Hi Everyone,

My DH and I are planning a 3 week trip next February 2019 to India and have come up with what is a good itinerary as seen from the comfort of my computer. I'd love to get some feedback on this, and I have a couple of prickly problems regarding transportation between Rajasthan, Khajuraho and Varanasi.

A little about us - we are old (AARP old but active) and this is our first trip to India. We plan on staying in guest houses where it makes sense. We plan on hiring a car and driver for most of the trip. After tons of research this is what I've come up with for a tentative itinerary:

Day 1 Fly from the US to Delhi
Day 2 Arrive Delhi late at night; overnight near the airport
Day 3 Fly to Jodhpur next morning; meet car and driver and drive to Jaisalmer (see note 1)
Day 4 Jaisalmer
Day 5 Overnight camel/desert excursion (Damodra or Manvar)
Day 6 Drive back to Jodhpur; overnight Jodhpur
Day 7 Jodhpur
Day 8 Drive to Udaipur seeing Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh on the way
Day 9 Udaipur
Day 10 Udaipur
Day 11 Get an early start and drive to Jaimer. Stop in Bundi if time and energy on the way.
Day 12 Jaimer
Day 13 Jaimer
Day 14 Drive to Agra. Stay within walking distance of TM
Day 15 Agra
Day 16 ***this is where it gets tricky***train or fly to Khajuraho (see note 2). We will be there during the dance festival
Day 17 Khajuraho
Day 18 Khajuraho
Day 19 Fly to Varanasi
Day 20 Varanasi
Day 21 Varanasi
Day 22 Fly to Delhi
Day 23 Delhi
Day 24 Fly home - flights leave around midnight

Note 1 - I've heard there is a relatively new flight from Delhi to Jaisalmer, but I've heard conflicting info about its reliability. I don't want to book a flight and then have it cancelled several days before we're counting on it. Does anyone have advice about whether to book a flight from Delhi to Jaisalmer instead of flying to Jodhpur and driving the rest of the way?

Note 2 - Same problem with flights from Agra to Khajuraho and/or Varanasi. How reliable are they? Originally we were going to skip Khajuraho but then realized we would be there during the dance festival. So several questions: considering how difficult it is to get there, should seeing Khajuraho be a priority especially because we'll be there during the dance festival? Because of flight schedules, if we plan on taking a flight to the next destination (Varanasi) we need to stay in Khajuraho 2 full days. Is this too much time?

Our other option was to fly from Agra directly to Varanasi and skip Khajuraho. Thanks in advance for advice.

Welcome to Fodors, plus the adventure of contemplating and planning a trip to india!!

Jaimer?? Do you possibly mean Ajmer? Or Jaipur?

"from the comfort of your computer"---good one!

There is also a night train from Delhi to Jaisalmer but it takes quite a long time and although I do think it's good to ride at least one Indian train it might not be the best start.

I definitely think that two days in Khajuraho is too much. I started finding the carvings repetitive after half a day.

I think that the first part of this is too fast paced. India is exhausting.

Yes, I mean Jaipur! Too many towns that start with J......

I agree that the beginning of your trip is too fast-paced. Don't forget you will be jet-lagged. If you can add in a day somewhere at the beginning so you have a couple of days where you aren't moving to a new location, I think it will make your trip better.

Thanks for clarifying the "J" word!

Another vote for slowing down at the start of your trip. Frankly, I'm not sure where you could do that---maybe two full days in New Delhi at the start of the trip, vs arriving, then flying out the very next morning and driving again? I don't know about the flight to Jaiselmer, you've asked about , but in general, for flight times in India, better safe than sorry re: delays or cancellations on intra-country flights.

