In case it helps others...

My wife and I spent a week in India (our first trip there) in November 2013. Our itinerary was as follows:

DELHI (1.5 DAYS): Sun., Nov. 24, 2013 (arrive 7:45am) until Mon., Nov. 25, 2013 (depart 2:05pm)
Hotel: Radisson Blu Marina Hotel Connaught Place [2 nights] (38,000 Goldpoints & $0.00 per nt.)
[Hotel reservation began Sat., Nov. 23, 2013 so our confirmed room will be ready upon arrival]

DEPART NEW DELHI & ARRIVE AGRA: Mon., Nov. 25, 2013
2:05pm-5:10pm - NDLS-AGC -- NDLS Jabalpur “Superfast” Express #12191 (Class: First AC (1AC)) [3h 05m]
(1,228 INR Rs. aka $19.50 per person)

AGRA (2 DAYS): Mon., Nov. 25, 2013 (arrive 5:10pm) until Wed., Nov. 27, 2013 (depart 4:20pm)
Hotel: Radisson Blu Agra Taj East Gate [2 nights] (28,000 Goldpoints & $0.00 per nt.)

DEPART AGRA & ARRIVE JAIPUR: Wed., Nov. 27, 2013
4:20pm-7:50pm - AF-JP -- Shatabdi Express #12036 (Class: First AC (1AC) Exec. Chair) [3h 30m]
(1,024.5 INR Rs. aka $16.27 per person)

JAIPUR (~1 FULL DAY): Wed., Nov. 27, 2013 (arrive 7:50pm) until Fri., Nov. 29, 2013 (depart 6:00am)
Hotel: Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Jaipur [2 nights] (28,000 Goldpoints & $0.00 per nt.)

DEPART JAIPUR & ARRIVE NEW DELHI: Fri., Nov. 29, 2013
6:00am-10:30am - JP-DEE -- DEE Double Decker #22985 (Class: First AC (1AC) Exec. Chair) [4h 30m]
(1,085.5 INR Rs. aka $17.24 per person)

NEW DELHI (2 DAYS): Fri., Nov. 29, 2013 (arrive 10:30am) until Sun., Dec. 1, 2013 (depart 9:30am)
Hotel: Radisson Blu Marina Hotel Connaught Place [2 nights] (38,000 Goldpoints & $0.00 per nt.)


We really enjoyed taking the trains - seeing the countryside (especially sunrise on our way back to Delhi) from the train was enjoyable; so, I recommend daytime trains. However, it is pretty annoying to purchase train tickets for Indian trains in advance without an Indian mobile phone from abroad; but, I used the email work around.

DELHI - there are a lot of attractions to see; so, our ~3 days was pretty filled (especially because traffic can be pretty bad at peak times).

AGRA - we really enjoyed being able to visit the Taj at dawn (and linger for a couple of hours afterwards as the sun lit the building and it looked like it changed colors). Also, more time gave us the opportunity to visit Fatehpur Sikri (which one could do along the way if one took a driver from Agra to Jaipur instead of the train).

JAIPUR - we probably could have used more than a single day to explore; but, we packed-in what we could.


Drivers - we did not arrange for a single driver in advance of our trip - we found drivers at each of our destinations upon/after arrival. Some may be uncomfortable with this; so, I won't really say anything other than that we had no problems and had very good and enjoyable drivers (and guides when we wanted them).

Safety - we generally felt safe. However, we limited where we went after sunset.