The best of North and South India in 3 weeks?
Replies: 6 - Last Post: Nov 25, 2012 12:07 AM Last Post By: fivejacks
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The best of North and South India in 3 weeks?
Hi Guys,Only a month away from our first visit to India. We are flying into Delhi and out of Chennai to go onwards to Sri Lanka and was hoping for some feedback on the following itinerary:
Delhi (2 nights) - Fly to Varanasi (3 nights) - Overnight train to Agra - Agra (1 night) - Jaipur (1 night) - Overnight train to Udaipur - Udaipur (2 nights) - fly to Mumbai - Mumbai (3 nights) - day train to Goa - Goa (4 nights) - Fly to Chennai and then train to Puducherry - Puducherry (3 nights) -back to Chennai and fly to Colombo
We were keen on places like Jaisalmer, Hampi and Kerala but all involved a lot more train travel and lost days. Our interests are really varied including discovering cities, outdoors and trekking, history and artefacts and food and drinking! Varanasi, Agra and Goa are non-negotiables so the rest can be varied.
Does anyone have any feedback on the above, if it is too much is it worth cutting out Jaipur and Udaipur and perhaps flying from Delhi to Mumbai? Or less time in Mumbai and more in Puducherry?
Also I've noticed on Cleartrip most of the trains only have wait list positions, does anyone know if these are likely to become available if we put ourselves down now?
And finally anyone know of any good rooftop restaurants or bars in Varanasi for a quiet NYE drink?
Cheers
2
Looks OK - maybe somewhat too much movement all across the country- but not really cramped. Since you like cities, I would suggest taking a day from Goa and adding it to Delhi- it is a big city with lots of interesting sights, after all.Or less time in Mumbai and more in Puducherry?
No, keep your 3 nights in Mumbai. 3 nights in Pondicherry, imo, is enough.
3
Any particular reason for Pondicherry ?An alternative suggestion could be flying Goa to Kochi(Kerala) couple of days in Fort Kochin which is rich in History and architecture, then maybe a few days in hill station Munnar for some trekking, couple of days in the backwaters of Allepey, then return to Cochin for a flight to Colombo.
Not a lot of travellers seem to like Jaipur so maybe swap it for Jodhpur.
Edited by: paulputt
4
Thanks all that's great feedback.Paulputt - Chennai seemed like a logical place to get to Colombo from and we are keen to see the French colonial influence, we loved places like Hoi An in Vietnam that sounded familiar to Pondicherry, plus my partner is keen to visit Tamil country. I'll certainly look into your suggestions.
Can anyone help on the trains query, how often do waitlist places convert into tickets if booked a few weeks in advance?
Cheers
5
Pondicherry isn't as "French" as some makes it out to be. It's a usual Indian city with strete names in french but a handful of French buildings and a seaside promenade reminiscent of Nice's but not French. Still I like the city and it is close to Mahabalipuram- good temples- and Auroville.You can also fly to Colombo from Bangalore.
