We had a few friends ask us over the past few weeks to share our North India trip itinerary. Figured it could be useful to others as well, so here it is! New Delhi, Agra and Jaipur makes up what is known as India’s Golden Triangle. On our trip, we added an additional stop in Jodhpur. Here’s our 7D/6N itinerary.
Day 1: Arrival in Delhi, Check into Hotel, Chill
The hotel we stayed at was Hotel Bright. It is located right in the middle of Connaught Place. Connaught Place are rows and rows of shops, restaurants, bakeries, fast food and bars. You should not miss Connaught Place when you visit New Delhi.
Photo Credit: Stephy Lim
Pros:
- Beautiful and cozy boutique hotel with modern, clean and excellent bathrooms
- Breakfast was included in our reservation – had a choice of western vs indian breakfast
- Located right in the Connaught Place
- Very affordable stay.
Cons:
- A little hard to find. The entrance is through a door on the ground floor. Hotel and lobby is on the second floor.
- The walk up the stairs might put some people off (it’s a narrow staircase and you pass a walkway with grafiti on the walls.
- The rooms we got didn’t have windows. It was OK for us since we wanted peace and quiet from all the traffic noise outside anyways
Conclusion: We highly recommend Hotel Bright for a short few days of stay in New Delhi.
Day 2: Delhi to Agra
After breakfast, we (there were 7 of us) were driven (our agent helped us rent a spacious 9-seater Tempo Traveler with a full time chauffeur who drove us around throughout our trip) to Agra. It was a 5-hour drive (including a bathroom stop and lunch). Here, we stayed at Gateway Hotel. After lunch, we visited Agra Fort and Sikandara.
A/C Tempo Traveler. A very comfy way to travel around India. Photo Credit: Stephy Lim
Pros:
- 4-star hotel at an affordable price, booked through priceline!
- Modern, high end hotel with comfy beds and a welcome drink. Friendly staff too!
Cons:
- None, really!
Conclusion: We highly recommend Gateway Hotel for a stay in Agra.
Day 3: Taj Mahal, Agra – Jaipur, Chokhi Dhani in Jaipur
We were at Taj Mahal by 6am in the morning. Read about our Taj Mahal experience here. After lunch, we drove to Jaipur. It was another 4 – 5 hour ride there. For dinner, we headed to Chokhi Dhani Cultural Village (it’s like an ethnic village theme park located 15km from Jaipur). It’s about 400 Rs for a basic entry and outdoor/floor seating buffet dinner. It’ll be 650 Rs for indoor A/C (with chairs) seating and a host of waiters bringing food to you (also all you can eat). Food was OK. It was all vegetarian though. The quality of the “theme park” could’ve been better. It was very dark with poor lighting. Most of the entertainment were very basic (people dancing, animal rides around the area, fortune tellers etc…). In Jaipur, we stayed at Hotel Four Points by Sheraton. Highly recommend the hotel. It was comfy, great customer service and modern.
Conclusion: Don’t set high expectations when visiting Chokhi Dhani. Visit if you don’t have anything else planned. Recommended hotel: Hotel Four Points by Sheraton
Day 4: Jaipur Sightseeing
Amber Fort is a must visit whenever you visit Jaipur. The royal family (including the king’s 12 wives) used to live here. This is also where you get to go on the famous elephant ride. Tipping for the elephant drivers are expected at the end of the ride. Our english guide at Amber Fort told us 50Rs per elephant was the going rate for tips. On the way down, you can either hire a car to drive you down or walk down. I’d recommend walking down. The walk down is via a path separate from the way you came up on the elephant (the path is filled with elephant poo & pee!). On the way back, we made a photo stop at Hawa Mahal (Palace of Winds). Other places to visit include City Palace and Jantar Mantar.
Conclusion: Amber Fort is a must visit. Hawa Mahal is a nice photo stop.
Shot of Hawa Mahal
Day 5: Jaipur – Jodhpur
After breakfast, we made our way to Jodhpur (another 5 – 6 hour drive). At Jodhpur, we drove another 65km to Osian Village. We then visited Jain temple (we were there at night. We’d recommend going during the day instead) and went on a camel ride. Our stay in Jodhpur was at Hotel Pal Haveli (It’s a heritage hotel where each room is unique). You need to go past a market in order to get to this hotel. At certain times of the day, cars are not allowed through, so you may then have to carry your bags out onto the main street to catch your cab. The A/C in the rooms were more like fans. We do not recommend this hotel unless you love architecture, history and don’t mind the hassle of going through a market to get there. What we do like about it is the roof top restaurant. Food was satisfactory but expensive.
Conclusion: Osian Village is a nice side trip. But if you only have 7D6N for a Golden Triangle visit, I’d say skip Jodhpur. Pal Haveli is not for everyone.
