Planning a trip to Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Prayagraj, Ayodhya and Lucknow
Hi, I am Hemant Raghav, a Tour Operator for India. I have experience of about 10 plus years in planning trips for domestic and foreign clients travelling in India.
To organize a best trip to our guest we should know logistic of the destination, connectivity (Air, rail and Road), attractions and sightseeing, Duration of stay required at each place, routings of the destinations, Days and Timings of the Monument in which it is operational, Best time to do best things, Best place to stay as per clients preference (Food, locality, property type, star category, or any special request), transportation, restaurants, guides, special arrangements and many more…
These days, there are a number of travel bloggers active on Social Media, influencing people to travel. That is a great thing, but as it is said, half knowledge is very dangerous. They might exaggerate some of the facts in order to get more engagement, on the basis of which travellers make their decisions and end up getting into the wrong planning and wasting time.
So we are here to assist you in planning your itinerary in the best possible way with our expertise, ranging from handling budget clients to the luxurious clients.
As a tour operators 80% of the people indeed wants to follow the same Itinerary which everybody is doing for so long right, so basically if we talk about India as a general everybody knows if they are travelling to India then they are definitely visiting Golden triangle basically that is Delhi Jaipur and Agra like wise we have this mind set for every place because that is the most important place over that region. Suppose you are talking about Uttar Pradesh, then the first thing that comes to mind is Agra, or if we go to the upper region, then it is Varanasi, which is the highlight of this place that comes to our mind.
As a tour operator, we always operate all the regular places or itineraries that have been operated for years, along with t, we always try to add more destinations into our itinerary who are very keen to explore the places, experience the locality or get the best experience which a destination can offer.
Let us start with how we can plan your trip to this region very effectively. What are the main attractions of these places? I would like to inform you that we might not be able to cover all the listed places that the destination can offer, but I will try to include as many as possible from my side.
If we talk about the connectivity of the place, then we have airports in Varanasi, Prayagraj, Bodhgaya, Ayodhya and Lucknow.
Let’s talk about Varanasi. Varanasi is the religious capital of India. It is known as the city of Shiva. The main attraction of this place is the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, which is a very famous Hindu pilgrimage site and of great importance second thing is the Ghats of Varanasi. There are 84 Ghats in Varanasi, and now one more Ghat has been added, which is known as the NAMO Ghat.
Varanasi, also known as the world’s oldest living City it, is the cosmic replica of the entire universe. It’s also a Unique destination where life, death and divinity coexist in a vibrant tapestry.
Some of the facts that you might consider while visiting these places include multiple options of Hotel stays you can select from the range of 3-star, 4-star, and 5-star hotels. Varanasi is also one of the crowded places and has quite narrow streets. Most of the new properties that are coming up are a little bit outside Varanasi. There are some properties in Varanasi which are on the Ghats, which some clients found very interesting and very good to stay on the Ghat, as per their preference.
Evening Aarti of Varanasi
If you can reach the place before the evening, around 4 PM, then you can definitely experience the famous Aarti of Ganga Mata on the Ghats of Varanasi. If we talk about the Ghats, then there is a good amount of walking which is involved. If you are someone who cannot walk much, then you have the option of hiring a wheelchair. Once you reach the Ghat where Aarti took place, there are some seats which are free seats allotted by the Aarti Committee, which are on First Come First services. So if you can arrive early, around 1 hour, then there are a lot of chances of getting those seats; otherwise, you can always go for paid seats, which are on the terrace of the shops or of the homes on the ghats, people charge around 300 – 400 rupees per seating.
You can witness Aarti for 1 hour. Once the Aarti gets over, you can get back from the market lane if you want to grab some snacks, as you know Varanasi is famous for its street food, you can definitely choose some street food, Belwa kachori, Sigdi and chulha sweet delegations like rabdi Lassi and thandai, etc. This is one way of witnessing Aarti and exploring the market.
The second way, as you know, there are boats on the Ghats of Varanasi, you can always have an option of choosing a boat for an evening guide, which is of 2 hours basically 1 hour you will explore the river and ghats and remaining one hour they will take you in front of the Ghat where this Aarti would be happening and you can see this Aarti from your boat. Once the Aarti gets over, you can come back to the point of boarding and go back to your hotel.
Morning Boat Ride in Varanasi
Early in the morning, get ready for a morning boat ride in Varanasi. This Boat Ride consists of your Sunrise tour, which is basically 1 hour, where you see the Vibe of the Ghats of Varanasi, with the birds chirping on the ghats, sadhus chanting mantras, etc.
