first time india
 

Hello ft community,

once again i need your advice :)

Me and my wife are thinking about a trip to India in Winter(January?), we will be in Asia and want to do a sidetrip.

We are going BKK - DEL - SIN

I was thinking about 8-15 days in India.

x night DEL
2 nights Agra / Taj Mahal - i read everywhere that 2 nights/1full day is enough..... ( ITC / 4P / DT ? want to redeem points )

Train to Agra is safe for me and my wife ?

5 nights Goa ( i have booked a mistake rate from otel @ Holiday Inn which is still confirmed


How many days would you suggest in Delhi ?
Where to go else ? ( i have racked up some SPG points... )
Can you suggest something ?


My wife is very scared because of the "rape" stories....
how safe is india ? we only have experience of travelling in US, europe and south east asia...


thanks for your help !
best forum ever

keep in mind that january is fog season in north india so you are looking at a lot of delayed flights & trains....

i like the itc....2 days would be enough....

very safe....

i'm not a big fan of goa....there are many other places you can go to....

2 days would be enough....if you want to use spg points then the sheraton as a cat 2 is amazing value on points....

safe....very safe....

thanks ( i was actually hoping for your reply :-) )


where to go instead of goa in your opinion ?

fog season - first time i ever heard of that. is december any better ?

should we add jaipur ?

i would definitely go to jaipur over goa....

fog season lasts for most of december & january....avoid morning or evening flights/trains & you should be fine....

The "first class" train that leaves early in the morning and returns in the evening from Delhi to Agra is very safe and is worth taking for the experience. I took it to Agra and was driven back, which is not a bad way to go as you can leave Agra when you want on your own schedule.

I have been to both Delhi and Mumbai and would choose Mumbai over Delhi as a tourist destination. I haven't been to Goa, but if you want to cut that a bit short you could easily add a couple days in Mumbai as they are fairly close.

My biggest recommendation is to avoid taxis and arrange for a car and driver for the days you want to go sightseeing. For 8 hours/80KM it shouldn't cost you much more than $40 US.

Any recommendations on how to book a car and driver (New Delhi or Jaipur to Agra and back)? I know that this could be sorted out by the hotel concierge but when they charge 600 USD for a 1way Delhi-Agra (like I just have read in another thread) :rolleyes: .

I would love to explore the train option, but I'm having a hard time to find anything about schedule and costs on http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ ? How long does it take from Delhi to Agra? And it seems you consider the first class train safe, but what about travelling as a female with an 11 year old child? I'm quite worried at that point, given the recent trends in India :(.

I should point out that I am male, so my experience might be different than yours. I booked a day trip a year ago from Delhi to Agra return from a company I found on tripadvisor (I'll see if I can find it in my files). There are quite a few companies which you can book these trips through and they all seem to be around the same price. I was by myself and I think the price was around $150 US--this included all transportation, a guide, entrance to sites and lunch. I could have got the trip both ways in the car or both on the train but chose to go to Agra on the train and return in the car. I was picked up from my hotel in the morning and driven to the train station in Delhi by a driver who made sure I got on the correct train (they booked the ticket for me which was included in the cost of the day tour). The train was nice and safe and they fed you a decent multi-course breakfast. I was picked up in Agra by the guide and driver who took me first to the Taj Mahal and then a couple of other sites and then lunch and then to a carpet factory. The driver drove me back to Delhi when I was done. Delhi to Agra on the train was about 2 hours and it was a little more than this by car. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your kind help!

If anybody would be looking for train schedules to or from Agra, this is not a bad place to start (Maps of India)
http://www.mapsofindia.com/railway-t...gra-cantt.html .

Unfortunately I will be on a tight schedule which makes the train not the best option. I will have to look for a driver. I did notice that Uber (Uber Black incl) operates in Jaipur and Delhi. Anybody any experiences for Uber in India? I did some research on Tripadvisor for a chauffeur service, but it seems like half of the Indian drivers community are trying to pick up clients on that forum :D.

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.

Sounds good. This Will be a great idea.

The Taj is closed on Fridays, in case you were thinking of a day trip.

I am probably being somewhat crazy even considering this, but how doable is the below do you (FT / India experts) think? Have a narrow (very narrow) window for a trip, holidays I can't carry over and saw a nice fare I can use an expiring upgrade voucher for business class on....

Arrive DEL Wednesday morning (before 9am) - get car to Agra
Wednesday afternoon and part of Thursday in Agra - car to Jaipur on Thursday afternoon
Friday in Jaipur
Car to Delhi on Saturday morning - drop bag at airport hotel and do some sightseeing / meet friend for lunch / dinner if around, catch flight home a bit after midnight

Am wondering if it's better to stay Agra on Thursday night and only leave Jaipur on Saturday afternoon - and drag friend out to an airport hotel for dinner on Saturday night... Trying to nail down my thinking before I mention that I might be in the vicinity!

(Thanks in advance - and I am cheating somewhat as I did spend a few days in Mumbai for work years back, so first time holiday in India!)

I used Uber quite frequently in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bangalore last year. Drivers are almost always prompt, polite, and efficient. The only recurring issue was with addresses, which are very inexact and India. Drivers would often call for clarification, and their Hinglish can be difficult to understand at first. It's useful to be proactive, find a prominent landmark, and text it to them when they are en route.

you can ads jaisalmer
 

I know this is quite a serious topic but seriously Indian administration is quite serious of our safety. I am in India and I think you both should visit. This country has a high seat of spiritual knowledge.
When it comes to shopping, you can have fun while enjoying tourist destinations here. There you can shop diamond and gold jewelry with high carat and authenticity certification. I shopped diamond bracelet here @ khannajewelsco Dot Com
You can contact by call also @ 91-9313808347