India Travel Planning MADE EASY 5 Day Itinerary For First Timers

Bom Oliver

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Transcript

00:00Hi, I'm Garrett, and this is my wife Lauren. We are spare time travel vloggers on a six-week

00:05adventure through India, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam. Over the next five days, we'll be

00:10exploring northern India's famous Taurus Triangle. This travel circuit is considered a great

00:15introduction to India for first-time visitors. It offers a mix of history, culture, architecture,

00:21heritage sites, and sightseeing. Just five short days, we packed in the highlights of Delhi, Agra,

00:26and Jaypur. We got to see a wonder of the world, explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites,

00:30and eat some delicious food. We organized this self-travel itinerary to see a lot in a little

00:36amount of time, and we are pumped to share our experiences with you. Let's start with some

00:42logistics and an itinerary overview. Most people start and end their Golden Triangle adventure in

00:46New Delhi, since that is where the large international airport is located. We opted to fly into Delhi,

00:51where we spent two nights with one full day of sightseeing. We flew Indigo for our flights in

00:56India and had a great experience. All our flights were on time, and the service was great. Then we

01:01hired a driver to take us from Delhi to Agra, where we spent one night. There are trains and buses that

01:06will take you from city to city on this tourist loop. However, due to the short amount of time we

01:10had and our preference for convenience of pickup and drop-off directly from the hotel, we opted to

01:14hire a private driver. A one-way transfer cost us $67. We'll leave a link in the description for the

01:21transfer that we booked. It even included a stop for some highway chai.

01:24I got some highway chai, highway masala, so risking it all.

01:30In comparison, you can get a first-class train ticket for about $15 US dollars. And after an

01:37amazing sunrise at the Taj Mahal, we hired a driver to take us from Agra to Jaypur, where we spent

01:41another two nights. And while exploring each city, getting from place to place, we recommend Uber. It

01:47is relatively affordable, reliable, and does have a set price for the transportation. So if you're not

01:52good at bargaining, we recommend Uber. You can even order an Uber tuk-tuk, which is really fun. Since we

01:58were headed to the airport to get to our next destination anyways, we opted to fly from Jaypur

02:02to Delhi and go onward from there. Overall, we had five nights in India, four full days of sightseeing,

02:08and a transit day on either end. The time of year you choose to visit India will make a big difference

02:14on if you enjoy your trip or if you feel like you're going to sweat to death. We visited in February and

02:19the weather was fantastic. If you can avoid the summer months when it's sweltering, we'd highly advise

02:24that. We want to thank the sponsor of this video, Sim Local. It can be tough to find a cost-effective

02:29solution to stay connected when traveling. But Sim Local's eSim allows you to select your destination

02:34country and desired data mount for a tailored plan. Sim Local offers eSim services in 150 plus countries

02:41and their plans are based on local prices. Sim Local will give you a 100% refund if your travel plans

02:47change. Click the link in the description and use this code for 10% off at checkout. Okay, thank you

02:52Sim Local and now back to the video. With all of that out of the way, let's dive into where we stayed,

02:58what we did, and everything we ate in each city. We're in Delhi.

03:01Our flight got in about 3 a.m. so we picked a hotel that was close to the airport so we didn't

03:09have to travel all the way into Delhi. So we're actually staying in Aero City, which is just

03:13basically five minutes from the airport, which was super convenient. We are staying here for the next

03:18two nights and we're going to explore. Depending on what you want to do in Delhi, there are so many

03:23places to stay and this is an important decision because it'll take you a lot longer than you think

03:28to get to places because there's so much traffic. If I could go back and do it all over again,

03:33I would stay somewhere closer to central Delhi, probably the Khanna place area. It's centrally

03:38located. It's close to a bunch of major attractions and public transportation and it felt like we spent

03:44a lot of time just trying to get from place to place in various Ubers. First stop in any new city is

03:49always food. We are headed next to Bukhara. It's a world-renowned restaurant. The Clintons,

03:55Arnold Schwarzenegger, a whole bunch of people have eaten there and it is one of the best

03:59northern Indian restaurants supposedly in the world.

04:09At this restaurant, there are no utensils so you have to get like the locals and eat with your hands.

04:14It's messy, but very, very delicious and everything is just so scoopable.

