.
his driver Krishna is fantastic---you would love him..

read some of my, craig's, Kathie's and others india trip reports for ideas..

Bob, did you find it was better to book your own hotels or was C&K able to provide substantial discounts for hotels?

After talking to my friend from India, I'm leaning towards an itinerary that's something along the lines of:

Delhi > Varanasi > Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Agra) > Kerala

my prices were better..

adding kerala might be a squeeze

Over 2 trips we did 3 nights Varanasi, 3 nights Jaipur, 4 nights Udaipur, and 2 nights Agra. We spent extra time in Delhi to shop but you could likely cover the highlights with a 3 night stay. Depending on flight times you may end up with an extra night or 2 in Delhi anyway. I would save Varanasi for later in the trip to give yourselves a chance to "adjust". A logical order might be to drive Delhi - Agra - Jaipur - Udaipur then fly to Delhi, (overnight Delhi?), fly to Varanasi, fly to Delhi (overnight), and fly to Cochin. So I agree with Bob that your time in Kerala might be tight, depending on what you want to accomplish there (we have not been)...

that makes sense craig to do Varanasi later

Thanks for the advice so far! I've reached out to C&K via email and waiting to hear back.

The idea behind Varanasi first is that I expect it to be a bit 'rougher' than Rajasthan--and I expect Rajasthan to be more luxurious (especially for some of the hotels we're looking at.) Seemed to make sense to do it in that order.

As for adjusting, plan was to fly through Singapore still -- do an overnight there -- then fly to Delhi and do one night/one day there. So by the time we got to Varanasi we wouldn't be freshly arrived.

I'm really hoping we can include Kerala. I really would like to experience the South since I hear the North and South are so vastly different in every possible way.

The north and south are different, and have different histories. However, there are also differences between the southern states - Kerala and Tamil Nadu are quite different, for instance.

There is a new upscale hotel right on the river in Varanasi - I'm sure a search on TA or Google will reveal. So the order shouldn't matter. Do what works best with flights. Unless you have some pressing need to visit Singapore on the way, I suggest you look at the Lufthansa flight via Frankfort. On our 3rd trip we flew from JFK but there is also a flight from LAX and service in biz was quite good. From my own personal experience, doing a flight/overnight then another flight/overnight in another destination leaves me anything but refreshed. Better to plan on adjusting with some nights in Delhi first.

We are flying in to Delhi and then "doing" Rajasthan in February and then flying down to Cochin to visit Kerala. We will then fly to Mumbai from which we'll fly home. Legends & Palaces helped plan our trip. I will make a trip report :-) For us, the most difficult thing so far has been getting our visas, but now that task has been accomplished we can just sit back and read the extensive reading list friends have given us.

Craig, yes, I have a bunch of expiring miles on Singapore Air that I've got to use up. So that's fairly unchangeable. Plus, David's never flown their A380 in biz, which, for me, trumps the few hours saved flying on Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

Billy, can't you use your Singapore miles on other Star Alliance flights?

I can, Craig. I could use my United miles on Lufthansa. But, as mentioned, the only way I can get premium biz class SQ flights is directly through SQ. And those miles are expiring, so...

Not sure I totally understand, but you do and that's what's important. Consider spending your first few days in Delhi to get acclimated...

Adding to the Varanasi first or last question...

We also began in Delhi and flew to Varanasi, then Agra, then Rajasthan. I was very glad we started there -- while the culture shock was huge, I also had more energy. The WOW factor was very high and we loved our experience there. Had we ended our 3-week trip in Varanasi, I don't think we would've had the same energy to deal with the ugliness (the filth, crowds, etc).

The rest of the trip was easier to acclimate to -- we found much to be awed and moved by, though Varanasi was one of the highlights of our trip.