If the special added attraction for Khajurao is attending the dance festival ( you write that originally you did not have that destination) and since you already have a pretty packed schedule...I'd skip it. That dance festival sounds great. However, if if you're interested in dance, nearly all Rajasthani towns on your route have some kind of dance show---maybe in the desert at Jaiselmer, for example. Udaipur has an evening dance show at the Bagore Ki Haveli, right in town. There 's a famous cultural "village" near Jaipur called Choki Dani. Clearly they are all aimed at tourists, but people enjoy them. Research/google "dance show in..." and plug in a city name, then get tripadvisor or other reviews

Re: staying "within walking distance of the Taj Mahal" ...be very careful what you wish for and research thoroughy. In addition to the ™, Don't miss the Agra Fort.

On the road between Agra and Jaipur, consider a brief detour to Abhaneri for its stepwell, relatively small palace, and the very small village. The road between Agra and Jaipur was being modernized when i was last there-- I assume it is now a proper highway. Getting lightly off the beaten track will give you look at the villages in the agricultural countryside, in contrast to the busy cities.

Have you considered working with a travel planner/ company to assist and book the trip for you as an individualized car/driver/accommodation (and local guides, if you want) package, with your input of course? I think that might help, especially on your first trip to India where you have a set 3 week timeline. Visiting India will be different in every way from other travel experiences you've had. Your route of Delhi-Agra-Rajasthan and Varanasi is well-traveled, so there shouldn't be huge challenges to putting a workable plan together. A good company can give valuable feedback on routes, make the arrivals and departures from airports easy, recommend accommodation within your stated budget, and likely cost you not much more--if anything--than doing it yourself, piece by piece/

Thank you for these great tips. I've rethought the itinerary and we've decided to skip Khajuraho. That gives us some extra time at the front end. What do you think of this?

Day 1&2 Fly to Delhi; arrive late at night. Spend night near the airport to get some solid sleep before moving on.
Day 3 Take the 12:55 pm flight to Jodhpur. Stay overnight near the Jodhpur airport (Devi Bhawan).
Day 4 Meet car and driver; drive to Jaisalmer (5 hours); overnight Jaisalmer
Day 5 Jaisalmer; overnight Jaisalmer
Day 6 Manvar or Damodra desert overnight experience
Day 7 Drive back to Jodhpur; overnight Jodhpur
Day 8 Jodhpur; overnight Jodhpur
Day 9 Jodhpur - side trip to Osian?; overnight Jodhpur
Day 10 Drive to Udaipur seeing Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh on the way; overnight Udaipur
Day 11 Udaipur; overnight Udaipur
Day 12 Udaipur; overnight Udaipur
Day 13 Drive to Jaipur; overnight Jaipur
Day 14 Jaipur; overnight Jaipur
Day 15 Jaipur; overnight Jaipur
Day 16 Drive to Agra; overnight Agra
Day 17 Agra
Day 18 Have driver take us to Delhi airport; catch 12:10 pm flight from Delhi to Varanasi (so get an early start). *** (see question below)
Day 19 Varanasi
Day 20 Varanasi
Day 21 Fly back to Delhi on the 2:30 pm flight
Day 22 Delhi
Day 23 Delhi. Take 2:00 am flight home (on Thursday morning)

This new itinerary gives us a more relaxed pace at the beginning and also puts in an extra day for a side trip to Osian while based in Jodhpur. (Are the rumors true that Osian is known as the Khajuraho of Rajasthan? I read that today after researching ways to add time at the beginning of the trip.) I think (again, from the comfort of my computer) that this itinerary minimizes flight cancellation risk for flights that originate out of Agra by only flying in and out of Delhi. (Delhi-Jodhpur. Delhi-Varanasi-Delhi.)

*** Is it reasonable to think we can get to Delhi in time for a noon flight or should we go back to Delhi at the end of day 17? If we should go back at the end of day 17, would this be a good time to try the train? Or keep it simple and have our driver take us back?

When I first started planning this trip I had us staying in Delhi at the beginning of the trip rather than at the end, but our international flight arrives so late at night/early in the morning that by the time we arrive in Delhi I won't want to deal with finding our Delhi hotel base in the middle of the night after two long international flights. Plus, I’m hoping that we’ll be ready for Delhi after having acclimatized in India for 3 weeks.

