[Marcjack]

My 21 year-old son and I are going to India. Is this itinerary possible? I know it's fast paced, but there's so much to see and so little time. We travel a lot ad usually like to spend only a day or two in a place. I would appreciate hearing what you think. Also any recommendations for hotels (especially in Udaipur that's a nice place and under $200 a night), honest drivers, etc. would be greatly appreciated. If you have other ideas, let me know. Thanks-

Day One: Arrive in Delhi from Los Angeles
Day Two: Spend the day in Delhi
Day Three: Fly to Udaipur
Day Four: Spend the day in Udaipur
Day Five: Take the night train to Delhi
Day Six: Transfer trains in Delhi to Haridwar
Day Seven: Spend the day in Haridwar. Take the train to Delhi.
Day Eight: From Delhi, fly to to Kolkata
Day Nine: Spend day in Kolkata.
Day Ten: Fly to Varanasi
Day 11: Sped day in Varanasi
Day 12: Fly to Khajuraho. Spend the day before returning to Varanasi.
Day 13: From Varanasi, fly to Kathmandu
Day 14: Kathmandu.
Day 15: Fly from Kathmandu to Delhi/ Transfer to Goa
Day 16: Goa
Day 17: Goa
Day 18: Fly from Goa to Delhi to LAX (Los Angeles)
Your input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[SHIMLA]

Hello Marcjack and welcome to the forum !

As you have yourself identified, the itinerary is fast paced. While it is certainly doable, I wouldn't advise you to go through with it, as it would be a hit and run afffair.

I suggest you pick at the most four places, including Delhi; in the time you have at your disposal.

Now, which three places to add to Delhi will depend on your priorities and the season in which you'll be visiting India.

Edited by SHIMLA, 03 August 2008 - 11:29 AM.

[jyotirmoy]

Too tight is what I would say. No point flying all the way to Kolkata and spending just one day.
Delete Kathmandu. Visit Agra.
Get your airline ticket openjawed i.e  Lax-DEL MUM-LAX, that saves your Goa-Delhi flight.

[cyberhippie]

What is noticeable about this itinerary, is one glitch in your travel plans and your whole itinerary will be in tatters.
So you get sick someplace or fog cancels a train/flight and................

I agree with Jyoti and Shimla cut back on your plans and do justice to the places you choose. Being in a new place every day is trying on the nerves, rail travel whilst fun, can also be tiring, dealing with what India throws at you is trying enough for the first arrival and it takes a few days to get the hang of it.
Constant travel coupled with the stresses of touts and poverty only leads to a bad mood and a spoiled holiday. Trust me I've met people who tried to rush through India, they just didn't have fun and a few were hating every moment of it, largely because they had bitten off more than they could chew.

I would leave the Varanasi, Kalkota and Khajuraho leg for another trip (if you approach this trip properly and actually have time to enjoy yourself, you'll be back   )

So Fly into Mumbai, scenic train down the coast to Goa, takes about 12-14 hours or you can also fly this leg.
Goa though it has it's downsides too, is a great place to acclimatise to India

Udaipur is slightly difficult to reach as a destination, no broad guage train station means getting there from Goa by train is fraught with problems Flying may be the best choice, as you don't want too many long train journeys on a two week trip. I think you'll have to transit through bombay for this.
For a similar feel why not see Jodhpur or Jaipur , easier to reach/depart by direct flight/train and both have similar feel to Udaipur.

From Jaipur you can transit through Delhi on the way to Haridwar or I believe there's a direct train.

In Haridwar can I suggest you stay just a bit further up river at Rishikesh only 40 minutes away by bus it offers a far nicer ambiance and you can always visit Haridwar from here. Stay in High Bank, Lakshman Jhula or Swargashram NOT in Rishikesh town.
The Ganges is beautiful here as it bursts out the Himalayan foothills, The Hill Station of Mussoorie is only a couple of hours away by bus from here, another day trip if you fancy it.
Rishikesh is a great place to unwind with walks up the valley cut by the Ganges river

From Haridwar it's an easy 4.5 trip back to Delhi, which is chock a block with things to see and do, combine this with Agra and Fatehpur Sikri and you will have had a broad if brief look at what India has to offer.

Whatever you decide, have a great trip but make time to savor the whole experience.

[john.sw]

Hi Marc and Jack!

My son and I did this when my son was 20 - between him leaving school and starting university - we spent a month together in India.

It was a lovely holiday, but we both got so much more from it than travel...

My "golden rule" for India is never be in a hurry.

India doesn't run like clockwork, and if you are in a hurry you will forever be frustrated, anxious and tense.

A flight will leave early (or late), a train will be delayed by 16 hours (or on time), and a hotel will be fully booked (despite your reservation), so I suggest that you regard this as your First Trip to India and travel at a more relaxed pace.