Day 6: Jodhpur Sightseeing, Train ride back to New Delhi
Mehrangarh Fort is a must visit for Jodhpur. Entrance fee was 300 Rs (students, 250Rs). We also paid the extra 20 Rs to take the elevator ride up 150ft to the top (worth it!). From there, you’ll learn why Jodhpur is known as the “Blue City”. We’ll write more about our visit to the Fort in a future blog post. A couple other places to visit in Jodhpur include the Fort Museum, Jaswant Thada, Carpet factories, Mandore Gardens, Umaid Bhawan Palace (70% luxury hotel, 30% actual palace). We wanted to go on a Bishnoi Village Tour but did not have time. We also heard that you can learn to cook at Spice Paradise.
We then boarded an overnight train from Jodhpur back to New Delhi. This was one of the fun memories we had on our trip. More to come about our train ride in a future post!
Conclusion: Mehrangarh Fort is a must visit in Jodhpur.
Day 7: Arrived in New Delhi (5:30am), New Delhi Sightseeing
We had a full day of sightseeing in New Delhi. There are plenty to do in New Delhi. It was a sweltering 110 degrees Fahrenheit when we were there, so we didn’t go to too many places. TIP: Do not go to India during summer! We went to Chandni Chowk (worth a visit!). Jama Masjid is in the same area, so worth a visit too. After a full day of sightseeing, our family headed home. Jeremy and I stayed an extra day in New Delhi.
Conclusion: Our 7-day itinerary was a little packed. If we were to do it again, we’d skip Jodhpur just so we’d have more time in New Delhi.
We hope this will help you plan your itinerary!
Do you have a different itinerary to suggest for visiting India’s Golden Triangle? Do share in our comments section!
[notification type=”star”]REMEMBER:
- 7-days is sufficient to visit the golden triangle (New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur).
- If you want to go to Jodhpur, add at least 2 more days.
- Taj Mahal and Agra Fort is a must visit in Agra.
- Amber Fort is a must visit in Jaipur.
- Only visit Chokhi Dhani if you don’t have anything else planned in Jaipur.
- Mehrangarh Fort is a must visit in Jodhpur.
- Chandni Chowk is a must visit in India.
- Buy and eat lots of mangoes while you’re in India! They are mouth watering, juicy, sweet and delicious!
- Go to India when the weather is milder (e.g. Not summer). It’s just way too hot to really be able to “wander” around comfortably. We wished we had been able to walk around more than we did (we were driven around in A/C traveler from place to place). It was so hot during midday that we really couldn’t have enjoyed a proper “wandering about” even if we did so. Wandering around in the morning and late in the evening was fine. Just not during midday.
31 Comments
-
{India} Indias Golden Triangle, 7-day Itinerary http://t.co/RmwOmZtj
-
I visited all these places last year on my trip to India, we also visited much of Rajasthan. India is really an amazing place, this post reminded me how much I want to go back. I spent five weeks there and it wasn’t nearly enough, I wish I had 6 months to a year to spend in India!
Joe recently posted..Project 365 – Day 52
-
Author
I know what you mean, Joe! We were only there for a week and had to cram a lot into that short 7 days we were there. We too wished we had a lot more time to explore. Well I guess that just means one thing for both you and I –> another trip to India!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{USA} Surfing with Goofy Foot Surfing School in Maui
-
-
That sounds like a wonderful 7 Day Trip. Hawa Mahal looks just awesome !
Sailor recently posted..Getting What You Pay For Aboard Luxury Cruise Ships-
Yes it was an awesome trip. I’d recommend not going at the peak of summer though. It was too hot for us to fully enjoy the place. Oh well – that’s an opportunity for us to go back again!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{Tips} If nothing else, take these 3 photographs on your travels
-
-
The building is UNREAL ! Totally awesome ! I am sure i wont go to India (well for sure not this year) Good there are others that are taking photos for me!
Marlene recently posted..Get a degree fast-
Yea – can you believe this building is in the middle of a row of regular shophouses? You see fabric stores, coffee stores, then BAM, this shows up in the row of stores! Definitely amazing. There’s more photos of India we’ve taken. Don’t forget to check out the other posts!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Paradise on Earth, Taj Mahal
-
-
Thx for the RT @eileenludwig Happy Friday!! //RT {India} India’s Golden Triangle, 7-day Itinerary http://t.co/0rCBKUW
-
I loved Jaipur! I also went to Chokhi Dhani, Amber Fort, and Hawa Mahal – the City Palace is a great stop too and also the Observatory near it – it’s got hundreds year old sundials and stuff, very neat if you are into that stuff.