I will check Choki Dani and we were planning on seeing the dance show in Udaipur - great suggestions. Those, plus the Osian side trip, will need to suffice for this trip. Unless.......one more question re: festivals. Turns out the desert festival in Jaisalmer is exactly one week later than when we were planning on being there. Since I haven't booked our international tickets yet we could go one week later. There aren't a ton of reviews about the festival, but what I've been able to find don't seem terribly compelling. Thoughts on that? Our dates right now are Feb 5 - Feb 27. If we move that back a week we'd fly home March 6. I know March starts to get hot(ter) so that's why I originally started on Feb 5.

Thanks for the tip about Abhaneri. It looks like a wonderful stop on the drive from Jaipur to Agra. Any chance we can make the drive, stop at Abhaneri, and also stop at Fatepur Sikri in one not-too-long day?

CaliNurse - you warn about staying close to the Taj. Do you know anything about the guest house The Coral Court Homestay? I read some good reviews on TripAdvisor. The idea was to walk to the Taj early in the morning when it opens. Are we better off staying a bit further out and having our driver pick us up and driving us to the Taj? I’m not into luxury, but I’m also not into danger. If it’s dangerous or uncomfortable we’ll stay further out.

I did not use a travel agency for this trip. I did spend 100+ hours researching and that’s how I came up with Car and Driver for our auto transportation. They get rave reviews on TripAdvisor. Car and Driver suggested a couple of hotels, some of which we’ll probably use, but others only had tepid reviews. At this point I’m hoping I’m down to just a couple of hiccups, but I’m open to using a travel agent if it makes sense.

These tips have been extremely helpful! As a Fodor newbie I didn’t realize I’m limited to two posts per 24 hours so I’ll have to be more frugal in the future.

Well, google maps says that leaving at 6:00 am on a weekday it can take from 3hr 10 min to 5 hr for the Agra - Delhi airport drive. I would expect it to take longer (perhaps much longer) and I would not risk it.

Another option is the train.The Marudhar Express leaves Agra Fort at 20:30 and arrives at Varanasi Junction at 08:50 with 13 stops and the Kota Express leaves Agra Cantt at 22:40 and arrives at Varanasi Junction at 12:20 with seven stops. However, these are not top line trains and the best class is AC2, although I actually prefer that over AC1 in most cases. (For schedules see cleartrip.com or the Indian Railways website.)

You should not consider riding an Indian train without reading this: https://www.seat61.com/India.htm You should probably bring your own food (certainly water) although I have eaten the veggie option on Indian trains without ill effect.

I haven't been to Agra since 2004. At that time I never felt I was in danger, except from exasperation at the MANY touts - I believe Agra is the worst in the country and that is saying something.

Congratulations on doing your own research. Just so long as the car and driver are not from savaari.com....

Dear Hucktravelbuddy,
You've gotten a lot of good advice, and I'll just add a few more points; the revised itinerary looks really good. My husband and I went on a similar trip 5 years ago, but going in the other direction. Personally, I preferred seeing Varanasi early in our trip, as we were still fresh. While it was a huge culture shock, we loved the city, and had the energy to absorb it. If we visited it at the end, we may've been too tired to fully enjoy our time there. I know some folks like to go at the end of the a trip after they've acclimated, but I'm just giving a different perspective.

Another point - of all the places we visited, the city that we found most urban and least appealing was Jaipur. Don't get me wrong - there's plenty to see there, and I'm sure if we had a few days more, we would've enjoyed them, too. But in allocating days, I would give more to the other locations over Jaipur. And, if you do want to use them for one more place, I'd push for Bundi -- a gem of a small city that is not nearly as touristed as it could be. We were there for 1 night and would've loved an additional night, but could've easily enjoyed another night.

