Hi All,

The wife and I are arriving in Delhi at the beginning of Feb for a week. We have pencilled in the Taj of course, but looking to spend a couple of days elsewhere.

My actual question is to ask whether it is worth trying to go to Amritsar? I have a friend who lives there, and he of course tells me that it is the best place in India. Can anyone disavow me of that and suggest another location to go to?

Which would YOU choose out of:

Jodhpur; Jaipur; Jaisalmer; Udaipur; or any other place? Any national parks that are a must see? Any other place of interest not too crammed with Western tourist?!

I like the idea of seeing some mountains up north, but I gather that is too far to go given the limited time we have... Also I don't want to spend the week on the road, be it bus or train, so not toooo far from Delhi would be best I guess.

Thanks a lot!

amritsar in feb is COLD! i wk is very little time!!u can either do delhi(1.5 days)-jaipur(bus trip 6hrs)(2.5days)-bharatpur bird sanctuary(overnight stay)-agra/fathehpur sikri(rent a car with driver,wld not recommend staying in agra overnight)-delhi(fast train)-amritsar(shatabadi train). u can ask ure friend to take u to the wagah border. that would be interesting. or just stick to teh golden triangle and see more than jaipur in rajastan. sorry u wil be spending a lot of time on the road!!! or stay in delhi, fly to goa and back to delhi. goa will eb warmerr....i would recommend amritsar since u have a friend there and u will be taken care of there...its hard to compare the locations as tehy are in different states and culturally very different....

Of the towns you listed, I liked Jodhpur the best and found the mountaintop fortress to be very impressive. The town is relatively free of hassle and you can get the best saffron lassis at the shop in the main square or the old town near the clock tower. It is on the right entering the square from the newer part of the city. They were only about $0.30 US cents and one could be a meal. (I always had two.)

Jaisalmer has an impressive fort with elaborate Jain Temples.

Jaipur was very commercial and toursity. While it had some great forts and temples, I thought Jodhpur was more impressive as the fort was built on a cliff that rose right up in the center of the town

Udaipur I didn't go to so can't speak accurately about it

I spent a month in India and the most hassle free untouristed place was Bundi (in the same neighborhood as Jodhpur and Jaipur). It was the only two day stretch where someone did not ask me to buy something or hassel me which trust me is a rare find in India. There is a huge mountaintop fortress that is free to enter full of monkeys, old halls, wells,temples,etc. As it was free there were no restrictions. I spent about three hours in the fort completely alone. No one else was up there. It was a little intimidating to be in this huge place alone (except for the monkeys) with the wind whistling between the buildings. It was fun though and you really could feel like Indiana Jones. One could walk on the massive walls and look out over the valleys far below. There is also a large palace in the town that one can visit by paying. The town also has city walls.

In one week, it would be impossible to see all the places.
Suggest you to see:
Delhi,Jaipur,Agra and Amritsar. With trsndportstion s,omg these cities, your one week would be over!
Yes.Amrisar is a very nice place if you are into sprituality.
Remember early Feb would still be cold in all these places.

whatever you choose, have a nice trip.

Left India a couple of months back on a RTW journey. Spent all our time in Rajasthan. Jaisalmer was wonderful but is probably too far for such a short trip (12+ hr train ride, though you could fly), Jaipur is (as others have said) probably the least awesome/most touristy but there is a lot to see even if you'll be exhausted by the time you've seen it all, Udaipur was pretty but underwhelming (mostly just the palace museum, the lake was low and the boat tour to the island just so-so).

If you want more info, there are posts on my website with travel tips at the end of most of them about each of these cities, including restaurants, backpacker/cheaper hotels, and sites.

I spent a week in Delhi in January once. Spent the whole time hiding in my hotel from the Arctic cold.

A week is a short time and I wouldn't do more than three cities. Remember that transportation in India is very slow. Just getting around Delhi takes forever because there is so much traffic. I would spend three days in Delhi, 1-2 days in Agra stopping at Fatehpur Sikri on the way, and 1-2 days in one Rajasthan city (maybe Jodhpur or Jaipur). Assuming that you are directly landing from the U.S., you are also going to be struggling with jet lag on the first day and my first day in India is usually fairly useless while I wander around getting used to the time change.