-
We went to the same places! It definitely is a country rich in culture and history!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{Tips} If nothing else, take these 3 photographs on your travels
-
-
Great itinerary and pics. Probably won’t get to India so this is a nice way to learn and will have to use books too and of course the Internet
Eileen Ludwig recently posted..Where in the World am I? August 3-
Thanks Eileen! Never say never 🙂 You might just find yourself in India one day 😉
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{Japan} Our Ryokan Experience at Noboribetsu, Hokkaido
-
-
Sounds wonderful. We are planing on a North Indian trip soon. We live in the South part of India now and my wife wants to see Taj Mahal. She wants to show her picture in front of it to her friends back in her home. As an expat she never got a chance to visit the north part and I think it is my duty to show my wife the Taj Mahal :D. Your blog is very helpful and even tho most of my life I lived in India never knew much about these parts as much as you know.
Sailor recently posted..Cruising Makes Passengers Feel Extreme…Something-
You should definitely visit the Taj Mahal since you live in India now. Don’t forget to check out Ladakh if you have the time too!
Great to know you’re finding our posts helpful! That is what we’ve been aiming to do – to inspire, to help and to share the knowledge we’ve gained throughout our travels! Feel free to let us know if you have questions about our experience! Thanks again for taking the time to leave a comment!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Juleh, the Magic Word in Leh
-
-
When we traveled to India for three weeks with my graduate program we basically had this same itinerary… but we spent WAY too long in New Delhi. If it had been up to me, we would have spent most of our time in Jaipur! It was by far my favorite place, and the fort and palace are gorgeous.
Christy recently posted..Housesitting in London: Check out our Crib-
Yes, Jaipur is absolutely beautiful with the fort and the palace! We had an awesome time exploring the fort there and looking down at the city from up high – excellent photo op from the fort. Thanks for dropping by, Christy!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{Worldwide} Our 7 Links, What You May Have Missed the Past 7 Months
-
-
Great itinerary! I admit I don’t know much about India so a good chance to learn more about the country and this area. Like the photo of the Hawa Mahal.
Jeremy Branham recently posted..Part II A day in the lives of Scottish Games professional athletes-
Thanks Jeremy! Hope we’ll be able to share enough to introduce you to this beautiful country! Our next trip to India would be to the South. We heard the Southern Indian cuisine over at Kerala is a don’t miss!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} India’s Golden Triangle, 7-day Itinerary
-
-
Hawa Mahal is incredible! I had never seen a photo of it before.
Stephanie – The Travel Chica recently posted..My Delicious Splurge in Buenos Aires-
Yes, Hawa Mahal looks amazing. It’s actually in the middle of a busy street. We drove along this street and then BAM, the Hawa Mahal was right in the middle between stores!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Juleh, the Magic Word in Leh
-
-
Love this, as we have India on our list and have been researching itinerary ideas. I don’t know about 120 degrees though. Sheesh!
kent recently posted..From Glacier NP to Glacier Bay NP-
You just reminded us that we should put a recommendation to NOT go during summer. Well… 120 degrees might’ve been an exaggeration. It was more like 110! Still hot though!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} India’s Golden Triangle, 7-day Itinerary
-
-
Oh, this itinerary reminds me of my trip to India in 2010. I visited all of these places on your list. India is full of surprises around every corner 🙂
Nomadic Samuel recently posted..Bicycle | Dali, China | Travel Photo-
India sure is full of surprises! A little bit of culture shock sometimes but that’s part of the awesomeness of traveling in a country with a different culture than yours! 🙂
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Juleh, the Magic Word in Leh
-
-
Looks like a great itinerary. Love the photo of the Amber Fort.
Kris Koeller recently posted..Tour of the Roosevelt Homes in Hyde Park, New York-
Thank you, Kris! It’s always good to have you here!! Looks like we messed up and forgot to properly label the photo. We’ve fixed that 🙂 The picture you see above is the Hawa Mahal. We have so many photos of Amber Fort we’d have to spend another weekend sifting through the pile to share a post on it 🙂 Happy Monday!!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Overnight at 15,000ft @Pangong Tso
-
-
So love how you make it simple to read about your travels and know where to stay and go. I’m planning a trip to India next year with not a clue as where to start and so this inspires me to get going on the planning. Thank you both.
I love your posts.
Jo
-
Hi Jo, you just made my day 🙂 It is for this exact reason (helping and inspiring others to travel) that we started our blog. We’re so happy that it has inspired you to get going! Let us know if you have questions and we’re more than willing to share our experiences and what we learnt on our trip.
Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. It makes us feel that we’re making a tiny impact by inspiring others!
Idelish (Jeremy & Shirlene) recently posted..{India} Is Khardung La really the Highest Motorable Pass in the World?
-
