arthi9487

My mom (who was born in India), brother, and I are taking a trip to Chennai to visit relatives, but are planning to do a bit of sightseeing as well. I would love some feedback on our itinerary as of now so that I can make sure we are not missing anything....We are planning on touring for 10 days....Also, is Jodhpur worth seeing?

3 days Delhi
2 days Jaipur
2 days Agra
2 days Khajuraho

Any help would be greatly appreciated!! We are planning on going with Indian Panorama.

indianapearl

Jodhpur is well worth seeing! It has the best fort in Rajasthan has the best fort in Rajasthan and a wonderful temple complex in Ossian, about 20 km south of Jodhpur.

I'd cut out one day in Delhi, one day in Khajuraho to make time or -- find out how you can fly. No airport in Agra, so you'll have to go by car or train.

Can you add more time? You'd really rush it with your current plan. If I skipped anything, it would be Delhi.

Cicerone

You don’t mention the time of year you are planning to travel, which may affect my reccos. Your earlier post mentions a May/June trip which obviously is not occurring. That post also mentions a safari portion, which is seems you may have dropped as well.

As you will be in south India already, I would urge you to cut out Khajuraho so you can add the time to other parts of the northern itin and/or include Jodhpur. South India has far better examples of temple carving which are also still living religious sites, IMO, than those at Khajuraho, which is mostly known because of the erotic carvings on some of the temples and because it is one of the few temple areas in north India which survived the Mughal invasion intact. (The temples appear to be unused to me today, however. I also think they show up on tours because so many more tourists go to north India than to south India.) Khajuraho is rather hard to get to, IMO as there is no nearby train station and so flying or a somewhat uncomfortable road trip is involved. You seem to have chosen a train from Agra to Jhansi and then a longish bumpy drive to Khahuraho, and then I am guessing flying to Delhi. All rather involved. However going to that trouble really is not necessary, as you can make an easy day trip from Chennai to Mahabillipuram (2 hours), Kanchipuram (2 hours) and other areas nearby like Chidambaram. The drive to these places in most cases is delightful, along the very scenic (and well-maintined) east coast shore road. If you have the time and inclination, you could also fly, train or drive to Madurai. The temple complexes in the south are much more interesting and more important both from both a religious and historical/art context than Khajuharho. (Many of them are UNESCO sights as well.)

The exception to cutting out Khajurhao would be if you were going to attend the dance festival there, which is normally held in Feb/March. Otherwise, I would skip it. (There is also a dance festival in Chennai and Mahabillipuram in Dec/Jan and in Chidambaram in Feb/March).

Jodhpur is very interesting. In some ways, it is more charming than Jaipur as it has more of an old town, and the fort dominates the city, which is not the case in Jaipur. However, with your short time IMO even if you cut out Khajurhao it would be hard to include Jodhpur in the current itin; perhaps you might consider substituting it for Jaipur. Hard to say. You also don't include Udaipur, which is in a prettier setting than Jaipur and also has lots to see and do. Hard choices I know with a limited time.

I am kind of surprised that you are not going to Varanasi.

Finally, I don’t think that going on a tour is really necessary, you can plan all of this on your own and make bookings on your own. This site and some guidebooks are really all your need. Tours tend to involve long bus rides and short visits to sites. I prefer to set my own daily itin, and if I want to spend 3 hours in a museum, I will do so. Plus in the places on your itin, there are many good restaurants (esp Delhi) and I would not want to be limited to what the tour picks. Finally, I would want to be able to choose my hotels, and not be limited to what the tour picks. (The star rating in India is entirely meaningless.) If the tour agencies you are looking at are only arranging airfare, local transport and making hotel bookings for hotels you choose, then that might be OK; but of course you can do all that yourself. A very useful website for hotels in India is http://sawdays.co.uk/, click on the book for India. You can also buy the book, Special Places to Stay India, but the website will give you a very long list of hotels to start with. A lot of these hotels are in the budget range, and all seem interesting and several, like the Imperial in Delhi, are outstanding (but it ‘s not a budget hotel by any means). Two good operators generally in India are the Oberoi group (http://www.oberoihotels.com) and the Taj group (www.tajhotels.com. ). The Aman group also has some properties open in India and is opening others that would definitely be worth considering if they are in your budget. Take a look at amanresorts.com. There is a small Indian chain called Neemrama which operates a number of unique hotels in palaces and other old buildings and could be something to consider if you want a different experience. Go to http://www.neemranahotels.com. Sheraton and Marriott run a number of good hotels in India as well, generally in the major cites.

Also, if your mom has NRI/ PIO/OCI status she can get discounts on hotels as well as planes and train fares, and you may be able to benefit from some of that, at least as far as shared hotel rooms. (She might want to look into getting such status if she does not already have it.) And if your mother speaks Hindi or Tamil she can help you all get around,so again a tour would not be necessary; not that speaking the language is necessary (my Hindi consists basically of hello, thank you and “acchaa”, and I never have any issues…)

You might also see if family members in India can make bookings for you and possibly negotiate some better rate. In my experience, having a local person make these kind of arrangements often works out better.

CaliNurse

Arthi, you made a wise choice with Indian Panorama. The detailed advice above from cicerone is excellent, but (i think you alredy know this) using Indian Panorama or other travel organizer does not mean you are going "on a tour" or locking in anything with them. They will provide you with a great driver, more cheaply negotiated hotel rates, and assistance as needed at rr statins, airport, to make it as "seamless" as possible, etc,etc.
They do not have any fixed itinerary, so feel free to ask them to add Varanasi, for example.

