Too much in 2 weeks in India?
 

Hello,

I appreciate it if you could review and critique my tentative itinerary for my first India trip around this mid Nov. My top must-do's on the list are Ajanta caves and Hyderabad.

* Day 1 (Sat). Arrive Delhi at 11 p.m.
* Day 2 (Sun) Sightsee newer parts of Delhi to help ease into the place.
* Day 3 (Mon). Sightsee older parts of Delhi. Afternoon flight to Hyderabad.
* Day 4 - 6. Stay in Hyderabad for 3 or 4 nights. We have to visit some people.
* Day 7. Train from HYD to Aurangabad in the afternoon. Get there at night.
* Day 8. Full day at Ajanta Caves
* Day 9. Ellora caves + one or more sights in Aurangabad
* Day 10. Train or fly to Mumbai? Train takes 7 hours, but Mumbai airport w/ traffic congestion might end up taking as much time?
* Day 11. Sightsee Mumbai. Evening fly to Jaipur.
* Day 12. Sightsee Jaipur.
* Day 13. Morning departure for Agra, possibly by car. Want to see Fatehpur Sikri too. Overnight in Agra
* Day 14. Sightsee Agra.
* Day 15. Morning train back to Delhi. Shop. Fly home at 2 a.m. on Day 16.

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Let me know if this is reasonable or way too much. I don't like it that we move around too much. An alternative is to cut out Mumbai and Jaipur altogether. From Aurangabad, just fly back to Delhi and spend the rest of the time in Delhi and Agra. But is that a waste? Spending too much time there?

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There's an overnight from Hyderabad to Aurangabad, and also an overnight from AUG to Mumbai. That would save some days. But they're 2nd class sleepers, and I'm not sure if I would feel comfortable taking overnight trains. Anyone has done this route?

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Any suggestions would be welcome, as we haven't booked anything internally yet. (Only international air tickets are booked.) Please suggest any rerouting.

Thanks much! (Sorry if this post contains way too many questions!)


See this link for transportation options to and from Aurangabad:
http://www.ajantatours.com/airtrain.htm



Thanks.

I did Aurangabad to Mumbai by train a while back. Don't remember specifically but expect it was overnight - I did quite a lot of overnights on Indian trains on that trip. 2AC class is just fine - the top class is 1AC, not First Class, and Second Class sleeper is not airconditioned. For lots of info on Indian trains including classes see http://www.seat61.com/India.htm and http://www.indiamike.com.

I preferred the Ellora caaves to Ajanta, but both are good sites. I don't remember Mumbai as being especially interesting. This looks doable but rushed. I would consider dropping Jaipur, or flying there from Aurangabad and dropping Mumbai.

thursdaysd, thanks for your response. I'm (slowly) trying to figure out the train system. The official website seems helpful. Did you buy the train tickets yourself or thru an agent? And how far in advance?

Yes, I also try to see if I could circumvent Mumbai. I couldn't find a flight from Aurangabad to Jaipur. Even if I buy 2 separate tickets--one from Aur to Mum and another Mum to Jaipur, the wait time in between looks very long, so I might as well spend time sightsee Mumbai.

The other choice to fly from Aur to Delhi. And from there, do the golden triangle tour, but I have to go on all 3 legs of triangle instead of 2 as I currently have in my itinerary.

Maybe I'm trying to optimize my routes too much here! :)

If anyone could see a beter way to route this whole itinerary, appreciate it if you let me know! Thanks.

JC - I used an Indrail pass, bought through http://www.indiarail.co.uk/ as there is no agent in the U.S. They made all the reservations for me. I changed some of them once I was India - in person at the train station, although it would save time to have a travel agent or hotel do it. I don't remember how far ahead, but I was traveling for two months before I got to India, so at least that long. I think they may do individual tickets as well, although apparently you can now buy them on line.

Do take a look at the seat61.com site - it has loads of info on Indian trains.

Is Hyderabad fixed for days 4-6 or could you move it?

I see there's a direct train from Aurangabad to Agra Cantt (13:35-09:25). Then there are trains to Jaipur that do not go through Delhi that look like they take less than four hours.

thursdaysd, thanks for the additional info. That's a good idea. Maybe I should look for a train that goes from Aurangabad to Jaipur or Agra and take the golden triangle tour from there. But don't know whether the train ride is very long.

Hyderabad is flexible as well, but since we're visiting some familiar people, we thought it might be easier to do it up front to help us acclimitize to India. Also, we don't have to sightsee Delhi at the beginning. We could just leave for Hyd the next day, but I'm afraid it might be too hectic to go back to the airport again.

Thanks!

Oh, I saw you had listed the train time from Aurangabad to Agra. That's a long train ride. 1 1/2 days! I don't think it's worth it then. If it's overnight, it will be better.

Hi JC98,

There is nothing to see in Aurangabad other than the caves, so you need no time for "+one or more sights in Aurangabad" Ellora takes 1/2 day at most and is only a 30 or so minute drive from the city. Get on Jet Airways in the afternoon to Mumbai and change planes to Jaipur which you will love. Since you only have one day set for the Mumbai, I would skip it and spend an extra day in Jaipur. Jaipur it great. You have to drive from Jaipur to Agra. There is no other way to get there. Fatehpur Sikri is a wonderful spot before arriving in Agra, so plan for a leisurly day driving from Jaipur to Agra.

The alternative you mentioned to just spend more time in Delhi is not a good one--it would be a crime to miss Jaipur. Of course, as everyone knows who has read my posts, I think it is even a bigger crime to miss Varanasi, but you can do that on another trip.

Have fun! I'm jealous. Wish I were going again this year.

"You have to drive from Jaipur to Agra. There is no other way to get there."

