New to India Questions
 

I've never done group tours (just day tours once I'm already there), always done the backpacker thing, but I really have no idea what to expect with India. My travel style is to usually book a hotel, plan a few activities, then just spend my days walking around a city and exploring areas that seem interesting to me. As you know, wandering in Europe is easy, as the cities are mostly safe, pedestrian friendly (mostly), and there's a public transport system or taxis that can get you to where you want to go.

I've had a lot of conflicting advice about questions I've had whether to hire a driver/guide, booking trains, safety for women, safety of restaurants, walking around the cities, etc. I know that taxi drivers will probably try to overcharge you, but if its just a dollar or two, it doesn't matter to me.

I'm gonna try and keep my first trip to India somewhat simple. I'm flying into Delhi. I'll probably just stick to the tourist trail and do Delhi-Agra-Jaipur. And now...my barrage of questions!

1. Any other cities along that route or nearby I should see?
2. I've been told I need to book my tickets months in advance for long Indian Railway journeys, is that the case for these cities of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur?
3. Should I hire a private driver? If so, how? I'm not crazy about having a driver hang around me all day, as I can't imagine this is cheap or that he'd be useful as a tour guide. Especially when there are guided tours online of Delhi for $10-15
4. What would you advise me about restaurants? I know bottled water and avoid ice cubes.
5. Is India the kinda place where I can just walk out of the hotel and walk in any direction to explore? In Japan, I'd just get out of my hotel and walk. I have maps on my phone so I can always know where I am, but Japan has sidewalks and doesn't have touts trying to hassle you every step you take. I can deal with touts, but not if I'm gonna drown in them!
6. Any issues with safety I need to be concerned with?
7. We are a man and a woman traveling together, I was told that men and women can't ride together on the metro in Delhi.
8. Any other advice you'd pass onto me?

Thank you in advance!

My wife and I did the tourist triangle a couple of years ago. Somewhere in this forum (see this thread: first time india), I posted our itinerary. Below are some of my thoughts (where I think they may be helpful):

It was difficult to set-up an IRCTC account without an Indian mobile number (and with the website errors); but, eventually I got it to work. I liked booking our trains in advance so that we could take the specific trains we wanted. Honestly, while we really enjoyed the trains, if you didn't book in advance and they were sold-out when you were in India (and, I have no input as to the likelihood of that happening), it isn't really that expensive to hire a driver to take you between these cities...and finding a driver isn't difficult either.

We hired separate drivers in each city. Sometimes for a day, sometimes for 2 days. We pre-arranged NONE of them in advance. Drivers are probably cheaper than you think. For example, IIRC, the going rate for hiring a tuk tuk driver for the entire day in Jaipur was ~$8-$12. Also, some drivers can arrange for a tour guide too (we had a driver and tour guide go around with us in Agra).

we used yelp, tripadvisor, etc.

Some places, yes. Some places, no. We stayed in Connaught Place in Delhi and wandered around day and night without issue. We did not feel comfortable enough to walk around outside our hotel in Agra. Generally, I found the touts to be the worst at train stations.

Some places, yes. Some places, no. I was more concerned with pickpockets in crowded areas.
I have no idea; but, we just took tuk-tuks.
Places in India can be overwhelming even for seasoned travelers. You may appreciate the experience more after you leave. :)

Never heard the one about men and women not riding together on the metro. There are some women only cars. But a man and woman can ride together in the other cars.

Use cleartrip.com to book train tickets. It works surprisingly well.

Yes, you can just leave your hotel and walk, but bear in mind that Indian cities are intense - hot, noisy, cars, buses, bicycles, rickshaws and in some cases, cows. Walking is not always relaxing. The touts may be outside tourist sites, but otherwise you are unlikely to be bothered much.

If you are a man and woman together I wouldn't be too concerned about safety.

You don't say how long you are going for, but if you have extra time, Udaipur is well worth a visit. Or if you are pressed for time, you might consider doing Agra as a day trip from Delhi (though many are sure to disagree.) Other that the Taj Mahal, it is a rather crappy city.

not true....there are no restrictions to men & women traveling together on the metro....there are women only carts on the trains as well....just avoid those....