Rajasthan - 9 days
 

I am arriving in Delhi (from London) on March 31 and departing Delhi (for Goa) on April 8. I am looking to tour Rajasthan for those 8 or 9 days and am looking for advice on itinerary, how to get around (train vs. hired car and driver) and accommodation. This is my first time in India. I would appreciate any advice anyone can offer.

NAMASTE, We just came back from Rajasthan you can travel according to this route.
day 1 : Delhi
day 2 : Delhi - Agra
day 3 : Agra - pushkar
day 4 : pushkar - Udaipur
day 5 : Udaipur
day 6 : Udaipur - ranakpur - Jodhpur
day 7 : Jodhpur - Jaipur
day 8 : Jaipur
day 9 : jaipur - Delhi


You can Hire a car and discover a beautiful India.

Are u also interested in seeing the Taj Mahal at Agra? A typical itinerary is Delhi-Agra-Jaipur-Udaipur-Goa. From Del to Agra there is a fast train but it leaves very early in the morning and is not necessarily conducive to an overnight trip. What many people do is use a TA for a good car-driver, depart Delhi for Agra then Jaipur with the car-driver, Jaipur-Udaipur by flight.

As this is your first visit to India, I am sure you would like to see:
a. the Taj at Agra. After staying & s/s in Delhi - 2 nights- you may leave for Agra & visit the Taj early next morning. Drive further on to Jaipur, via Fatehpur Sikri, for two nights.
b. Ideally you should fly from Udaipur to Mumbai on your way to Goa. As this is not your plan you may fly back from Udaipur to Delhi, after two nights stay at say Sardargarh which gives you the oppurtunity of seeing rural Rajasthan at its colourful best & Udaipur.
c. If you decide to stay at Sardargarh, you can also visit the Ranakpur Jain temples on your way to Udaipur, though it will entail a travel of 118 miles, definitely worth it.
d. Driving is the best way of soaking in the typical Rajasthan experience.
Very best for your plans!

Here's my plug for my favorite young man in Jaipur. He has a small company which we traveled with in December.. We could not have been happier with his services. He is affordable, efficient, knowledge and super nice. Check out his web site http://www.indiasinvitation.com/ . Just emailing him is a pleasure.
Either way you will have a terrific time, we all have our favorite spots in Rajasthan and it is all good.

Hello,
We also chosed the solution car+driver to visit Rajasthan. We are most happy with this decision : more freedom and flexibility, gain of time. You learn more thanks to chats with the driver.
You eat with him in small local restaurants where, may be, you wouldn't have dared going alone, he introduces you to Indian people, to indian culture..
In December we travelled with a wonderful driver : Asif. He was very careful, very flexible,very helpful, very punctual and very interesting....very everything. We couldn't have chosen better. We learned a lot with him, he answered all our questions, helped us to chose itinerary or hotels when we needed advices but leaving us totally free to take any decision when we had a precise idea of what we needed.
Here is his email : [email protected]
and his website : http://users.skynet.be/independent-driver/

Have a wondrful time in India

Dear TILL, I have just written to Asif based on your accolades here. Would you share the costs that he charged as your guide? My22 year old daughter and I are traveling together in early May for 10 days.I have been to India and SE Asia previously and she has lived in Africa. So,a tour group is not for us. However, Iwould appreciate a car and driver. What about a guide in Delhi? Also, Any hotel (3 -4 stars)recommendations would be welcome. 20 years ago, the Imperial Hotelin Delhi was funky and fun. Wondering if it still is... thank you

I wouldn't call the Imperial funky or fun, historic & elegant come more to mind from my visits there last year. I've used tow agents in India to arrange cars and guides- Durjay at Compass travel and Vini at Vinstring.com. Vini was especially good at lining up trains and planes. Durjay did my first trip with lots of car travel and guides. I used both of them for some hotels, other nights I had arranged on my own after finding some specials.

My two trip reports are here:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34726851

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34708806

hi,
i travelled with one guy names kailash tiwari, was very nice, knowledgeable and well known of rajasthan. i found him he was not envolved in commission system. i felt very easy and comfortable with this guy.

you can try him if you would like. his e mail id is [email protected]