You mean that as in you wouldn't do it any other way, right? There are several direct trains. Get up early for the 6:10, getting to Agra Fort at 10:15, a bit later on Mon & Wed 8:40-13:25, or later every day 15:40-21:10.

I hesitated to say "skip Mubai" as I haven't been there, but thats what I'd do. Spend the extra time in Jaipur. the fAmber fort, city palace and observatory will take a full day and then you can spend day two shopping! I know I would have loved an extra day or two in Jaipur. If nothing else, you might just want to sit by the pool and recharge for Agra.

BostonHarbor, that's a great suggestion! Let me check the airlines' schedules to see if it works. I would have to buy 2 separate tickets and possibly on 2 different airlines, as there are no flights from Aurangabad to Jaipur. There's one on Indian Airlines but there's an overnight stop in Delhi which defeats the purpose.

Thanks all for the insight into Jaipur. Perhaps I should stay there longer.

Brilliant!

I'd agree about adding a day to Jaipur. Aurangabad and Agra are both laregly one sight places tho Agra has the added attractions of Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri. Personally, I think Delhi has lovely sightseeing and shopping and enough feel people who disagree have not really seen the best of it. So, I'd keep the start of your trip the way it is - as a matter of fact I feel you can add a day to Delhi at the end. From Aurangabad you have to take a train or flight to Mumbai to take a flight to Jaipur. But it is worth checking the Aurangabad-Jaipur train. There is a category called second a/c sleepers on many trains - these are quite comfortable for an overnight journey.

No, the Aurangabad-->Mumbai (in transit)-->Jaipur plan doesn't work. :(

I would have to spend one night in Mumbai.

Airlines out of Aurangabad to Mumbai: Jet Airways and Indian Airlines

Airlines from Mumbai to Jaipur: Jet, Indian Airlines, Go Air, Anything else??

Oh well... Any other suggestions?

Ellora is more interesting than Ajanta in my opinion and requires at least half a day. The Daulatabad Fort, which is on the way to Ellora, also deserves a couple of hours. You won't get much out of any of these without a decent guide. The official ones typically charge 350 rps for a couple of hours and are worth it in my experience (they'll also keep the touts away, and that alone is worth the price).

Other places that are easy to include in trips around Aurangabad are Bibi ka Maqbara (Baby Taj), which is rather undistinguished but a pleasant, quiet, stop; Panchakki (water mill); and Aurangzeb's tomb in Khuldabad.

The Jet Airways flight to Mumbai leaves at 19:55 and gets to Mumbai too late for a connection to Jaipur. Air Deccan and Indian Airlines also fly to Mumbai.

Can you arrange your trip as an open jaw--fly into Delhi (do Agra and Jaipur from there), and out of Mumbai (do Aurangabad from there) or vice versa, connecting them via Hyderabad?

There's not much of sightseeing interest in Mumbai itself in my opinion, but Delhi is very interesting, especially the areas to the south--Tughlaqabad, Qutib Minar, Haus Khaz, Tombs of Safdarjang and Humayun.

someotherguy, thanks for the additional info, esp. about Air Deccan having a flight from Aurangabad to Mumbai. I thought I had searched thoroughly, but apparently had missed this. And it's dirt cheap--3 Rs but of course 900+ Rs in taxes, so the total is around $20! Not sure how reliable they are. Regardless, their schedule won't work for me either, but it's definitely good to know.

I would agree that there is not much in Mumbai nowadays worth the struggle with the traffic. If you can connect through Mumbai to Jaipur, that would be much better. Drive to Agra, with Fatehpur Sikiri on the way. A fair amount of travel, but you will have plenty of fantastic memories.

A way to skip Mumbai it seems is to fly there early the morning like 5 a.m. or something and sit at the airport until 1 p.m. for another flight to Jaipur. A waste of time? What if that 1 p.m. flight to Jaipur is delayed (it's on Air Deccan), then a whole day is wasted.

Unless the Mumbai airport is very interesting to explore? :)

At this point, I'm really stuck and don't know how to do my India trip. And I still haven't booked anything internally yet. And I'm leaving in mid Nov. Yikes!

JC - might be time to take another look at that long train trip Aurangabad to Agra. Time on the train has to be more interesting than time in the airport, no?

After mulling over this itinerary for weeks and weeks, we're thinking of maybe giving up Aurangabad and Mumbai and do those for another trip (hopefully, we'll like India enough to come back again!).

So, from Hyderabad, we're thinking of flying to Jaipur and do Rajasthan. Is this a good alternative? Easy to travel around Rajasthan? What's the best mode of transportation in such case? Something safe, reliable, not too time consuming, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Any suggestions would be appreciated as I haven't done much research on Rajasthan at all.

Thanks.

Thanks to someone on the info on Air Deccan. I actually found a way to not stay over in Mumbai by flying on Air Deccan, but I'm concerned about the reliability of this airline. I've been trying to avoid Indian Airlines and Air Deccan. Should I go for it?

Partial Itinerary:
* Overnight in Aurangabad for 3 nights
* Next morning, fly on Air Deccan from Aurangabad to Mumbai:
* Departs 8:45 a.m.
* Arrives 9:45 a.m.

Air Deccan from Mumbai to Jaipur:
* Departs 12:20 p.m.
* Arrives 1:55 p.m.

It's not a connect flight. I'd have to buy 2 separate tickets. Is it worth the hassel? I'd have to get out and go thru security all over again to get onto the next flight?

Hopefully, the first flight won't be delayed else I'll miss the 2nd flight.

Please advise whether this is reasonable, or I should just stay one night in Mumbai instead.

BTW, Cicerone (hope you're reading this thread!), I try to reverse the route by going from Delhi to Aurangabad, but it doesn't work out too well either. Thanks for the suggestion though.