At home, you can rely on yourself and your knowledge of how the system works to get you to the station or airport on time, but in India you will be relying entirely on the locals.  It would just take one Government Minister to be flying from Delhi on the same day as you, or one political demonstration or strike for your itinerary to be completely thrown out of sync.

An open jaw ticket Lax-DEL MUM-LAX, as Jyotirmoy suggests, is a very good idea, and not necessarily more expensive.

My advice is take it easy; don't rush. relax and enjoy India and each others' company, oh, and make sure that your son doesn't leave your railway tickets in the room at the last hotel  

[maharaj]

Lately, as more travellers are using trains, there is often a huge waitlist.  Booking a month in advance is working maybe.  I not sure about 1st class.  The waitlists I am speaking of are usually sleeper class.
Have a great trip!

[AlanD]

Hi Marcjack!

I have to say your itinerary brings me out in a cold sweat but that's because I like to travel in a relaxed fashion with no tight schedules.

You've obviously thought about it and decided to do most of the links by plane, which is faster and probably more reliable than train but like the others I think the schedule is too tight. Certainly the Goa section doesn't seem to hold together with the rest so I would say give yourself a little more time to see North India.

Also you haven't indicated what time of year you intend to visit - before the monsoon (May - June) the Ganges plain can be unbearably hot and in mid winter the fogs can often delay planes and trains.

With a bit of luck your remaining itinerary is doable but to make it more enjoyable I'd say drop out a couple more places.

Edited by AlanD, 04 August 2008 - 01:59 PM.

[dzibead]

marcjack, you've received good advice from some locals and  some real "old India  hands," but I can't resist putting in my two rupees' worth anyway.  My immediate reaction to this itinerary was "Are  they nuts?!?"  IMHO, you're planning to  do too much backtracking and WAY too much flying and are trying to go to too  many different places – and places that are really far from one another -- yes,  that's why you're flying, but each flight will eat up the better part of a day,  what with Indian airport security and routine delays – is it worth it?

        I know you said you've traveled a lot and usually only spend  a day or two in each place, but India  doesn't lend itself to the "if it's Tuesday this must be Belgium" style  of travel at all.  Admittedly that style  of travel is not my personal preference anyplace, but I think even putting personal  taste aside, travel in India  works best for most people when they slow down and let the experience of at  least SOME places soak in for  more than  one day, or even two.  Given that you've got SEVEN  internal flights in your itinerary, not including your flight into and out of India, you'll  be seeing more AIRPORTS than anything else.   Flying instead of driving or taking a train can be a time-saver if do it  once or twice in a two week period to get from, say, Delhi to Kolkata and back,  but you've got a flight just about every other day – and you also seem to  assume that you'll get connecting flights that seamlessly mesh (e.g., Kathmandu  to Delhi to Goa, Goa to Delhi to LAX).   Won't happen.

        I would suggest dropping Kolkata, Kathmandu and Goa, and  that you do either Haridwar or Varanasi, not  both (unlike cyberhippie, I suggest Varanasi,  instead of Haridwar).  

        Here's my reasoning:  

        Kolkata is just too darned far away from the most other  places you plan to visit.  Yes, it's  great city but you plan to spend only one day there – so what's the point? Is  there something in particular about Kolkata that makes it a "must" for you?  If not, it isn't worth the travel time, given  all the other stuff you want to do.

        Kathmandu – same issue as  Kolkata.  It's a big, polluted city of  over a million, so unless you plan to spend your one day there getting out to  someplace more interesting, like Bakhtapur, what exactly are you looking to get  out of traveling there for just such a short time that justifies all the airport/airplane  time involved?

        Goa – are you going there just  because you've heard it's a "destination" or for the "exotic tropical beach  experience"?  Just go to Belize.  (Are you from LA?  You don't need to go to the beach in Goa, trust me.)  There's more to Goa than that, of course, and if you were  already planning to do most of your traveling in South India then Goa might be OK,  but you are planning to go there from Kathmandu????   Please.  And  what time of year do you plan to travel?   If it's monsoon time, the water will be violently unswimmable, and if it's  during the winter "high season" the place will be awash with British tourists who  … well, let me just stop there … you didn't go to India to hang out with them, even though I'm sure many of them are perfectly nice people ...
  

        I would propose an itinerary more like the following – just a  general idea, without specific days/time, but at least two days in each place.  


Arrive in Delhi and spend at least a day or two  there.  Go to places in Old Delhi like Chandni  Chowk, the Red Fort, Jama Masjid – just walk around.  Read jyotirmoy's posts about Delhi's  historic sites and Delhi  eateries and plan some walking/autorickshaw itineraries around them.  Go to Raj Ghat – very moving.  Visit Humayan's Tomb, peaceful once you get  past the touts at the entrance. I also like the Crafts Museum  – may not be of interest to you, but I love it. http://www.explorede...fts-museum.html   If you are in Delhi on a Thursday evening, go hear the  qawali singing – Sufi devotional singing - at Nizamuddin Dargah.  Read William Dalrymple's book The City of  Djinns before you go, and you won't think of Delhi as just a place to get out of as fast  as possible.

