[desperado]

hello people ,

We would like to explore India as much as we can in 29 days.
Below are the places of our interest . please help us cement a route.

Mumbai
New Delhi
Dharamshala
haridwar
Rishikesh
Corbett National Park
Shimla
Manali
Agra
shivpuri
ajmer
jaipur
jodhpur
Udaipur
jaisalmer
Goa
Mysore
Kerala

Please feel free to add and eliminate places... we are looking for places with 1)culture, 2)history and 3)important monuments. Also suggest one place where we could check out a Buddhist monastery on the way.

[priya]

Wow, that's some itinerary, desperado

Could you tell us when you'll be going, as it'll be easier to recommend or eliminate places according to the season.

Welcome to the Tree, and I'm sure we'll be able to give you many suggestions for your upcoming trip to Ma India.

[desperado]

Thanks priya

we are planning to come there by the end of december. Mostly, by 26th Dec 2009.

[kullukid]

This is far too much to do in 29 days. You could fly from one major place to the next, but even then too much. Have you done any research on distances etc??? Appears not!

Personally i'd choose either North or South.

I can help you with;
New Delhi
Dharamshala
haridwar
Rishikesh
Corbett National Park
Shimla
Manali

You could take a train from New Delhi to Amritsar, see Golden Temple then bus/train to Dharamsala via Pathankot. From D'sala you could travel by bus/taxi to Mandi & spend a night or two at the Buddhist village Rewalsar Lake 1hr from Mandi. From Mandi take bus/taxi to Manali. From Manali bus to Shimla. From Shimla take the toy train down to Kalka then change for Chandigarh, maybe stay o'night in Ch'gar then bus to Haridwar where it's a 1hr bus ride to Rishi, once in Rishi you should be able to arrange bus/taxi to Corbett NP.

IMHO this is enough for 29 days, you could also fit in a quick trip to Agra from Delhi if essential.
It would be possible to visit the places in R'stan as well, but you would need to do a few inland flights & would only have 1-2 days in each place.

But definitely no time to go South as well. Other alternative would be Mumbai,Goa,Mysore,Kerala & skip the North.

KK

[desperado]

kullukid, on Jan 20 2009, 01:29 PM, said:

This is far too much to do in 29 days. You could fly from one major place to the next, but even then too much. Have you done any research on distances etc??? Appears not!

Personally i'd choose either North or South.

I can help you with;
New Delhi
Dharamshala
haridwar
Rishikesh
Corbett National Park
Shimla
Manali

You could take a train from New Delhi to Amritsar, see Golden Temple then bus/train to Dharamsala via Pathankot. From D'sala you could travel by bus/taxi to Mandi & spend a night or two at the Buddhist village Rewalsar Lake 1hr from Mandi. From Mandi take bus/taxi to Manali. From Manali bus to Shimla. From Shimla take the toy train down to Kalka then change for Chandigarh, maybe stay o'night in Ch'gar then bus to Haridwar where it's a 1hr bus ride to Rishi, once in Rishi you should be able to arrange bus/taxi to Corbett NP.

IMHO this is enough for 29 days, you could also fit in a quick trip to Agra from Delhi if essential.
It would be possible to visit the places in R'stan as well, but you would need to do a few inland flights & would only have 1-2 days in each place.

But definitely no time to go South as well. Other alternative would be Mumbai,Goa,Mysore,Kerala & skip the North.

KK

eXACTLY.. I didnt mean we see al those places... but the ones worth seeing... India is beautifully fast... but we just have 29 days..

we are more keen on North.. please help.

