I would be grateful for any advice on the attached itinerary. Are we being too adventurous?

Day 1 - Arrive Mumbai
Day 2 - Udaipur (by air)
Day 3/4 - Udaipur
Day 5 - Jaisalmer (car & driver)
Day 6/7 - Jaisalmer
Day 8 - Jaisalmer/Jodhpur (a.m. Jaisalmer/p.m. Jodhpur - by train)
Day 9 - Jodhpur/Jaipur (a.m. Jodhpur, overnight train to Jaipur)
Day 10 - Jaipur
Day 11 - Jaipur/Agra (a.m. Jaipur, p.m. train to Agra)
Day 12 - Agra
Day 13 - Agra/Varanasi (a.m. Agra, overnight train to Varanasi)
Day 14/15 - Varanasi
Day 16 - Varanasi/Khajuraho (by air)
Day 17 - Khajuraho/Orcha (Drive to Orcha in the afternoon)
Day 18 - Sanchi/Bhopal (Drive)
Day 19 - Aurangabad/Ellora (Drive)
Day 20 - Aurangabad/Ajanta/Mumbai (Train leaves Aurangabad at 2325h and arrives in Kaylan Jct at 0555h)
Day 21/22 - Mumbai
Day 23 - Fly home

My husband and I leaves for India Nov 23. Thanks very much.
Peri

Wow. And I thought I was doing a lot in 22 days!

I am going to India in December for exactly the same amount of time, seeing three less places and I was told by the fodorites that I was crazy to do so much--that travel is not easy and that India is huge and that one should focus on one area of country unless you have many weeks to spend.

I'm doing Delhi, Varanasi, Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Mumbai, Arangubad (back to Delhi for the flight home.)

I asked about going to Khajuaho vs Varanasi and was told without exception to do Varanasi and skip Khajuaho. I was also told the road to Orcha is simply horrid. You may want to skip Kahjuraho.

I'm sure the experienced travelers will jump in and give you their impressions, but I can tell you already (from their reaction to my trip) that they will tell you to cut out at least 25% of your itinerary or you will be exhausted and not enjoy India.

I saw a similar post on LP TT and the advice was to hire a helicopter!

You will be exhausted if you attempt this itinerary. Airports like Mumbai & Udaipur are way out of town. You need to allow 2-3 hours to go from your hotel to the airport. Jaipur by train to Agra would be better donw by bus as the train is slow & only goes once per day, or it was and did in Dec 2004. The train from Agra to Varanasi is late and unreliable. Sometimes it's 4 hours late!

Orchha is supposed to be fabulous and you want to spend how many hours or minutes there?

I think you're having a lend of us here!

Yes, u are being very adventurous - actually I feel ambitious is a better word. Itineraries like this work only in countries where things work like clockwork. IN India where time taken on roads is unpredictable, trains can get delayed, as Lyndia said distances to airports are variable and often can be traversed only by road - this is not easy to achieve. SOme ideas for you to consider :

Take out Jodhpur - you seem to have just about 24 hours there and I imagine the train journeys are long - in that case you can take a train from Jaisalmer directly to Jaipur

Is Varanasi Khajuraho a direct flight? Please confirm this with your TA. My comment is also that Orcha/Sanchi and Ajanta Ellora seems very hectic.

I assume you have already seen Delhi hence no time there?

I also assume you have limited interest in Mumbai time?

Many thanks for your comments and really appreciate the tips. This is our first trip to India and I guess we are “ambitious”.

We did think that we should eliminate the Khajuraho/Orchha/Sanchi/Ajanta/Ellora sector and fly instead from Varanasi to Mumbai direct. But before doing that, we thought we would put it forward to the experienced fodorites of India. I had some errors in my earlier itinerary but I guess we are still ambitious. However, would appreciate if you could have a look at it again.

Day 14/15/16 - Varanasi
Day 17 - Depart Varanasi, arrive in Khajuraho at around 1:00 p.m., stay overnight in Khajuraho. Day 18 – Khajuraho in the morning. In the afternoon, to drive to Orchha (approx 5-6 hours drive), stay overnight in Orchha
Day 19 - Orchha in the morning. In the afternoon drive on to Sanchi/Bhopal. At Bhopal, we will catch an overnight train to Aurangabad.
Day 20 – Arrive in Aurangabad, visit Ellora, stay overnight in Aurangabad
Day 21 – Visit Ajanta in the morning. Overnight train from Aurangabad to Mumbai.
Day 22/23/24 – Mumbai. Flight leaves Mumbai at 0140h of Day 25.

