Dear Fodorites:

Below I have listed a proposed itinerary created by a tour company for a 10-day trip to India in August. It sounds terriby rushed to me. Any recommendations on cities I should skip this time around? Please help!
Thanks!

Day 01
Arrivel in Delhi

Day 02 Delhi to Agra by car

Day 03 Agra to Jaipur by car

Day 04 Jaipur

Day 05 Jaipur to Roopangarh fort

Day 06 to Jodhpur

Day 07 Jodhpur to Kumbahalgarh

Day 08 Kumbhalgarh to Udaipur

Day 09 Udaipur In/around city

Day 10 Udaipur to Delhi

i will make you a reservation at a local hospital, as you will not physically be able to leave the country...


in 11 days i did only delhi, agra and jaipur and it was perfect...

Do you ever get to stop and look at something? Never mind soak up the atmosphere! I agree - Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Or I suppose you could add Jodhpur. It would be rushed in Europe, and driving in India is quite different.

Thanks for the responses. That is what I figured. Will re-work the itinerary!

Is August a good time to go to those places? I thought not, I thought it was unbearably hot at that time.

Aren't the hill stations better for that tin]me of year? If I am right I think the whole thing is not right.

Wow! About 9 days on the ground and going to SEVEN places (not including if you actually wanted to see Delhi which has a ton of stuff to do and some good museums). I actually was exhausted just <i> reading </i> your itinerary....please with that short a time pick 2 or at the very most 3 places or it will all be a blur. It's not a race to see how many places you can get to.

August will be in the middle of the monsoon season, so while temps will have dropped a bit from their real highs of April-June, it will be quite hot and quite humid . You will also encounter a bit of rain, esp in Delhi. Northern India does not get the deluges of the south or coastal areas, and the clouds will help keeping temps down, but still all in all it will be some tough going, IMO. Traffic delays at airports and on roads can be a problem if there is flooding. On the other hand, from a cultural standpoint, monsoon is one of the most important events of the year as a good one means a lot for the Indian farmer and economy in the coming year and it may be an interesting experience to observe the rituals connected with that time of year. But I personally would pick another time of year to go.

Hill stations are an OK idea for temps, but in August you can also get a lot of rain in the hills. They get more rain than the plains generally. See weatherbase.com for info on rainfall and temps.

Since you seem to have an interest in Mughal forts, you might want to skip Agra and the Taj (shock! horror! but you really don't have to go there, unless it's the architecture that interests you, just because every <i> other </i> tourist does, and you really don't have a lot of time), and concentrate on the north. I think I might cut out Udaipur as well, and concentrate on the others. Bang for the buck out of ancient massive forts, IMO Udaipur does not hold much. Personally I think the fort at Jodhpur is almost the most impressive of anything sitting up there on its hill. The Amber Fort outside Jaipur is pretty good too. You can also just drive around the countryside and see ruins on lots of hills you can explore, give yourself time to find your own ruins. Don't forget the Red Fort in Delhi, really the granddaddy of them all, a very impressive fortification.

Thanks for the responses.

Elizabeth: August is the only time I can go and I really would hate to miss India because the weather is oppressive. However, I think picking just three cities is a good idea.

Cicerone: Thank you for the info! While I am interested in Forts, the tour company put together this itinerary.Putting that aside, many people on Fodors have raved about Udaipar, so I was quite interested in going there. Other than the Fort issue, are there other compelling reasons to pick a different city over Udaipar?

I think going to some of the smaller places such as those that are on your itinerary is really worthwhile. Kumbalgarh (maybe its cooler if you stay up there - Aodi is a beautiful hotel property) and nearby Ranakpur , and the mountainous rural countryside in between are very beautiful and special, and the Fort in JOdhpur really is impressive.

Im not one of the Udaipur fans - the lake is pretty, but once youve visited the City Palace there is nothing much else there to see and there are just too many tourists.

I dont know about doing this trip in August though - Rajasthan in August is still monsoon (which means high humidity if not rain) plus its boiling hot. Why not go to more northern places if you have to visit at this time?

So, I would cut Udaipur, which will give you time for additional nights in Delhi and elsewhere. Do not cut out all the little ones and heritage destinations though - they tend to be more accessible than India's bigger cities.