Keyser, would you say there are any pros or cons to the order we visit the cities, based on the fact that we'll be arriving into DEL in the afternoon?

Now that I look at a few websites, it seems you can't fly Delhi-Agra, but can fly Delhi-Jaipur. Leads me to think we should think about doing them the opposite order from what I suggested above. Grab bags from our KTM flight, head straight to a Jaipur flight. Spend 2 days Jaipur, take a car or train to Agra for 2 days, then train to Delhi for a few days before departing out of DEL.

i would go with this itinerary....a few friends of mine visiting from france did the exact same thing last month....

Are you sure? A couple of those states have gotta be like "Indian Arkansas", right? Maybe knock out 20 in a week and call it good?

Not really. Every state has an Arkansas part, and a Colorado/California/New York part as well. State lines aren't drawn on how boring the area is

You doing a disservice to Arkansas, man.

Honestly though (and no offense to anyone), there is not much reason to tour states like Bihar, Jharkand, West Bengal (ex-Darjeeling, unless you're planning to join the Maoist insurgency ); Andhra Pradesh, Orissa (unless you want to temple hop); or Haryana (don't bother, just get on a flight to Singapore ).

You're underestimating these places.
Bihar has really interesting ancient buildings like Mahabodhi Temple, Vishnupada Temple, Sasaram, Patliputra, Maner Sharif (and this is just off the top of my head)
Jharkhand has Khandoli Dam and Latehar, although I agree that there is much less to see than a lot of other states. I've heard that it's a really good place for adventure tourism..
West Bengal has not only Darjeeling, but also Calcutta. Calcutta is a very historic city, and it's called "city of palaces" for a reason...
Andhra Pradesh has Tirupati, Hyderabad. Even Vishakapatnam (Vizag) is a nice city... Vizag has an ancient Simhachalam temple, Totlakonda (Buddhist site), the beaches are really nice, and to my great amusement, they even had a submarine museum.
Orissa has plenty of temple hopping opportunity It also has the nicest beaches I've seen in India, and lots of interesting birds for bird watchers.
I will admit that there is nothing to do in Haryana...

Y'all took me seriously. I realize it'd take years to properly visit an entire large country like India.

We're probably going to visit 4-5 total places, none of which are really all that far from Delhi. Three states maybe? I imagine we'll be back some other time to visit other parts.

One week can be enough for a quick visit to Delhi - Agra - Jaipur if you have a well planned itinerary with a driver...It will be quick...and a little hectic...but OK

You can see culture, heritage of Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur if you do a Golden Triangle tour.

India is not so homogenous that there is only 1 culture and heritage - the India you find in Tamil Nadu is different from the India in Gujarat, or the India in Mizoram.

Hi,

I am planning a 14 day trip to Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. The suggestion of leaving Agra at the end is a very good one. I have a few questions:

1. How easy is it to connect at DEL from a UA flight to a domestic flight? Since the domestic flight will likely be on a different ticket, what are possibility of miss connect?

2. What is the way to sequence the cities considering the easy of travel. I understand Jaipur and Agra should be left as the last two cities due to lack of air travel in/out of Agra.

3. Are there an advantages in using local agents for hotel, train and air ticket booking? If yes, does anyone have agents they an recommend.

which airline will you be connecting to????if its jet, kingfisher or air india then it will be from the same terminal....if its one of the lcc airlines then you will have to change terminals....

no real advantage but let me know if you are interested in a local agent & i'll pm you the details....

How much time should I allow between, UA flight and a Jet Or AI flight?

it all depends on the time of day & how busy the airport is....

i've done an international to domestic transfer in a little over 30 minutes but i would not recommend doing it unless you have a couple of hours....3 to be absolutely safe....

Thanks. Would you PM a couple of agent? I am hoping their services can save time for making taxi, hotel and train bookings.

After going through your post I will say it is very difficult to visit India in one week. But you can visit some part of India. In one week North India region is suitable for you. you can easily spend time in the states like Rajasthan, UP, Himanchal, etc, but before that you need to book flight according to your time.

It is also difficult to travel without help of tour operator. so you need to take suggestion from a travel agent and they can help you.