[torryquine]

Hi Desperado and welcome.  First of all I agree with everything KK says - pick North or South, but don't try to do both in one trip.  We also try to do a lot (too much) on our trips ranging from 21 - 26 days. We're about to take our fourth and recognise that even at our frantic pace, we will need at least three more to just scrape the surface of all we want to see in India.  When we're done, we will revisit the places we loved most, take longer and rediscover India at a deeper level.  Our difficulty is that there are too many choices and our interests are wide-ranging - we go for culture and history in a big way like yourself, but find that it's often the slightly off-beat things that we enjoy the most.  So you have time to do some research and pick a corner of India where there are things you MUST see NOW and plan a trip around a few of those, not too far apart, with interesting journeys between. Be prepared to book things ahead if you want to cover a lot of ground.  Or, as we do, pay an agent to do the groundwork for you, so you can make the most of your precious time.

I can give you a few ideas for places you should see near/around some of the cities you name:

Mumbai
Elephanta Island obviously.  Get the train out to Aurangabad to see the Ajanta caves (renaissance quality paintings from the 2nd to 7th centuries miraculously preserved in a glorious setting) and Ellora (rock-cut caves and temples, hewn from a cliff - the phenomenal Kailasha temple - the worlds largest monolithic building).  We wish we'd know before we went that this city is worth at lease three days, to see the Daulatabad Fort, the Bib-ka-Muqhara ("mini Taj"), and the local caves.  But we didn't, so we missed them.  
Also, go further north to Mandhu (near Indore).  Unspoilt village among the ruins of a Mughal city, worth so much more than the day and a half we gave it.  It's not all that far from Udaipur either.

New Delhi
What a city - more history and culture than you can shake a stick at, Jyotirmoy is your best guide here.  Humayun's tomb and the Qtab complex are essential, Jama Mashid and the Red Fort are too iconic not to be missed either.  But if you're pushed for time, you could miss going inside the later if you see the Agra Fort instead.

Agra
As above, the Fort is glorious and in better condition than the one in Delhi.  Also see the Itmad-ud-Dullah tomb - exquisite.  If you're in that area, you have to go to Fatephur Sikri - Akbar's masterpiece/folly.  It's only another hour or so down the road to Bharatpur/Keoladeo National Park.  And that's not far from Deeg which we haven't seen, but certainly will next time we're in that region.  Alternatively, head the other way to Orcha, Jhansi - they look great, but again, that's another trip for us.

Goa
Unless you're a beach bum, a couple of days is enough to see the main historical sites (the cathedrals and churches and the pretty old town)  But about a day by car/bus would get you to Hampi in Karnataka, needs three days really - we did it in two.....    There are some great threads on this place somewhere, it's vast and astonishing and I've never met anyone who wasn't blown away by it.
Head further north to Badami, Aihole and Pattardakal - some very early temples.

Mysore
Lovely place.  You're not far from Somnathpur temple - a little jewel, and the other Hoysala temples - Belur and Halebid are about a day away.  Ooty and Coonor are just a few hours up the hill if you fancy a cooler climate and some vestiges of the Raj.

Most of the rest that you mention are on our itinerary for this year!  Check out my thread on that - you might get some ideas - as I did!  I'm still learning from these guys too......

I won't mention Mahaballipuram, Tanjore, Kanchipuram etc, because that would just confuse you even further....    nor
Gujarat or lovely Eastern Madhya Pradesh, as they will also distract you....    good luck trying to decide.

Edited by torryquine, 21 January 2009 - 02:30 AM.

[vandy]

Hi there,

as far as I am aware, the North will be quite cold in some of the places you have mentioned at the time you are travelling.

the weather in the south is perfect and thats why it's considered Peak Season.

vandy  

[desperado]

Thanks a lot vandy, torry and KK

We are keen on North... we realized we cannot see them all... thats why posted this thread to know which ones are the most important and rich in experience. So we will save south India for a trip later in future

This is what we have planned...

Land in Mumbai >> fly to delhi >>> move up north to haridwar >> Rishikesh >>> Shimla >> Manali >> Dharamshala...

Fly Back to Delhi >>> Move to Agra >> then Jaipur >> Jaisalmer >>
Back in Mumbai.

Once we are back in Mumbai.. we can take a call if we have time for Goa and Hampi. We are not really beach bums... but we really dont wanna miss out on Hampi.
What say?