04:22Okay, we just finished at the restaurant and it was absolutely delicious, but it was very,

04:27very expensive. I think we spent like 6,000 rupees, which is like a pretty absurd, I'm not gonna lie,

04:33but it was good. I would say it was worth the expense, but we're gonna have to find some cheaper

04:38alternatives later on the line. Now we're gonna go see some of the sights. We made it to Hormoran's

04:43tomb. We're about to walk in. We gotta pay the torch's prices. 600 rupees versus 40.

04:50I mean, it's called Humayun's tomb, but there's actually smaller tombs all around it. It's a big

04:55ground. There's lots to see all around it as well, so we're kind of working our way up to the main

05:00attraction. Humayun was the second Mughal Emperor of India and his tomb was built in 1570 after his

05:06death. This tomb was one of the first of its time, a tomb with four quadrant garden with pools joined by

05:11channels. This tomb really defined the Mughal architecture style and would be used to construct

05:16the famous Taj Mahal a century later. It's always good to learn something new. We're headed to Ketumunar.

05:21We were waiting on our Uber. It's a little hectic out here.

05:28We timed our trip with golden hour and the lighting and sunset views really added to the experience.

05:33The central point of the complex is Ketumunar, a minaret built as a victory tower in 1192 AD.

05:39We have been exploring, taking a lot of photos, and now we're going to walk to go get some food,

05:43and hopefully find a good rooftop. We're walking to a restaurant called Roo. It's like right across the

05:48street, definitely walking distance from Ketumunar. We've definitely been to this restaurant

05:53in San Francisco, but we're really excited to try it in Delhi. Full disclosure, we're being

05:58quote-unquote very safe in India this time around. We're going to Everest Base Camp in five days,

06:04and we really just can't afford to risk anything not feeling right, so we are being extremely cautious

06:12this time around. We gotta watch them cook. We balled out at dinner and started with paneer tikka.

06:18Look at them spices. For our main course, we had tandoori chicken koftas, some naan,

06:23kolcho, which at this restaurant was stuffed on with delicious fillings, and some raita. After dinner,

06:29we were absolutely stuffed, and then we called an Uber to head back to our hotel. We did get stuck

06:34in the famous Delhi traffic, and it probably took us about an hour to get back to our hotel, which,

06:39you know, we expected.

06:45We are packing up now. We are about to get transferred from Delhi to Agra. We just hired a

06:50private driver. It was kind of the easiest way to get there, the quickest. We're going to get to Agra,

06:55relax a little bit, and then tomorrow we are going to the Taj Mahal. For lunch, we walked over to a

07:00local restaurant. We got a traditional veg tali platter, some noodles, and a bunch of delicious

07:07food, so that was great. And then we just kind of relaxed during the afternoon, you know. We kind of

07:12went and checked out the pool, really just tried to relax because we had been traveling a lot. But then

07:17for dinner, we went to a more upscale romantic restaurant at our hotel, and it was great. We

07:25had a lamb shank, and the ambiance was really cool. There was some nice background music. It was a great

07:30time. We stayed at the courtyard Marriott Hotel and used points. We both travel a lot for our day jobs,

07:36so you'll often hear us say we stayed at a Marriott property and used points. However, there are tons

07:41of hotels and airbnbs in Agra, and also located near the Taj Mahal. This morning we were up super

07:50early. It is currently about 5 15 in the morning, and we are about to go see the Taj Mahal at sunrise,

07:55and we are super super excited. The Taj Mahal is open to visit from sunrise to sunset, and we chose to

08:01visit at sunrise in the hopes of getting some epic views of the Taj Mahal. It was a bold move,

08:06considering we were in line to enter just before 6am, and it was already getting very busy. You can

08:11see the line of people starting to get longer as it gets closer to opening.

08:23For the next few hours, we walked around the grounds, took in the stunning craftsmanship of the marble,

08:28even the trash cans are marble, and took as many photos as possible.

