3 weeks in india where to go what to see ? ( on a budget! )

Hi there

Im planning a 3 week trip to India beginning on the last week in Feb.

I was hoping to fly into Dehli and from there,
visit the Taj at Agra,
Varanasi,
The Golden temple in the Punjab,
Do a camel safari in Rajasthan.
Ajanta and Ellora.
Holi would be amazing to get involved with too!

I would also love to get down to Palolem beach, Hampi and Kerela but im fairly sure I'm not going to have time!

If any one can help l would love to know if I have missed out anything such as what I can catch along the way, which route I should take or any other advice it all would be greatly appriciated!!!

And I know 3weeks is nowhere near enough time to see even one small corner of this amazing place.
Also I'll be traveling alone but if anyone is going to be around I'd love to meet up and sink a kingfisher or 3 and explore some part of Inda with some one likeminded !

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Leon

[ Edit: Edited on 12-Jan-2010, at 17:05 by India3week ]

Hello Leon,

You plan looks pretty good but I have few suggestions.

1. As u mentioned u want to enjoy holi I would suggest you to see holi in Mathura. This is a religious place just 60KM from Agra. AFAIK its the best holi u can see in India. Its called as lath maar holi :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lath_mar_Holi

2. With place u have mentioned I would suggest following route :

Fly in to Mumbai -> Ajanta Ellora -> Jaisalmer ( for camel safari ) -> Golden Tample -> Agra -> Varanasi -> Fly back from delhi.

You might need to change ur plans a little based on the flight bookings have done .

Kerala more is impossible with ur duration but ya from Ajanta Elora u can give a shot to Goa and Hampi too. AFAIK u get direct Bus from Goa to Hampi . I am visiting Hampi tomorrow and will update you more abt it in next few days.

Enjoy and have wonderful trip.

hey leon, thats a lot u want to do in 3 weeks, i suggest focus and experience it well.

piyush has an plan ... else you could fly into delhi

Delhi 2 days
Agra 1-2 days
Varanasi 2 days
A week up with travelling of a day in between

One week in Rajasthan
Jaipur & outskirts 2-3 days
Jodhpur 2 days

Move to Mumbai from Jodhpur
1-2 days mumbai
2-3 days ajanta ellora

fly out of mumbai

cheers!