We returned from a trip last week booked with IP. We loved Agra. Stayed at ITC Mughal--an excellent hotel with good service and lovely grounds and rooms. There's a huge spa there, but with the outside heat, we were happy to just veg out in the cool comfortable room, when we werent outside. We saw the Agra Fort (a do-not-miss place!!) and the Taj Mahal. Indian Panorama set up a guide with a local company. He was EXCELLENT--his name is Amit, and he worked with Mr. Tushar. Do ask if Amit can be your guide-he made the Fort "come alive" for us, and as a native of Agra, his love for the Taj -- being in its presence--came through in everything he said.

If you're flying into Delhi, you could be picked up at the airport (after the plane from Chennai) and drive directly to Agra etc, finishing your trip in Delhi. I agree, since you're short on time, it might be feasible to drop a day from Delhi. We did the "straight from IGIA to Agra" trip, and even after 24 hours of travel to arrive in India, it was fine, being in an ac innova on the highway (though be Aware, traffic in New Delhi itself is especially horrendous right now).

arthi9487

CaliNurse, what all other places did you visit? Did you visit Khajuraho or Jodhpur? We are having trouble finding an easy way to leave Khajuraho for Delhi. Cicerone, thanks for the advice. We are going in the next couple of weeks. I am now considering leaving out Khajuraho now and maybe doing Jodhpur or Udaipur? We are actually planning on going to Mahaballipuram soon, so will that be a better substitute for Khajuraho?

Cicerone

Yes, IMO, Mahaballipuram is far more interesting than Khajuraho. It’s a living temple site, and in addition, the carving techniques used there are more important, historically and artistically, than those at Khajuraho. Also, as you are beginning to see, getting to and from Khajuraho is difficult. Another reason to skip it. If it were important as a religious site or as a historical/art site, then the difficulty would not bother me so much. But going to all that palaver to see what really is somewhat average work, and also is not a working religious site, seems a waste. The south is just full of active, historically important, temple sites. I would concentrate on those, and save the north for the Mughal bits.

arthi9487

Cicerone, I wanted to do more of Rajasthan since we are now leaving out Khajuraho. Udaipur was my first choice, but I heard that the lake is dry. Between Jaisalmer and Jodhpur, which would you select? I know that Jodhpur is easier to get to....

Cicerone

I don’t think you would be disappointed with either. My guess is that the little lake in Jaisalmer is also dry now too. But there are other attractions in town, just like in Udaipur. Both Jodhpur and Jaisalmer have interesting huge forts which dominate the old towns. The first to be dropped from an itin is usually Jaisalmer because it is the most remote and hardest to get to. But you can certainly include it if you want. I think you are smart tying not to do both (and actually they are somewhat similar that doing both could be a little bit redundant). But I have kind of lost track of your itin. I think the easiest way to Jaisalmer is by road or train from Jodhpur, so you may not save any time if you “skip” Jodhpur, as you may end up just driving or training back and forth from it. From what I can see, there is a night train from Jaipur to Jaisalmer, which takes about 12 hours, perhaps that would be an option. There is then a night train to Delhi, which takes 17 hours. All this may be a bit much for two days in Jaisalmer. Esp when you can take a train or drive to Jodhpur from Jaipur in 5-6 hours and can fly from Jodhpur to Delhi or Udaipur.

Finally, as a comment on Udaipur, I have also heard that the lake in Udaipur is dry. While that certainly would take away from some of the charm of the setting, the city itself and the surrounding hills, remain unchanged. The old town is just as interesting, the city palace museum just as good. I don’t know that I would take it off the list quite so quickly. The Aravalli hills are just lovely and with a little bit of rain, which may not fill the lake, they become green. You can get to Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh fort as a longish day trip or on the drive from Jaipur (or overnight at the fort). A day trip to Chittogarh fort from Udaipur should also be possible. (Note that in the hot/ monsoon season these trips are going to be a bit tiring.) Instead of or as an adjunct to Ranakpur, you can also see two similar Jain temples outside Udaipur in Delwara where the truly divine Devigarh hotel is located. (Probably good deals in monsoon season, worth considering esp if the lake is dry, as you will have lovely views here see http://www.deviresorts.com/) There is also a major Hindu temple complex at nearby Eklingji. The village in which Devigarh is located is absolutely worth a wander as well.

If this were my trip, this is how I would do it:

Fly Chennai to Mumbai, connect to flight to Jodhpur (Jet Airways flights)
Drive or train Jodhpur to Jaipur (drive is fairly boring I have to say, I probably would train)
Drive Jaipur to Agra, stopping at Fatephur Sikri
Drive or train Agra to Delhi

If you wanted to include Udaipur instead then:

Fly Chennai to Mumbai, connect to a flight to Udaipur (Kingfisher flights)
Fly Udaipur to Jaipur (a drive is possible, but it would be at least 8 hours, so an overnight stop is probably a better way to do this, Ajmer may work or even possibly Pushkar. You can stop at Chittogarh fort on the way our from Udaipur. Night trains are possible as well.)
Drive Jaipur to Agra, stopping at Fatephur Sikri
Drive or train Agra to Delhi