And I completely agree with CaliNurse's recommendation to make sure to stop at Abhaneri - the stepwell there is stunning! There are also many stepwells in and around Bundi, but in our short exploration, Abhaneri was the best. We also loved the traditional cultural show (dance and puppetry) in Udaipur. In fact, we loved all of Udaipur!

I'm including a link to my trip (can't believe it's so long ago now!):
Just returned from an amazing trip to India!

I'm sure there will be more that I can think of soon, but you will have an amazing trip! You've got enough time to really enjoy India, and it is a place like no other I've been.

Putting Varanasi first would improve the logistics - fly from Delhi on day 3 - but it would be jumping in the deep end compared to Rajasthan.

Progol, I loved your trip report! I've been shirking my Saturday errands to read it. It sounds like our travel profiles are similar and I loved the way you described your experiences. I understand the issue with wet baths (the first time I encountered this was in Turkey and I didn't like them at all) but I've come to not mind them. We are scuba divers and so have stayed in some real "dives", pardon the pun. Not that hotels with wet baths are dives. In fact, they make it easier for me to clean up after DH! I got a kick out of your dark walk back to the hotel in Varanasi and having to escape a cow butting by jumping up on a ledge. I could feel the experiences through your report!

I have a couple more questions...it seems the more I research the more questions I have. I so appreciate the advice I've received here and it has already changed our trip plans.

1) Do you think one long day in Delhi is enough? Most itineraries seem to include two days. We could use this extra day in a more rural setting (Bundi perhaps, or visiting a village). We've visited some incredibly remote villages on our scuba trips so we opted out of that for the India trip, but it wouldn't hurt to have room in the itinerary for one. However, I wouldn't skip time in Delhi if one day isn't enough.

2) Travel agencies - we have used them on occasion, especially for our remote dive trips. I've found them helpful before the trip but never during the trip. Is India different in this regard? From your trip report it sounds like they were in communication with you quite a bit during the trip. When I've used an agency they were helpful arranging in-country airfare and overall trip planning, but weren't helpful when things went awry during the trip. Since I've done a ton of research regarding hotels we'll probably pick our own places to stay and it sounds like you did too. Given all of that, is a travel agent going to add value at this point?

3) Local guides - I haven't done much research on this yet. Did you hire your local guides through the travel agency, or did you select them once you were in the area? Any specific advice about this?

4) Bundi/Jaipur - yours was the second report I read where Jaipur was the least favorite town. We have allocated a full two days and three nights here. Is that too much time? We could cut this down by a night and add Bundi for one night, but I don't like staying only one night unless it can't be helped. Would you skip Jaipur altogether? If we skipped Jaipur altogether it opens up many more options because we'd probably just fly to Jodhpur, visit Jodhpur and maybe Osain, Jaisalmer and desert experience, and Udaipur, then fly back to Delhi. We'd figure out the "side trips" to Varanasi and Agra from there. We could have more relaxed visits in Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Udaipur but it would mean skipping Jaipur (and Bundi) altogether.

5) I keep playing with seeing Varanasi at the beginning of the trip - you make a good point about being fresh and having energy to see this city at the beginning. Logistically it costs us an extra day to do it this way, but I'll keep working it to see if we can make it work.

Thursdaysd - thanks for the heads up about the road trip from Agra back to Delhi. I think we'll either take the train back the day before or have our driver take us back.

Since this is my second post today that's all I get until tonight. But the advice here is fantastic and thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond. Progol, I've bookmarked your trip report so I can savor it after I run my errands!

1. I would endorse less rather than more time in Delhi, but there is certainly enough to see for more than one day. For my take on it see: Travels Round Asia 2001 -- Wilhelm's Words - Disappointing Delhi - although Humayan's tomb, at least. is in better shape these days.