Day 18 - Alternative could be train from Gwalior at 1035h (or 1430h) that arrive in Mumbai at 0735h (or 0900h).

OR

Fly to Mumbai from Varanasi. Then we could go to Ellora if we had time. We could spend an extra day in Agra and/or Varanasi.

Lyndie - There are at least four trains a day from Jaipur to Agra. Some days there are seven trains. However, will look into the buses.

Hobbes - The flight to Varanasi to Khajuraho would be a direct flight. No reservation for the flight has been made yet as we are still trying to finalise our trip. We will not include Delhi as we will not have time to appreciate it. Our flights arrive at and depart from Mumbai. We have 3 days in Mumbai – is this not enough and should we allocate more time? With reference to canceling the Jodphur trip – we have to go through Jodhpur anyway, so why not stay for 24 hours and take delight of the blue city.

I am really, really looking forward to this trip. After having travelled to the Latin America for the past several years, I am dying for new faces, culture, smell, etc. etc. etc…

Many thanks for all your help.
P

Sorry periwinkle. During our trip planning, I searched india rail's website for a train from Jaipur to Agra that would fit in with our schedule and discounted all but the faster trains. Did not want to be stopping at every station! Apologies for misinformation. What are your travel dates?

Just checked India Rail's website and can only find train 4854/4864 at 15.30 JP to Agra Cantt, once per day. It's actually a train to Varanasi. Cannot find any other train to any Agra station. And the ride is 7 hours. The bus is 5 hrs or thereabouts.

I've travelled on trips where everything was a blur and a haze and it's not the most fulfilling way to travel, but to each his own. Good luck.

OMG, I'm having a bad Melbourne Cup Day. Sorry, I saw your dates!! All the best.

Why don't u increase Jodhpur by a day in that case? I really think in 24 hours - which could be less if your train gets delayed - you will not have much chance to appreciate any city.

Re Agra 1.5 days while rushed is enought time to see the Taj twice (definitely make the effort to get up at sunrise when it opens - it will be least crowded this time and the monument looks quite different in different light), Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. If you are not up to it you can even ditch Agra Fort.

I also think 3 days in Varanasi is enough. Three full days in Mumbai should be OK - I am assuming from your itinerary u would rather see sights and Mumbai is a city to be experienced rather than having any amazing sights.

I find your day 17-22 the most hectic tho it is good news to hear Varanasi Khajuraho is a direct flight. If you add a day to Jodhpur I would suggest deleting something out of your Madhya Pradesh stint - sad but unavoidable IMO.

The problem with an itinerary like this is it leaves no room for error. A flight cancellation or delay or a flat tyre on a drive can throw you off schedule very badly. SO, while doable it is as we agreed (!) ambitious! Where are you staying in Mumbai? I think your train will go all the way into town. Kalyan is way outside the city.

After taking into consideration your helpful comments, we have decided to cut the Khajuraho sector and add one day in Agra (or Jodphur) and Varanasi instead. We will fly from Varanasi to Mumbai. If we have time in Mumbai, will head on to Ellora.

BostonHarbour - Hope you will have a great trip in December. Who knows? We may cross paths!

Lyndie - will definitely look into the buses. Understand you are planning a 6 month trip in 2006 to India! All the best 2!

Hobbes - we shall most probably stay in the city in Mumbai. Although I prefer amazing sights to city life, we would like to experience Indian daily life and one of the things we definitely will do is to visit wet markets.

We are in the process of booking hotels. We may go through an agent if we do not have any response from the hotels direct. Ohhhh...part of the joy of travelling!

Once again, thank you soooooooo very much for your help.

Best, P

periwinkle-g'day again. Have a look at www.indiamike.com for some comments on Varanasi. I'm including it, of course, as we missed it last trip but I'm not sure I'm ready for all the stuff that supposedly makes Varanasi an awful place to visit. I'm also including Jaisalmer, even though I dislike camels! Yes, we're planning on 6 months, could be 5, because I'll miss my dog! Have a wonderful trip!