08:34Everyone fighting for the perfect photo. Don't forget to look with your eyes. People often

08:41are fighting for photos. It's funny. This place is stunning. All the white marble, it is just

08:47absolutely gorgeous. We paid to have a guided tour. Praveen was the man and gave us a history lesson

08:53about the Taj Mahal, snapped some jazzy photos for us, and really made our trip memorable. Normally we

08:59like to DIY most tours, but it was nice to have someone else to learn and discuss the history with,

09:04the total cost for this tour was 62 US dollars, and we'll leave a link in the description for

09:08the tour that we booked. Pro tip, don't bring a bag with you to the Taj Mahal. Bring minimal

09:14belongings if you can, maybe like a camera. You have to go through security, which is normal, but

09:18if you bring a bag, you have to put it through a bag scanner. There were so many bags, and really only

09:24like two people working, and nothing was in order, and the machine just kept sending bags so they'd be all

09:30piled up, and people were yelling that they were taking other people's bags, and it was just,

09:34it was just a mess honestly. After our tour, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before getting in

09:39our next transfer to Jay Perk. We are staying at the Jay Perk Marriott Hotel, mainly because we had a

09:44bunch of points to use, and it was close to the airport. We're going to go walk to the Patrika Gate.

09:49It's all lit up in the evening. It's supposed to be beautiful, so we're just going to go look at it,

09:53take some photos, and then have a lazy evening before we go explore tomorrow, so we're super excited.

10:14We're headed again in an Uber, and we're going to the city palace this morning to explore.

10:18It's supposed to be pretty, and pink, and the royals used to live there. Yeah.

10:25We're in a tuk-tuk now, heading to the palace.

10:29It's like every time you get on the road here, you got to say a quick prayer to make sure you're

10:33going to get where you're going alive.

10:37All right, we got our tickets to the city palace. They're a thousand rupees per person,

10:42which gets you access to the museum and the palace courtyards. We were laughing when we got up there,

10:46because there's a sign that says shooting ongoing in the palace. I feel like they could have had a

10:51better sign, but I guess someone's shooting a documentary in here today. Excited to go in

10:54and explore, and here we go.

10:57Okay, real quick for all the history nerds. The Jaypur Palace was built in the 1700s, and the reason for

11:14all the pink was the ruler at the time, this guy. Pink was mandated in 1876 to help welcome the Prince

11:20of Wales. And actually, the last ruling royal family still live in a private area of the palace,

11:26but they wouldn't let me in. Okay, back to the vlog. I'm a little sad because all the things I

11:30wanted to see here, I can't see. So I wanted to see the meeting place, which is the pretty pink

11:37ceilings and everything. That's closed off for filming. And then a lot of the other pictures that

11:42you see, like the blue and white room, or like those really intricate ceilings, all those are part of

11:46a royal tour. So you have to pay and like get a guide and do all of that, and you have to like

11:51reserve that in advance. So not exactly what I was expecting, but the parts that we were able to see

11:57were still pretty. I think we saw the Peacock Gate, which was really nice. Definitely didn't get to see

12:02as much we had hoped, and this is definitely one of the more expensive attractions that we've visited

12:06in India compared to what we did in, you know, Delhi. So a little bummed out, but it's still a beautiful

12:12evening. So we're going to go get some food and keep exploring.

12:26We just had lunch at a place there, the city palace. All of that food we got was about

12:30a thousand rupees. So very good deal, very delicious food, and we highly recommend it.

12:35With full stomachs, we headed to get a view of one of Jaypur's most famous attractions,

12:39the Hawa Mahal.

12:45Every time we come into the streets, here it gets a little on edge.

12:49I almost got to buy a motorbike. You kind of just got to embrace the chaos. It's the only way.

12:56This is crazy. We're going to attempt to cross this street to go to one of those cafes up there and get

13:01a better view. We stopped in the Windview Cafe to get a really great view, and we're enjoying this

13:10cappuccino. We got a huge thing of water, and it's just a great place to relax. The weather is beautiful,

13:16there's a breeze, we're in the shade, so just a nice place to chill and hang out real quick.

13:21They do have a cover charge, but your bill reduces the amount you have to pay to get in,

13:26so they don't want people just coming up here, taking photos for free, and then leaving.

13:30I almost got hit by like three cars. A little bit of a drama mama. A little bit of a baby. I mean,

13:35got a little love tap. A little love tap on the leg. You're fine.

13:40After the cafe, we took it easy because we had an early morning and a long travel day ahead. We are

13:47headed to Nepal to hike the Everest Base Camp trek. We hope this video helps you plan your trip to India.

13:53If you have any questions, let us know down in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer them.

13:57Thanks for watching, and we'll see you in the next video.

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