2 -3. I have rarely used a travel agency or a tour guide for India, and I have made two long trips, of ten and six weeks. I did use an in-country agency for a car and driver for the Shekawati region and a couple of transfers, and I have used a guide, booked at the site, on a few occasions. I have also booked an occasional car and driver without using an agency. Booking through my hotel for a day worked fine, booking directly with savaari.com did not.

4. I haven't visited Bundi, but I did do an overnight in the Shekawati region from Jaipur and recommend it. The painted havelis were worth seeing, and the villages made a nice change from the cities. I don't remember liking Jaipur more or less than I like Jodhpur, but i certainly enjoyed Jaisalmer more than both of them.

5. There is an argument to be made for leaving the most exotic/exhausting/difficult place to the end, so that it doesn't compromise your energy for the rest of the trip.

[As you make more posts the limit will go away. I think it's supposed to deter spammers.]

Thanks thursdaysd. I read your Travels Round Asia for both Delhi and Agra and it paints a vivid picture! I think we may cut back on Delhi to just one full day and one night (excluding the night we arrive which doesn't count).

If we spend just one day in Delhi that allows us to spend one full day in Agra (rather than rushing back to Delhi in order to catch the plane to Varanasi the next day). That part of the itinerary would look like this:

Day 16 Wed Drive from Jaipur to Agra seeing Abhaneri and Fatehpur Sikri on the way; overnight Agra
Day 17 Thu Agra – see TM, Agra fort, and two nearby tombs
Day 18 Fri Drive back to Delhi seeing things on the way (possibilities include Mathura and Vrindavan); overnight near airport
Day 19 Sat Fly to Varanasi
Day 20 Sun Varanasi
Day 21 Mon Varanasi
Day 22 Tue Fly back to Delhi. Where to stay? City or airport? Connaught Place?
Day 23 Wed Delhi. Take 2:00 am flight home (on Thursday morning)

We may swap one of the Varanasi days for Delhi. Does anyone have thoughts on whether to fly back to Delhi on day 21 vs day 22? You all have given me invaluable information – thanks again for the advice.

I just wrote a lonnngggg rely and...poof, it is gone!! Grrrr!!!

Will try to write tomorrow. It involves involves a slight variation of your Jaipur/Agra/Delhi plan.

You're wise to start planning ten months in advance--you still have lots of wiggle room before setting it in stone.

Your Agra guesthouse looks great! Per TA and booking.com reviews, the only issues are with limited hot water hours, and lack of hot water before leaving early a.m to line up for the T.M. tix . When last there (nearly 8 yrs ago) the "guesthouses" I saw nearest T.M. entrance weren't unsafe--just iffy, as in, above restaurants, probably with cooking odors rising, and hole in ground toilets (Yup, been a few like those, yrs ago). But your choice looks fine, and modern, and the owner says he's familiar with expectations of Western tourists.

I wouldn't swap days in Varanasi for Delhi-- you should have the two full days in Vns as per your current three night itin. When should you fly back to Del, day 21 or 22, is impossible to say. There are numerous nonstop flight options available between those two cities ranging from early a.m. to night time. Personally, I'd go for a mid-morning flight out--it is about an hour (fingers crossed) from VNS city to the airport. Then you could arrive into New Delhi Day 22 early afternoon, get to a city hotel . There are numerous area possibilities, depending on what most interests you--touring? Shopping for last min souvenirs/clothes? being in the newer but busy areas vs the Old City, budget, etc.--guest houses and hotels are everywhere! (Name of my fav guesthouse there if requested, but there are sooo many good ones!) For flight home 2 a.m. Thursday morning, you don't have to arrive at airport 'til 11 pm on Wednesday, Day 23, so you will have all day to tour the city on your last day in India.

Did you read in your research about air quality in Delhi and Agra? If not--do, so you will be aware. Sunrise/sunset in Agra will likely be muted by haze, and if you are at all prone to respiratory problems, bring a light scarf --or buy one there--to cover your mouth and nose, and decongestants.