[iwanttogoback]

why not fly into delhi?

[torryquine]

desperado, on Jan 21 2009, 06:40 AM, said:

Once we are back in Mumbai.. we can take a call if we have time for Goa and Hampi. We are not really beach bums... but we really dont wanna miss out on Hampi.
What say?

Hampi is fabulous, but I do recommend that you leave it for another trip - you will surely be back!  Easier from Mumbai is Aurangabad and the sites accessible from there.  Easily as worth the excursion from Mumbai, as Hampi is from Goa, but much more do-able.  Three days here would tick all the culture boxes.  Goa would demand a day travelling from Mumbai, a day to travel to Hampi and another one back, then another back to Mumbai.  Aurangabad can be reached by overnight train.  It's your call, but this would be a better use of your limited time.

[jyotirmoy]

I second torryquine. Don't miss Ajanta & Ellora.

[desperado]

iwanttogoback, on Jan 21 2009, 11:54 AM, said:

why not fly into delhi?

We want to see Mumbai too. and we have friends there.

[desperado]

thanks again torry and joyti

we are comparing ajanta ellora with Hampi... and Hampi just blew us away with the pics...
we dotn mind flying everywhere to save time... but Hampi we cannot miss out on...

Our route looks like this for now:

Mumbai > Delhi > haridwar > rishikesh > shimla > manali > dharamshala > back to delhi > Agra > udaipur > jaipur > jaisalmer > back in Mumbai > head towards hampi by hook and not by crook

Is this doable?
we want to give maximum two days to each place.

[iwanttogoback]

in my opinion, way too many places. i did six or seven in the same amount of time and felt like i really had been to too many places too quickly. you will find that you are exhausted from the travel, not to mention just dealing with india.

mumbai, yes, definitely a must see.

[jyotirmoy]

A train runs from Jodhpur to Bangalore every WED,THU & SAT. This train will take you to Hubli/Hospet with out getting in to Mumbai and from there Hampi is a short road journey.

[desperado]

iwanttogoback, on Jan 22 2009, 08:24 AM, said:

in my opinion, way too many places. I did six or seven in the same amount of time and felt like I really had been to too many places too quickly. you will find that you are exhausted from the travel, not to mention just dealing with India.

Mumbai, yes, definitely a must see.

thanks I wannagoback!

I know its a challenge... but we are all up for it. ... we might rush some places... skip shimla... but again is it doable?

[desperado]

jyotirmoy, on Jan 22 2009, 08:51 AM, said:

A train runs from Jodhpur to Bangalore every WED,THU & SAT. This train will take you to Hubli/Hospet with out getting in to Mumbai and from there Hampi is a short road journey.

Thats exellento!

thanks so much. how much travel time are we looking at from jodhpur to HUbli?

[jyotirmoy]

This one is almost 36 hours train journey.

[kullukid]

It's just about doable,but maybe not enjoyable! It's pointless missing Shimla if you are going to Manali, it's enroute.
But just think of some of the long distances you will be travelling. Hardwar to Shimla takes 10-12hrs depending on weather road conditions etc, then it's 8-9hrs from Shimla to Manali. 8-10 hrs Manali to D'sala, 15hrs D'sala to Delhi, then there's 36hr train journeys!!!!

Best to slow down & savour the flavour or you'll be too tired to enjoy all these wonderful places. I know! I rushed around a lot like this the first few times I went to India & MISSED it!   KK

[torryquine]

desperado, on Jan 22 2009, 06:15 AM, said:

Is this doable?
we want to give maximum two days to each place.

Given Jyoti's train suggestion, yes, but only just.  We get a lot out of just travelling from one place to another, but nearly always wish we had a day or two more in some places.  KK is absolutely right.  I totally understand you wanting to see a lot on one trip - we are just the same - but the logistics of India don't always allow for this.  Weather, road conditions and acts of nature can all conspire to shake up your plans.  Just be prepared for this.

If you really must do Hampi, then leave yourself plenty of time and drop something else off the trip.