So we’ve worked with one of the agencies to get a proposed itinerary based on some initial inputs from me and they've come back with the following. I have to say, it’s a bit nuts:

Delhi (2 nights); fly to Varanasi
Varanasi (2 nights); fly to Agra
Agra (1 night); drive to Japiur and stop enroute at Fatehpur Sikri
Jaipur (2 nights); drive to Chattarsagar
Chattarsagar (1 night); drive to Jodhpur
Jodhpur (1 night); drive to Udaipur and stop enroute at Ranakpur
Udaipur (2 nights); fly to Cochin
Cochin (1 night); drive to Munnar
Munnar (1 night); drive to Thekkady
Thekkady (1 night); drive to Kumarkaom
Kumarakom (1 night); houseboat to Alleppy
Alleppey; drive to Cochin; fly out

This itinerary seems CRAZY to me. Obviously when we said we wanted to “see the south” I think that was taken a bit too literally—we don’t want to see all of it! ☺ I don’t even think we’d have the chance to unpack anywhere with this kind of running around. ...and this coming from someone who really likes to move around.

*First off, is 2 days in Varanasi enough? I’m torn. 2 vs 3 days considering how many other places we want to see.

*Also need to get your take on how to maximize more time in the Golden Triangle…but not too much time. For instance, does it make sense to stay at Agra more than one night? Is there really much to do other than see the Taj Mahal? I’d really like to experience Oberoi Amarvilas for more than one night though. To the same effect, what’s the right balance of days for Jaipur/Jodhpur/Udaipur?

*Chattarsagar was a suggestion in lieu of Jaisalmer. I really wanted to go to Jaisalmer, but I’ve been told it’s VERY far away from both Jaipur and Jodhpur. The tent resort at Chattarsagar seems really intriguing, but I’m not quite sure if it’s worth it – or they were just throwing it in as a nod to the tent camps we wanted to stay in at Jaisalmer. Any first-hand experience there?

*Also, I don't see any trains in here -- even though we requested the ability to experience a train ride in India. Maybe they felt it wasn't practical? Any suggestions on whether or not its worth it...and where the best place to fit that in might be?

*I still do believe we can fit Kerala into our trip. I just think we have to pick one or two places in Kerala and have that be it.

Look forward, as always to your input!

I much prefer 2 notes in Agra and 3 in Jaipur..

Some of the lesser towns need to be cut..

You have to insist what you want to many Indian agencies

You are quite right - that itinerary is nuts.

Fire the agent, lol. That would be nuts in Europe and is out of the question for India.

** To my mind Varanasi is easily worth three nights, which allows for a half day in Sarnath.

** In the Agra area you need enough time to see the Taj at sunset and sunrise (one of the charms it's hard to see in photos is how the marble changes color with the light), the fort, Fatehpur Sikri and the Bird Park.

** I did Jaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer (plus a night in the Shekhawati region by car), skipping Udaipur, although I didn't stay in a tent in Jaisalmer. There is a night train from Jaipur to Jaisalmer, with AC1 accommodation, and an evening train back to Jodhpur. (See cleartrip.com for schedules, and seat61.com/india for loads of info on Indian trains including the classes.) I am a big fan of rail travel, and traveling by train in India is an experience I don't think you should miss, although in AC1, especially if you get the two berth cabin, you will be less likely to meet people (bureacrats and business types travel in AC1, middle class families in AC2.)

** That southern Indian itinerary (actually just a Kerala itinerary) is particularly stupid. That is an area you should take slowly, especially on the backwaters. Kochi (not Cochin) is worth two full days, and I would (did) spend a night on a houseboat, especially now it's likely to have AC. There is MUCH more to southern India, but if you are just doing Kerala there is no reason to run around like that.

Thanks for the tips, thursday. This is one of the agents that's so highly been recommended above. Which is honestly why I was a bit surprised.

Bob (or is it Karen?), the problem is: I don't quite know what I want yet. I merely have some general ideas. Maybe I need to find a more full-service agency to help us out?

I have someone for you - Pallavi Shah at Our Personal Guest. Woufd you like an introduction?