"When I've used an agency they were helpful arranging in-country airfare and overall trip planning, but weren't helpful when things went awry during the trip." Oh dear---not good!!!
If on a longer trip, and you have lexibility with luxury of more time, perhaps it isn't as essential-- but when time is limited, as in your case, you don't want to waste any of it dealing with assorted snafus--which in India, can easily happen. The aim is to keep things as seamless as possible. Chances are, nothing will go wrong but it sure is nice to have the backup when they do. I 've been grateful for that intervention and advocacy.

I misunderstood perhaps---arent you using India By Car and Driver? Won't they be your "back-up"? They are Rajasthan based, a good choice for the region you're visiting. Do they do only the transport, or can they also book hotels? If you book those yourself--it is under your name. If they are booked by the agency, agency, they can advocate if anything goes wrong with what is officially a booking affiliated with their name.

I cannot speak to your itinerary as I have only visited Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. I can, however, recommend an excellent hotel near the airport in Delhi. After our long overseas flight (nearly 24 hours to get there), we spent an entire day resting before touring. The Marriott Aerocity is very close to the airport. Security is tight, service is excellent, and the rooms were very nice. We especially enjoyed the extensive buffet breakfast every morning.

For our arrangements we used Mark Perera of Kensington Tours. We booked our own flights and the hotel in Delhi (so we could use points. The transfers, tours, driver, guides, and hotels in Agra and Jaipur were arranged by Kensington. We thought the arrangements were flawless and the people "on the ground" in each city were gracious and experienced. They may be able to give you guidance, and help you customize your trip.

I've written several long responses and have lost them because my number of responses expired, so I know how frustrating that is! But thanks for all the time you've put into helping me with the itinerary. It has been incredibly helpful.

I am thinking of locking down the airfare soon because costs look pretty good right now. I'm seeing economy one-stop airfare for under $900 on Lufthansa, and that seems like a good deal. (We're in Denver so there are no direct, nonstop flights to India from our beautiful but landlocked state!) The only question is the 2 hour 10 minute layover in Frankfurt. I've flown through Frankfurt before and thought it was an efficient airport, but I'd rather have a hair more time just in case. There is another flight for just a bit more $ but the layover is 5 hours, so I think we'll go with the shorter layover. Again, any advice on that end is most welcome. All the other arrangements can wait a bit, but of course I need to nail down the itinerary before I buy the airfare.

Of all our proposed places to stay I was most concerned with Agra. It does get great reviews on TripAdvisor, and TA has seldom led me down the wrong path. We've also stayed in places that were pretty rough, and the more I travel the more I lower expectations (this depends a lot on location). On the other hand, the older I get the more I like creature comforts so it's a trade off. I can deal with lukewarm water and the water not being potable, but I have to confess I really want an en suite bathroom with a western style toilet and a window in the room, along with clean sheets and quiet neighbors.

I'm not sure yet what would take priority in Delhi. I have a good friend who was born in India and she said the shopping there is so much better than in Rajasthan, but I'm not a huge shopper. On the other hand, it seems like the experience of shopping in India for a bedspread or rug could be a lot of fun. Many years ago we went to Mexico quite a bit and would shop there - in my mind's eye it seems that India would be like that on steroids. But I digress. We may be fort-and-temple'd out by the time we arrive in Delhi, but perhaps not. So we'll probably have a list of things to do and just choose depending on our energy level. I did read about the terrible air quality in Delhi and I've seen photos that drive the point home. If it's like that most of the time I'll be glad to limit our time there.

I've been checking Air India for flight times and schedules within India, but I see that Spice Jet might also have flights. Is one airline more reliable in terms of flights sticking to the schedule than others? Which airline did you use?

