TT

yes, but its expensive

dogster used to say that it was the one luxury train trip in India that wasn't worth the price. He recommended the Golden Chariot.

I would love to find out how it compares to the Shongololo.

Femi: I did the Shongololo and loved it. It was not perfect but I found it charming and worth every penny.

Ok I will find out about the Golden Chariot and see how that compares.

ANYONE ELSE?

Thanks all!!!

In Udaipur we saw the POW group at the City Palace. They had a very large bus (nice bus) for the group with the logo on the bus. Mature crowd but seemed happy.
If you like independent travel, India has some of the best hotels in the world (and they are very clean)and tour operators can provide all conveniences.

Leanne, just looked at your post and thought you may be interested in what we did instead of doing palace on wheels.

Take a look at Oberoi Hotels website and see if they have any specials on at that time. We took their 12 day special and had an amazing holiday at their hotels throughout Rajasthan last November - we saw a lot more than you would on the train.

We hired a car with driver to get us between the cities, except Varanassi, where we flew.

Our itinery as follows,

Flew into Delhi -1 night

Flew to Varanassi - 3 nights

Fly back to Delhi 2 nights

Drive to Agra on new highway 1 night

Drive to Jaipur 3 nights

Drive to Udaipur 4 nights

Flew to Mumbai to get on cruise ship

We had no problems with sickness as we mainly ate at the hotel.

I notice a lot of people leave out Udaipur on their itinery, but we found it to be the most beautiful city of them all.

Our driver took us out anywhere we wanted during the day at no extra cost, so we were on our own private tour. India by Car and Driver was the company we used and we booked him for 10 days for about $56 a day.

Just thought you may be interested in the above as an alternative to train.

I took trains in India. A lot of trains. None of them were the luxury for foreigners kind, but the meet Indians kind, so can't help. Depends on whether you want to visit India, or see it from a safe distance.