thursdaysd

Better to come up with the itinerary yourself and then talk to an agent. Otherwise you have no basis for critiquing the agent.

Not difficult - lots of guidebooks out there, and plenty of TRs and travelers here. I alwas start with the glossy guidebooks to pick places, and then work on the logistics with the others.

uhoh_busted

Have no qualms about coming back to the agent with your reaction. Give him a better idea of your traveling style. Or check out another TA. There is no harm in doing that. You may want to drop one of the Rajasthan destinations to give yourself more time in another. The southern itinerary portion of our trip is 2 nights in Cochin, 2 nights in Kottayam at Spice Village, and one night on a houseboat. We figured we really wanted to just sort of "chill" at the almost-end of our 25-day trip. Then we fly to Mumbai....

We looked at a number of options for that 5 night segment -- did we want to go into the backwaters or did we want to stay on the beach, did we want a plantation stay or a more "resort" place, etc.

If you check out YouTube and Vimeo with searches for some of the spots you are considering, you will find many video peeks to help you decide...from amateurs vacation stuff to slick marketing video.

Craig

As Bob and thursdaysd say, it is best to come up with your itinerary first and then talk to an agent. The agents all have their "standard" itineraries which for most on this board, would be considered insane. Be very specific about what you want - type of hotel room, stops along the way, what ever is important to you.

Two nights at Amarvilas would be better than one. We stayed there and loved it. Agra Fort is part of the "Taj story" and worth a visit, as is the Tomb of Itamad-ud-daulah. With a stop at one of the marble inlay places, you'll have a pretty full day. Plan to arrive in Agra before sunset and be sure to rise early to get to the Taj when it opens.

Plan on 2 full days and 3 nights in Varanasi if you want to visit Sarnath. Most of the major activity along the river is after sunset and at sunrise, so plan accordingly.

I think you need more than 2 nights in Udaipur. You might ask yourself if it is really necessary to go to all of those cities in Rajasthan, unless you have a pressing need to visit every palace and fort in the region.

Get a map and look at the distances/times between destinations and don't be afraid to ask here which is the best way (car, train, plane) to go from place to place.

I like the idea of picking just one or two places in Kerala...

filmwill

The above is all really helpful...and, yes, Kim, I'd love an intro!

I did take some umbrage with the idea that I don't have "basis" for "critiquing" an agent (didn't think I was critiquing, but more asking whether this was customary for someone so highlight recommended) considering I did, in fact, provide a ton of detail to about our traveling style, cities we wanted to visit (and a preferred order to visit them in), hotels we were interested in, ways we wanted to travel (by train, for instance, which was just ignored), etc. I didn't just email them and say "tell us what to do".

I understand the basics of travel planning (do you research first), but in the rare instance that I work with an agent, I expect just a wee bit of assistance in helping to fill in some blanks. If these guys aren't typical TAs (and are essentially just bookers) then that's definitely good to know and maybe I do need to seek out someone more traditional.

Kathie

My experience in working with travel agents is that it is not uncommon for them to reply with a standard "you have to see everything" itinerary even if I have been very explicit. That happened the first time I wrote to Santa Maria. I wrote back, re-iterated what I wanted and didn't want and got s good reply. (At a place like Santa Maria, I think different people respond, so the quality of the replies can be variable.) So hang in there and tell them again what you want/don't want. It will no doubt take several iterations to get the best itinerary for you.

Happy planning!

dgunbug

Filmwill - if you click on my name and bring up my India report, you will see that we only used a driver for 8 of the days we spent there. We would definitely use trains and planes again.
Note that one of our highlights was Gwalior - a place that gets little attention, but one of the highlights of our journey.

filmwill

UPDATE: Tickets are finally booked (Singapore Air, here we come!) and...after exploring many, many options for travel agents (both domestic and in India) we've decided to go with Castle & King (thanks all for the recommendations in this department!)

Here's the tentative itinerary based on your astute feedback, personal friends from India feedback and a few mitigating factors from the TAs we've worked with:

DAY 1 Depart from LAX
DAY 3 Singapore
DAY 4 Singapore / Fly to Delhi (leave @ 5 PM / arrive @ 8 PM)
DAY 5 Delhi
DAY 6 Fly to Jodhpur (early morning / stay at Raas Haveli)
DAY 7 Jodhpur
DAY 8 Drive to Narlai (early morning / stay at Rawla Narlai)
DAY 9 Drive to Udaipur (early morning / stop at Ranakpur on way / stay at Udaivilas)
DAY 10 Udaipur
DAY 11 Udaipur
DAY 12 Fly to Delhi (early AM) / Drive to Agra (stay at Amarvilas)
DAY 13 Agra
DAY 14 Drive to Delhi (early AM) / Fly to Varanasi (stay at Nadesar Palace)
DAY 15 Varanasi
DAY 16 Fly to Cochin (late morning / stay at Brunton Boatyard)
DAY 17 Cochin
DAY 18 Drive to Alleppy (late morning) / Houseboat to Kumarakom
DAY 19 Kumarakom (stay at Kumarakom Lake Resort)
DAY 20 Kumarakom
DAY 21 Drive back to Cochin / Catch flight to Mumbai to Home
DAY 22 Depart for LAX

Curious to get feedback. Yes, we're definitely moving around a bit, but this seems much more doable than previous iterations of this itinerary. I can't imagine staying at some places in Rajasthan for more than 2 or 3 nights, so it feels like the right pace to me. We definitely want to make a concerted effort to do Kerala too. This feels right to me, but curious to get a kick on the tires from my fellow Fodorites before finalizing!

Look forward to your feedback.

Craig

Considering what you are trying to accomplish, it seems to be a reasonable itinerary with 3 nights in at least some places. You'll need a vacation afterwards to recover. I think you'll find the flights to be the most stressful part of your trip. You've picked great places to stay. Start your trip report now .

glover

Sounds doable to me, too. We also abide by the 3 nights in each locale rule. We're in India now
(Aurangabad). Everyone's advice here re "take it slow" is absolutely on the money. We're having a day off today before exploring Ajanta and Ellora Caves tomorrow and next day. We were totally ragged out by yesterday's travel- a 2 1/2 hour totall hairpin curve drive from Munnar back down to Kochin, followed by a couple hour flight to Mumbai, short sleep at airport hotel and then 6:30 am flight, though short, here to Aurangabad.

We are also using Castle and King for drivers. Arvind has been great and very responsive to deal with. Drivers have been very good (nerves of steel) and very prompt.

rhkkmk

the only caution I might add is that flights are often delayed at that time of year

thursdaysd

The Kerala section is much better. But that's still a lot of one- and two-nighters.

filmwill

Well it's actually only one 1-nighter (in Narlai--a village which, from what I gather, isn't worth spending more than 1 night in). As for the others, to me, 3 nights in Delhi or Agra would be way too much. But maybe that's just me.

uhoh_busted

Sounds like an excellent itinerary, to me. We're just counting down days now. And hoping that another horrid Polar vortex doesn't push down toward the Atlantic coast next month to screw up our departure!