CaliNurse - you understood correctly. We are using Car and Driver and they have recommended hotels to us, but I looked up both the ratings and reviews of their recommended hotels and I can do quite a bit better in most cases. I wonder if I can provide Car and Driver with my list of hotels and see what price they can give me? It looks like they were taking about a 30% markup based on prices from the hotel websites. I don't mind paying them a fee for booking and advocating if the need arises, but 30% is too much. I'm still a little fuzzy on how this will work, but using Car and Driver felt like our safety net if something were to go awry. The driver is at our disposal the entire time so I'm thinking they can substitute for having a travel agent.

burta-thanks for the recommendation of the Marriott. I may have some points leftover from when I stayed with them for business travel. I'll have to check.

I look forward to your revision of the Jaipur/Agra/Delhi portion of the trip.

Thanks again for such great feedback!

One last try--i have lost THREE long replies for some odd reason!!

Re: airport hotels for your arrival night (Day 2 on your first posted itinerary, and later, pre VNS flight). If your Marriott points are insufficient, or you want to save them since you'll be in the room less than twelve hours-.there are many Indian and European-based chain hotels in the airport area --Novotel, Ibis, Lemon Tree, Pullman--which cost 1/2 to 1/3 of the JWM. Confirm before booking (there's a tripadvisor filter) which have free shuttle to airport terminal---not all are included in the price.

More good news about your Agra choice: Garden Court photos show enclosed showers!! As Thursdaysd wrote above, the passage/walkway between buying your ticket and entering the gate T.M.grounds, involves running the gauntlet of people trying to sell booklets, souvenir trinkets, etc. Just keep walking, look straight ahead, and if they persist ( they will) loudly say "Nahin!" You can buy as you exit, if you want (if you dare, lol). Actually, I thought the books with color photos were nice lightweight cheap gifts. NB, you will need a tout avoidance strategy in other places on this trip!!

Yet another( getting overwhelmed yet? ) idea for consideration:

Day 16. Drive Jaipur to Abheneri, (stepwell, and tiny village) then continue on and spend the night at a small farm homestay on outskirts of Bharatpur. Bharatpur the town is pretty awful,. It's famous for a nearby large bird sanctuary. I went to it despite little interest in birds, as a peaceful park-like respite, but it isn't worth seeing unless you are a birder and/or have a couple hours to kill. But just outside town, two brothers who own a well-reputed in-town guest house had just started up (this in about 2010) a little homestay at their family's farm. Long story, but I ended up at a different, truly awful place. The farmstay guys seemed lovely--we'd emailed a bunch--and I later regretted not spending time there. It looks like an interesting place, in terms of a very local experience which would be different/more personal from other parts of your trip. i just checked--it gets majority excellent reviews. See if it sounds like something that would appeal to you.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...Rajasthan.html

Day 17 the next day, Day 17, you could proceed to Fatehpur Sikri (very near Bharatpur) then to Agra, and reach Agra by mid-afternoon. Why do I recommend arrival at mid-afternoon (rather than at night)? You can tour the marvelous Agra Red Fort , then head (with driver) to the Moonlight Garden (Mehtab Bagh) for your first closer view of the Taj Mahal, albeit from the "back" side, at sunset. (Again, so you are not disappointed, withAgra and Delhi sunrise and sunset --dont expect multicolored cloud layer spectacles,, because omnipresent industrial dust creates a frequent haze. Leaves on trees in New Delhi when I was last there several yrs ago, were almost white with the stuff, and I don't know that it has improved.) Stay overnight in Agra.

Day 18: Up very early, tour T.M. ,return to hotel for late breakfast (assuming they have one--many Agra hotels , aware that people get up and out early, have this option). See any other Agra sights of interest, depart toward New Delhi. You will have time for another stop probably, then reach the airport hotel that evening, have dinner, and psych yourselves up for your next morning's trip to in-your-face India aka Varanasi, Day 19.

:Flights: like you, I 'd go with the shorter layover for the Lufthansa flight. If you book directly with the airline (vs a third party site like Expedia) and both flights are Lufthansa, you have some protection in case of a delay from Denver--with them even holding the plane from Frankfurt a bit. But hopefully that will not happen.