Optional: You can opt for a Boat Ride with classical music, where two experts, one who is an expert in the sitar and one who is an expert in tabla playing, will join you. It is such a wonderful experience if you want to feel the proper Vibe of the place, then you can definitely opt for this option.
Once the boat ride is complete, you can come back to the hotel, have your breakfast and get ready for the full day excursion of Varanasi visit Kashi Vishwanath a famous temple in Varanasi offer prayers to the Lord Shiva, Kaal Bhairav temple, Annpurna temple and Visha lakshmi temple explore some additional spiritual sites such as Bharat Mata temple and Durga temple you can visit temples around the kashi Vishwanath.
Once you are done visiting temples, take a trip to Sarnath, visit Dhamik Stupa and the Sarnath Archaeological Museum.
In the evening, if you have missed the Aarti on the previous day, you can plan to witness Aarti today and close the day with some shopping.
After visiting Varanasi, you have the option to visit Bodhgaya. It would take around 4 to 5 hours to reach Bodhgaya from Varanasi rest of your half day, you can explore Bodh Gaya, visit Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the bodhi tree where Lord Buddha attained enlightenment. Explore other nearby monasteries and temples. This place is of Greater significance for Buddhism and Hinduism. Rest day on Leisure, get back to the hotel, have your dinner and take a rest.
Basically, one day is enough for Bodhgaya to do the sightseeing. Next, you can go from Bodhgaya to Prayagraj. In between, there would be Varanasi, this is going to be 6 hours journey to reach Prayagraj, visit Anand Bhavan and Triveni Sangam, you can opt for a Boat Ride if you want optional you can visit Prayagraj Fort rest of the day at leisure.
One day is enough for Prayagraj as it only consists of half a day of sightseeing and half a day of your travelling.
If you skip Bodhgaya, then the drive from Varanasi to Bodhgaya is 2 hours drive.
Our next stop would be Ayodhya, which is again a 4 to 5-hour drive from Prayagraj. Once you reach Ayodhya in the evening, you can witness Aarti on the Saryu River Ghat.
Next day in the morning, get ready for visiting Ram Janmabhoomi temple. There is quite a walk involved to visit the temple.
Your vehicle will drop you off around 1 km before the main temple gate. From there, you can take an E rickshaw. Once you reach the main gate of the temple, you have to walk up to the counters where you will drop your belongings, like mobile phones and all the important gadgets that you are carrying.
Free wheelchairs are offered to people who cannot walk. There would also be assistance, which would be provided along with that, so you can do the smooth Darshan.
After visiting Ram Mandir, you can visit other important places such as Hanumangarhi, Kanak Bhavan and some other temples. One day for Ayodhya, after that you can move to Lucknow, which is 2 hours drive. Overnight stay in Lucknow
This morning, for sightseeing in Lucknow, visit Bada Imambara, Chhota Imambara and Rumi Darwaja.
Optional: A day trip to Kannauj – Perfume Capital of India
You can opt for a day trip to Kannauj, which is the perfume capital of India and see the process of perfume making. This is so nice to see how traditional perfume making is done.
The next day, you take your return journey on the next destination flight from the Lucknow airport
Some of the optional things that you can opt for in the Itinerary:
VIP Darshan at Kashi Vishwanath and VIP Darshan in Ayodhya Ram Mandir
VIP Darshan at Kashi Vishwanath: Basically any form of the Darshan which is the registered darshan is considered as a VIP Darshan as you get priority access to the temple in this, regionally register you with the Sugam Darshan available on the website if the slot on the websites are not available we try to arrange some priest in the temple who can assist you with the priority Darshan to avoid the long queues.
VIP Darshan at Ram Mandir Ayodhya: Priority Darshan at Ram Mandir is free for all clients who are holding foreign passports. You just have to carry your passport, and you can do the priority Darshan, but for Indian nationals, you have to get registered for the Darshan and avoid the long queue.
Yes, you read it right, these VIP Darshans are free for Foreign nationals, not for Indian nationals.
Sometimes, if there is a VVIP Government official movement, then this priority access is denied by the temple authorities. This happens in rare cases.
Day trip to Kannauj from Lucknow – The perfume capital of India
Visit traditional Attar distilleries to see the dekh bhap ka steam distillation process, which is a quite an interesting process.