        From Delhi go to Jaipur or Jodhpur rather than Udaipur  (yes, I know U. has the lake palace but its train connections aren't as  extensive as the other two cities).  You  can take an overnight train to Jodhpur  – about 12 hours - sleep on the train and you don't "waste" the travel time. If  you go to Jodhpur  for a couple of days, you could take a side trip to the Bishnoi village area. http://www.nativepla...i/bishnoi.shtml   Member bluedesertrose has posted some Jodhpur travel ideas in  this thread: http://www.gourmetin...p...pic=4884=  

    The train journey from Delhi to  Jaipur is shorter, but I think the departure and arrival times to and from Delhi aren't as  convenient.  On the other hand, one advantage of Jaipur is  that it's closer to Agra,  which is where I would suggest you head next, also by train.

        Agra:  the Taj Mahal, of course.  And it IS worth seeing.  There's also Agra Fort and the "Baby Taj" –  Itimad-ud-Daulah's tomb .  But even more  interesting (to me) is Fatehpur Sikri, very close to Agra.   It was the capital of the Mughal Empire until the capital was moved to Delhi. Abandoned for  hundreds of years, it's still standing.   Amazing place.  Here's a little  preview, on YouTube.  





From Agra, you can travel by  train to Jhansi and then arrange for a car to  take you to Khajuraho (a fairly long drive?) or you could fly from Agra directly to Kharjuraho, and after touring there, fly  from Khajuraho to Varanasi.

                Varanasi  is certainly worth more than the one day you've allocated.  A morning boat ride on the river is a  must.  Yes, it's a "cliché" – but with  good reason.  The first day you arrive in  Varanasi, find  a boatman and arrange a ride for the next morning so you can get on the river while it's still dark, then watch the sun come up,  flooding the ghats and the bathers in golden light.
http://www.gourmetin...p...=si&img=443
Get dropped off at Dasashvamedha Ghat and head into the tiny  alleys of the old city. You can wander for hours – find your way to the Vishwanath Temple, a major Shiva devotional site - Varansi is "Shivaville".   I like staying at Assi Ghat because it has a "village" feel to it (and I  recommend the Ganges View Hotel there – it's an old family house and the family still live in part of it http://www.hotelgangesview.com/). In addition to a morning boat ride along the ghats, you might also get a boatman to row you from Assi  Ghat to Ramnagar Fort across the river.   Going to Sarnath, a parklike archaeological site important in Buddhism,  is another a possible day trip.

        From Varanasi you can  fly back to Delhi.  Depending on how much time you've got left,  you might still be able to fit in Haridwar/Rishikesh.  But whatever you do, get back to Delhi at least a day before your flight back to the U.S. – particularly don't plan to fly into Delhi the same day you  have to fly to LAX.  Just. Don't.

        You may not be big shoppers, but if you want to shop for some  last minute souvenirs of good quality in a "painless" (no haggling) atmosphere,  you could spend part of your last day in Delhi at the Central Cottage  Industries Emporium on Janpath near Tolstoy Marg or the row of various State Emporia along Baba Kharak Singh  Marg near Connaught Circus.  You won't find the cheapest prices there but the quality is good.  The Central Cottage Industries  Emporium is a stone's throw from the very plush Imperial Hotel, which is a good  place to go to have a drink or lunch and just chill out on your last day in Delhi, especially if you're  there at  some time of year when it's stinking hot.   The Spice Route  restaurant at the Imperial is one of the most beautiful restaurants I've ever been  in.  The food is Southeast Asian fusion,  not Indian, but what the heck …

[jyoti]

I'm not sure there's much worth saying after dzibead's post (which i heartily agree with), but:

Have you checked the flight times on some of these? like

Day Ten: Fly to Varanasi
Day 11: Sped day in Varanasi
Day 12: Fly to Khajuraho. Spend the day before returning to Varanasi.
Day 13: From Varanasi, fly to Kathmandu

Unless you can get an early flight to Khajurahi and a late flight back to Varanasi, and assuming that none of said flights get cancelled, it hardly seems worth the trip.

I agree with the comment about Kolkata. There is far too much to do in some of the other places for such a rushed trip to Kolkata. Save that for the next trip, and leave yourself some space for impromptu things you might want to do in a place you're already at.

And I agree, skip Goa. It's good for relaxing, but hardly worth it in such a short trip. Maybe if you were here a few months and needed a breather...

I second the mention about waitlisted trains. 3 Tier seems to get booked quick, too, depending on what route you're taking.

[cyberhippie]

What Dzibead said  

[kullukid]

Ditto!     KK