PALACE ON WHEELS - INDIA
 

Ok thinking of this for next Sept/ Oct.

Any opinions. Was it worth it? Was the train clean and all it says in the ads!!

Did you see enough at all the stops?

Anything else I need to know?

Thanks.

TT

yes, but its expensive

dogster used to say that it was the one luxury train trip in India that wasn't worth the price. He recommended the Golden Chariot.

I would love to find out how it compares to the Shongololo.

Femi: I did the Shongololo and loved it. It was not perfect but I found it charming and worth every penny.

Ok I will find out about the Golden Chariot and see how that compares.

ANYONE ELSE?

Thanks all!!!

In Udaipur we saw the POW group at the City Palace. They had a very large bus (nice bus) for the group with the logo on the bus. Mature crowd but seemed happy.
If you like independent travel, India has some of the best hotels in the world (and they are very clean)and tour operators can provide all conveniences.

Leanne, just looked at your post and thought you may be interested in what we did instead of doing palace on wheels.

Take a look at Oberoi Hotels website and see if they have any specials on at that time. We took their 12 day special and had an amazing holiday at their hotels throughout Rajasthan last November - we saw a lot more than you would on the train.

We hired a car with driver to get us between the cities, except Varanassi, where we flew.

Our itinery as follows,

Flew into Delhi -1 night

Flew to Varanassi - 3 nights

Fly back to Delhi 2 nights

Drive to Agra on new highway 1 night

Drive to Jaipur 3 nights

Drive to Udaipur 4 nights

Flew to Mumbai to get on cruise ship

We had no problems with sickness as we mainly ate at the hotel.

I notice a lot of people leave out Udaipur on their itinery, but we found it to be the most beautiful city of them all.

Our driver took us out anywhere we wanted during the day at no extra cost, so we were on our own private tour. India by Car and Driver was the company we used and we booked him for 10 days for about $56 a day.

Just thought you may be interested in the above as an alternative to train.

I took trains in India. A lot of trains. None of them were the luxury for foreigners kind, but the meet Indians kind, so can't help. Depends on whether you want to visit India, or see it from a safe distance.

Although in Karnataka the trains are so few, and the roads so bad, that the Golden Chariot does make some sense. If you can afford it.

See: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...rd---india.cfm

@ LEANNA, just came across this and not sure if you have done POW or not yet, but we did it some years ago and have lots of info on it. The biggest thing I can say here is that for Indian standards the fare is a kingly ransom, but it is also impossible to see everything on your own in the same amount of time so it was well worth it. You are treated like royalty the entire time and everything is better than first class (Indian standards). We saw like 7 cities in 7 days and all the highlights. We went in early December and our train car which had 4 cabins were only occupied by 2 couples (2 cabins were free). In fact the entire train was only at about 60 percent occupancy so we got even more attention. If you want more info let me know.

We are booked on POW for march 14 and thrilled about this adventure. We got a very positive rec from a fellow traveler we met last summer- an Indian man who now lives in London. He uses POW to take his own family around India. After wanting to go for more than 15 years, this decision took all the hesitation away for us. And we rarely travel with a company or in a group. But for India...this seems like a wonderful way to experience more than we could manage otherwise. We are bookending the POW with independent time in New Delhi. Can't wait!