On April 11 I will stop 24 hours in Delhi - First time in India. Arriving at 1:25 AM and leaving the following day at 1:25 AM. Any suggestion to visit ? I would love to see the Taj mahal, I read it was 200 km from Delhi, knowing that I will be arriving and leaving at 1:25 am , is that feasible ?

Maybe, booking a hotel near the airport and leaving early morning, returning in the evening to catch the 1:25 am flight ? Any suggestion is welcome ! Thanks for your help. Also, any nice restaurant while in Agra for lunch ?

Your trip is feasible using the fast train between Delhi and Agra, the Shatabdi Express which leaves New Delhi station at 6:00 am and gets in at 7:55 am. On return it leaves Agra Cantt station at 8:18 and arrives at 10:50 pm. www.indrail.gov.in (http://www.indrail.gov.in)
These are very nice chair class trains similar to Amtrak's Acelas. They have cut the time of this trip almost in half.
For lunch in Agra I would stick to one of the tourist hotels. There is a Taj and Oberoi hotel near the Taj Mahal itself.
Do not miss the Agra Fort and Itmaud ID Dul'a tomb while in Agra. They are both spectacular as well, and the Fort provides great views of the Taj. Fell free to email me if you have any questions.
Getting from New Delhi station to the airport at that time of night should be about 30 minutes or so. You are cutting it a bit close but if you are in J class you should have no problem. These trains are known to be on time.

[This message has been edited by Bosox (edited 02-17-2003).]

Agree with the above, but you will need to think through what to do with your luggage. There are very tight (ludicrous) restrictions on what you can take into the Taj Mahal grounds. Specifically, no food or drink except water, no mobile phones or other electronic devices except a camera (and the security people had trouble comprehending that my camera didn't require film - this seems to be a problem - if your camera is integrated with your mobile phone then I fear you won't have any pictures). No cigarettes either.

There is a locker room adjacent to the entrance where you can leave small items and it worked for us but I didn't feel comfortable about it. Make sure you take the SIM card out of the mobile if you have to leave it there.

[This message has been edited by christep (edited 02-18-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Bosox:
Your trip is feasible using the fast train between Delhi and Agra, the Shatabdi Express which leaves New Delhi station at 6:00 am and gets in at 7:55 am. On return it leaves Agra Cantt station at 8:18 and arrives at 10:50 pm. ]</font>

I doubt that one can make it on time from the Train station to Indira Gandhi International in time for the 1:25. It is rather cutting it close.

One could explore a package that picks one up at the airport, using a private taxi, drops off back at the airport. By April 11, it would e quite hot, so plan on using an Airconditioned cab.

Try the following travel agency that we used 4 years ago.

Holiday Maker Pvt. Ltd.
USO House, 6,
Special Institutional Area, Near Qutab Hotel,
New Delhi-110067
Phone +91-11-6868630, Fax +91-11-6853425

The lady who made the arrangments was Deepika Ahuja. I think she is the owners daughter.

We used them about 4 years ago and they arranged a private air conditioned taxi to take us to Agra.

In case you've never travelled by road in India make sure you take some tranquilizers to calm you down.

...edited... for typo error

[This message has been edited by ROW2Aisle (edited 02-25-2003).]

THanks - so, supposed I go on a tour during the day, if Ia rrive at 1:25 at the airport, where would you recommend I stay ? I guess it 'd be just to sleep a few hours and then we'd be leaing for our tour ?

Hey france usa

Shatabdi Expresss's suggestion is good.

My suggestion would be to contact a travel agent which will arrange you a car to pick you up from airport and take you direct to Agra which will take around 2.5 - 3 hours in the night time so you will reach Agra around 5:00 (consider 30 minutes in Customs/Immigration). Check in Taj Hotel (or others)relax 2-3 hours have your breakfast, leave your luggage at hotel and then visit places like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and if possible than Fatehpur Sikri. You will defintly be able to finish all the stuff uptill 6:00 PM, take the car back to Delhi direct to Airport it will take 3-3:30 hrs during evening.

That way you will save your 1:30 to 6:00 time which you will waste either at Airport or Railway Station and you will relax in Car too as in night time there is no problem of traffic at all at Delhi-Agra stretch.

THanks.. I guess i'll try down that route. ANy suiggestion on a reliable agent ? I called the Tourist office in Delhi yesterday and they gave me info about a "government" agency", what does that mean ?! THanks for any input.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by france usa:
...ANy suiggestion on a reliable agent ? ... </font>

See my earlier post in this same thread

Try

http://travel.indiatimes.com

Be sure to make it to the airport AT LEAST 3 hours before your flight leaves as the lines at the airport are horrendous. They may not be so bad in April, but I was just there in December and waited at least 2 hours to check in.

