Itinerary for North India - Help!

by Michelle
(New Zealand)

Hi Amanda, we are wanting to travel to India in November this year and have 2 or 3 weeks to do so. I am mainly gonna focus on the north as we want to see the following: New Dehli, Agra (Taj Mahal), Varanasi (the ganges), a few places in Rajastahn (Amber fort, camel safari etc) and maybe some tiger spotting.

Is this do able in this amount of time? We would be taking local transport, trains etc.

Could you suggest a route for this trip? Also do you have another suggestions for must-see places in India?

What sort of daily budget would I be looking at also?

Thanks so much, i love your website :) have found it so helpful in planning my India and SE Asia trip for later this year :)

Michelle


Answer: Hey Michelle, I just got back from India and did almost the same route when I traveled in the north.

In 2 weeks I went to Varanasi, Jaipur, Pushkar and Delhi. It was an OK amount of time, and you can spend in average 3 days at one place which is OK. If I was you, I would 'finish off' Varanasi first since it's located in the other end of the region.

If you have 3 weeks a suggestion would be:

START: Delhi (1 day) --> straight to Varanasi with a night train (it's 11-12 hour journey). You can spend 3-4 days in Varanasi and just get lost in the ghats which is quite interesting --> Agra (1 day) -- if you arrive there in the morning you can even leave in the afternoon same day -- a real tourisy and crowded place --> Jaipur/Amber Fort (2-3 days) --> my favorite place in Rajasthan: Pushkar (3 days) --> Jodhpur (2 days) --> Jaisalmer for camel safari (3 days) --> Delhi (2 days).

For camel safari you can choose between Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Bikaner is supposed to be less crowded and touristy, but Jaisalmer is quite popular among tourists and travelers.

Pushkar is very lovely and relaxed compared to other places in north India. A small town with hippie vibes, beautiful ghats and good street food. PS: Don't stay at Hotel Oasis, unless you want to hear trance music all day, and all night long.

Jodhpur is called the 'Blue City' so there must be something special there. At least many travelers have recommended it to me when I was planning my trip to India.

No need to stay for a long time in Delhi. Old Delhi is really... really dirty, noisy, heavily trafficked, and beyond madness. I just wanted to get out of there! But New Delhi is much more nicer, broader streets and lots of space, many museums there. Visited the Gandhi museum and enjoyed it quite a lot! Lotus temple was also fascinating (and entrance is free).

Budget: If you stick to sightseeing, trains, cheap food (100 Rs per meal for example), maybe 10,000 rs Rs per week. Taj Mahal cost 750 Rs alone! And Amber Fort -- 200 Rs. Train is very cheap if you take the sleeper class.

10,000 Rs per week is what I used when I was there.... (that's included a little bit shopping like souvenirs and cheap pants).

Hope this helps!

Amanda

Posted: April 8, 2011