Whistlestop Tour of Rajasthan - Advice Wanted!!

Hello all. My girlfriend and I are heading to Rajasthan in early April for (unfortunately) a very quick trip (10 days). Below is our proposed itinerary. I would be extremely grateful for any comments/suggestions from those of you who have already been to that part of the world (e.g whether we should spend more/less time in any place, whether we may have missed out any great places, whether our chosen mode of transport is not the best etc). Many thanks in advance.

Day 1 Delhi
Day 2 Delhi
(to Agra by Car)
Day 3 Agra
(to Jaipur by Car)
Day 4 Jaipur
Day 5 Jaipur
(to Pushkar by car)
Day 6 Pushkar
(to Udaipur by Car)
Day 6 Udaipur
Day 7 Udaipur
Day 8 Udaipur
(fly to Mumbai)
Day 9 Mumbai

We have also thought about doing an overnight train from Jaipur to Udaipur and skipping Pushkar.

you are skipping the most beautiful place. Pushkar is a must.

you might want to consider going agra-bundi-chittor-udaipur instead. just for the sake of seeing places that are a little less touristy. personally, i had a really tough time with jaipur. overwhelming tourist industry, and a big, big city.

and especially if you are going to have a car and driver with you through most of the trip, i'd try to hit some of the smaller sights. (pushkar is one, though there are others...)

Personally, I hated Jaipur. Yes, it's the capital of Rajasthan but, it's certainly nothing to crow about.

There are much nicer places to visit in (and around) Rajasthan.

Don't for get that once you leave Udaipur, you'll have to pay for the driver to return to Delhi in the empty car.

Cheers
Zoltan

I agree very much with janaji. The itinerary as it looks, seems just fine. There will always be someone recommending a change based on their own personal tastes, but I think this route gives a very good mix between big and small towns and different kinds of sights. Personally I think perhaps Jodhpur is missing, but then again, as I said that is a personal taste thing. Also I might consider spending a FULL day in Pushkar (perhaps at the expense of half a day in Udaipur) I always find that you see a place better if you have the full day there, not having to worry about leaving in the afternoon.

Janaji is also right about hiring a guide in Jaipur, especially for the Jantar Mantar where a guide is essential to understanding what all the wonderful instruments do. Talk a little bit to a potential guide before you hire him to make sure he speaks English well. Be aware that often the guy speaking good English will only be the one approaching the tourists and making the "sale". Then when you hire him he hooks you up with his cousin to do the tour, and the cousin speaks horrible English. Make sure that the guy YOU are negotiating with is also the one doing the tour.

The money saved by saying goodbye to your car and driver when you get to Jaipur, then taking the overnight train to Udaipur, could be spent on hiring a car and driver for a day from Udaipur to take you on a day trip to Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur.

You can give Pushkar a miss. Except if you like fake ceremonies in a city that has lost all its authenticity.

Jodhpur is by far my favourite in Rajasthan. The fort is sublime, the streets superb, there's a different feel in this city. You may wish to see the Jain temple at Ranakpur.

Day 1 Dehli- Agra
Day 2 Taj Mahal-Fatehpur Sikri (then trip to Jaipur)
Day 3 Jaipur
Day 4 Trip to Udaipur
Day 5 Udaipur
Day 6 Ranakpur-Jodhpur
Day 7 Jodhpur
Day 8 Jodhpur

Thank you so much to all who have responded - much appreciated. We will definitely do the day-trip to Kumbalgarh and Ranakpur out of Udaipur. We will also stick with Pushkar as many have recommended.

We are now thinking of taking the train from Agra to Jaipur as this should save some money on private driver fees and my girlfriend is particularly keen to experience an Indian rail journey. It looks from the India Rail site that this train is the only option:

2988 GWL JP INTRCITY *AGRA CANTT 17:47 JAIPUR 22:20

This means that we will be looking to get a driver from Jaipur to Udaipur via Pushkar. Does anyone have a driver they can recommend who is based in Jaipur?

Thanks again!!

That train departs Agra Fort at about 18:20 and has much longer in the platform at Agra Fort.

Hi,

Your itinerary is quite good but you can add some more places as per below suggestion :

Day 01 Arrive Delhi
Day 02 Delhi-Agra
Day 03 Agra-Fatehpur Sikri- Jaipur
Day 04 Jaipur
Day 05 Jaipur-Udaipur
Day 06 Udaipur
Day 07 Udaipur-Rankapur-Jodhpur
Day 08 Jodhpur - Pushkar
Day 09 Pushkar-Jaipur- Mumbai ( By Air or Overnight train)
Day 10 Mumbai

Udaipur to Mumbai flights are quite expensive compare to Jaipur - Mumbai, as here you cn use low fare airlines. Moreover car cost will also remain same weather you get off in Udaipur or Jaipur. Pushkar to Jaipur drive is less than 3 hours.

Hari
www.rajasthan4u.com<BR>

There are no trains from Udaipur to Mumbai at the moment. (different track widths)

But if you pack your bags, put them in the taxi, take the taxi to have a look at Kumbalgarh and/or Ranakpur, then get the taxi to take you to Falna station. (about 40 Kms from Ranakpur)

Train 2479 departs Falna daily at 21:51 and gets to Bandra (Mumbai) at 11:45

2-tier air con = Rs 1161
3-tier air con = Rs 826
Sleeper Class (not air con) = Rs 313

There are other trains from Falna to Mumbai, but slower and not as well timed.

BTW

There was a new train announced in the railway budget this week that connect Mumbai and Udaipur, but at the moment it would be a 22+ hour journey as it would need to go via Kota.

ALSO

The Ahmedabad-Udaipur metre gauge track will not be open much longer, there are plans to convert it to broad gauge soon, this will eventually be the quickest line connecting Mumbai and Udaipur.

Hi All - thanks again for all the useful info. Reading back over all the responses made me question whether we should go to Jodhpur instead of Pushkar. If we were going to choose between Pushkar and Jodhpur, which would you recommend? I note that there is a train from Jaipur to Jodhpur:

2465 INTERCITY EXP *JAIPUR 17:40 JODHPUR JN 23:00 (CC class)

Do you think it would be better to do this journey by car?

Thanks!

Hi,

Compare to Pushkar , Jodhpur is better. It offers many things to see ( Fort, Palace and Temples) and also can enjoy village safari trip.

In so short time train would not be better option. Combination of trains and car would be expensive, moreover waste of times to find out local transport in each city.

Happy journey

Hari
www.rajasthan4u.com<BR><BR>

Beware of advice from people with an obvious personal agenda (#15).