Periwinkle, don't discount the ability of an agent to get you a better rate or find you a better property than you would yourself. Our stays at Jaipur and Ranthambore were like that - we might never have stayed at the charming hotels we did if the agent had not suggested it. BTW, I had a similar experience in Argentina - the TA got us a better rate than I was getting when I tried to book direct.

It IS an ambitious trip, no doubt about that, but I envy you so much, and I know that if I were planning a trip right now, I'd be doing exactly the same as you, and trying hard not to miss out on anything.

I don't think you should cut out Khajuraho.... it is small enough to need only two half-days and a night, and, I promise you, it's absolutely fantastic!

Certainly you should not cut it out to add a day to Agra, which is worth seeing ONLY for the Taj, and which deserves no more than a single night (so you can make an early start) and a two-hour early morning visit to the monument. If it were my itinerary, I'd be looking for a train that got to Agra late afternoon, seeing the Taj at sunset, sleeping as near as possible to the ticket office, seeing it again in the cool of the morning at around 6 a.m., and then catching the first train after 8 a.m. to Varanasi.

Adding the day to Jodhpur sounds better.... but, even better still, might be to add a day to Jaisalmer, so that you can go on a two-day camel safari into the desert. This is quite an experience, and, since your trip is otherwise such a fast one, you might appreciate the timelessness and remoteness of the dunes.... and the leisurely pace of the camels. Another good thing about Jaisalmer is its compactness.... with a couple of days to walk around the old city, you can really get to know every nook and cranny. I bet it will be your favourite spot in India (and that's no mean feat, as you have chosen some GREAT spots!).

Good luck with your planning.... but, once again, DON'T hastily discard Khajuraho -- one of the most interesting places in India -- especially in favour of Agra (one of the least attractive)!

Periwinkle,

Below you will find the link to my question when I asked whether Khajuraho was worth seeing (within the context of all the other places I was going)

Here are the answers I received: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34667259

Have a fabulous time!

Hiya again!

Lyndie - u definitely must go to Jaisalmer even if u don't like camels. The dunes and desert, if they are anything like Namibia, will make up for it. But I am bias as I like desert. Also, I, having never been on a camel, would like to give it a go - even if I end up with a sore bump! Must remember to bring my Deep Heat med though.

Ahhh...Varanasi, thanks for the interesting read at indiamike.com thread. I warned my hubby of the streets being littered by cow dung. He told me that if there are holy cows, there must be holy cow dung! Do they sell plastic boots?...joke!

Hobbes - decided to go through an agent. Noted that the agents recommended by fodorites are: President Travels, Ashoka, and Compass. Hope one of them will be able to assist.

BostonHarbor - thanks for the link to your thread. R u including Fatehpur Sikri and Ellora in your itinerary? Heard these two places are fascinating. BTW, saw that u r staying at the Oberois - my mouth is watering. Me hubby say no, no to Oberois!:=(

Alan - Thanks for your input. I don't think I will visit Khajuraho in this trip. H'ever, may add one day to Jaisalmer for a camel safari and Jodphur!

Yuks...call me crazy. It is only 3 more weeks to my trip and I have not even got my hotels and domestic flights/trains/car booked.

Thanks sooooo much. U all are great!!!

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"BostonHarbor - thanks for the link to your thread. R u including Fatehpur Sikri and Ellora in your itinerary? Heard these two places are fascinating. BTW, saw that u r staying at the Oberois - my mouth is watering. Me hubby say no, no to Oberois!:=("
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Hi again Periwinkle

Yes to both Fatehpur Sikri and the Ellora and Ajanta caves. Yes, we are looking forward to the Oberois. We (my college roomate and I)have even booked two spa days at their Banyon Spas on Christmas day and again on New Years eve. Might was well be decadent I always say ;-)

If you want to see the most incredible 360 degree photos of most of the sites you will be visting, you *must* look at:

http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/in/map.html

This site will blow you away. The photos are called "panographs" You can drag your mouse and it feels like you are right in the middle of a temple, or cave or building. It is great to get a real sense of what you will be seeing.

Another incredible site is a narrated tour of the Taj Mahal--don't miss this one either: http://www.taj-mahal.net/index.htm

I am so looking forward to the trip and the fodorites have been invaluable to me in the planning and anticipating. Keep asking questions. The generousity of this group is just wonderful.