While we were there we took a private car from Delhi to Agra and it took all of 3 hours. The train might be a nice option but dealing with your luggage (as others have said) can be a bit of a pain.

Are you talking about lines for all passengers, or only coach ? We travel business, are we likely to be waiting for 2 hours to check in as well ? We're traveling on Swiss on the way back DEL-ZRH. Also, does anyone know if lounges are open till late ??flight leaves at 1:25 am.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by france usa:
Also, does anyone know if lounges are open till late ??flight leaves at 1:25 am. </font>

Can confirm the lounge in DEL is open 24hours. It is located after Immigration but before the gate security check.

france usa

Yeah in DEL whatever your ticket is Coach or First class, you should be around 2-3 hours before at Airport. As most of the airlines open one counter and so long line. But DEL-ZRH should be ok in early april but can't bet on long lines. Delhi Airport is one of the very secure airport and so security always takes some extra time. For your convinience i am giving you the list of checks that you have to go thru
1. Airport Entry Security Check which checks your flight no and day of flight.
2. Inside Airport at your right or left Baggage security line(X-ray check) thru which you have to clear your luggage and get security stamp.
3. Airline Checkin counter line which will give you boarding pass.
4. Custom/Immigration line whcih chesk your passport and put a stamp on ticket.
5. Final gate entry security check. Make sure you have all your hand bag tagged in with the airline tag as they put a security stamp on each of your hand and cabin luggage.
6. Air plane door security check, This is the final security check which asks general question and check your Id.

Hope this would help :-)

Thanks for the info - security seems impressive ! I'll make sure I'll get to the airport 3 hours prior to departure.
Also, there's only one lounge ? or is there a dedicated lounge for Swiss / OneWorld ( BA ? ). Do you know if we can take a shower ?

No, there is no separate longue for Swiss Air/One World (BA). I don't know about the shower availability at DEL airport.

[This message has been edited by hka_mm (edited 03-25-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by france usa:
Maybe, booking a hotel near the airport and leaving early morning, returning in the evening to catch the 1:25 am flight ? Any suggestion is welcome ! Thanks for your help. Also, any nice restaurant while in Agra for lunch ? </font>

I am usually in Delhi from the 10th to the 26th of each month as of late, but in April I am not going to be able to make it back to India until the 16th, otherwise I would have offered a Delhi-Agra FT get together and my car/driver since I have yet to go to Agra.

You may want to note that it has started warming up in Delhi (meaning 80+ degrees in daytime sun), and due to dust, etc., you (or the flight crew and other passengers) will want a shower at a hotel or somewhere that day.

The closest international brand hotel to the airport is the Radisson which is relatively new and has good facilities and is the most convenient hotel to the airport (albeit transport will still be required).

If your flight is scheduled to arrive at 1.25 a.m., you will need between 30 minutes and 90 minutes to get out of the airport depending on immigration lines and baggage claim. Also, although the airline says your flight is arriving on schedule, that may not be the case in light of the changed routings in light of the war, with most flights from Europe to Delhi requiring substantially more flight time than many airlines are telling passengers.

[This message has been edited by GUWonder (edited 03-28-2003).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by hka_mm:
No, there is no separate longue for Swiss Air/One World (BA). I don't know about the shower availability at DEL airport.</font>

No shower availability at Delhi airport that a business traveller should consider and I have never been offered an arrival facility when flying in there. The lounges at the DEL airport itself are contract lounges operated by Oberoi and/or Sheraton and/or Maharaja lounge. They are basically the same and provide a more comfortable seating area that is better air conditioned and has basic drinks and nibbles and a very basic bathroom.

I cannot wait until the airports in India are privatized... I really cannot.

On the matter of airport security in India. They do a good job of going through the motions without providing any real security. I can tell you only too easily of the "security" in Srinagar Kashmir ("India's most secure airport"), Delhi (India's second most secure airports according to their own Civil Aviation Ministry) and Bombay's airports.

In Srinagar, Kashmir, if there is ever an incident of any sort within the airport building itself, only a miracle will save one from getting caught in the cross-fire between heavily armed "security" forces automatic fire, who are foolishly placed in a bi-level rectangular set-up most likely to kill innocent bystanders and each other as the guards are armed prinicipally with machine guns and are from various units whose joint-training as a cohesive team is basically non-existent.

In Delhi, I won't elaborate on the systemic weaknesses in security there, lest there are bad apples in the world who would exploit that, but there are some serious flaws.

Bombay airport security I am not as familiar with, but it appears to be much the same as Delhi's.

Hey france usa

How did your 24 Hr. stay in India turn out?
Were you able to ogle the Taj? http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Hotel/Travel to Agra arrangements?
Airport/Lounge experience?

[This message has been edited by JohnG (edited 07-30-2003).]