Domestic flights, all else being pretty much equal, I take Jet if is available. I just checked, and there is flight mid-morning from DEL to VNS on Jet. But form VNS to DDEL, i don't see any flights before late afternoon...adn you want to return earlier than that for you last day in Delhi. I've heard on both Fodors and via a friend (who ignored warnings) that Vistara had problems, but that was a couple yrs ago. Hopefully better now. I 'd pass on Vistara, try for Jet, and if not available just roll the dice for whatever airlines have the route/time/price you prefer.

Re your car/driver company, again, not sure i understand exactly, but here goes, with apologies if I've misunderstood. your looking on them as your total trip backup, including for accommodation. Strictly speaking, if your agreement is for them to provide only the transport (car and driver) but you decide to book your own hotels, India Car and Driver (or any company, in any country) has no obligation to advocate or intervene if there are problems with hotel or guide or any problem you experience, if they have not booked it for you. Companies /agencies are between a rock and hard place--- if there's a problem, e.g. with a lost reservation or room type snafu, it's unlikely the driver will just take off , with "You're on your own; see you in the morning" and leave you to deal with the problem on the booking you made. Officially, in terms of what they've been contracted for and paid for by you--assuming they did not book your hotel, they are within their rights to leave while you sort it out yourself. But...they won't. So travel companies (including their drivers) even when they've not booked the lodging, are in effect put in the position of helping clients. Some agents will book only hotel/car/driver packages for this reason, because there are many cases with that scenario, in which the company gets involved with problems not of their making. Will your driver just take off, and/or not attempt to contact his supervisor, leaving you to deal with your own booking? Highly unlikely, .. even though actually, it is not in his job description, his paid time, or your agreement with his employer, to help out in a situation that doesnt specifically relate to what you've hired them for. Two very sweet, helpful, kind drivers told me about situations like this, in which they spent hours of their own time sorting out similar issues.

What a creative thought on the Jaipur/Agra/Delhi portion. I'll do some research on those places and will come back with questions. And it's good news about the enclosed showers. I really love traveling to different places and I learn a lot about how other cultures do things, but one thing I have never understood is the partial doors in European bathrooms. I usually end up mopping the floor because of the mess. Why not just put in a full door or partition?

Re: the gauntlet at the TM - will we have this regardless of where we stay? Our choice is the little guesthouse within walking distance of the Taj or another (maybe a bit more businesslike) place further out. If we have to run the gauntlet either way and the walk isn't unpleasant, we'll stick with the guesthouse. But if the walk is to be endured rather than enjoyed I'll reconsider.

Thanks for the pointer about the Ibis - those are perfectly fine for quick stays so I will check into that. I'll verify whether they provide an airport shuttle as well. I'll also check Jet Spice for inter-country airfare. I've only checked Air India so far but thanks for looking at that for me!

Our car/driver company quoted us a price with and without accommodation, so I'm going to ask them if they can book our picks instead of theirs. If they can't, and if something goes wrong, we'll figure out what to do on the spot. Adding an extra tip for the driver to help us would be an option too. This has happened to us on a previous trip (though not in India) and I thought we might be sleeping in the car. We were in the middle of what felt like nowhere but we ended up with a bed for the night and a tale to exaggerate later! Our car and driver company sent me an email last night and they will provide a guide if we want at 1500 INR per day. That is about $23, give or take. Does that seem high? The other option would be to hire a local guide from our hotel on the days we want one.

I wish I wasn't still limited to two posts a day. I need to set my alarm clock for when I can repost!

hucktravelbuddy,

I'm glad you enjoyed my report and it gave you food for thought. You've received a lot of wonderful advice here since I wrote so I don't feel too bad for not having written back right away! I do apologize for not writing back but I haven't had a chance to respond as I am in the middle of my own planning for a 2019 trip to S. India and Sri Lanka! (!) and am at work now where I'm supposed to be working!