Check out the usual booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.venere.com we stayed at the Palace Heights Hotel, Block D, Connaught Place (CP), it is a small boutique hotel in the heart of Delhi, www.hotelpalaceheights.com the web site does not do it justice, but you will see how highly it is rated on review sites. The rooms are very well designed and appointed, the staff so friendly and helpful, it also has an excellent restaurant.

If you are in New Delhi on business you may well stay in Gurgaon which is well placed for the airport and where most of the multi-nationals have their offices. The Trident Hotel, www.tridenthotels.com/gurgaon is wonderful to stay at, it is a beautiful oasis of calm, with fantastic staff, and excellent restaurants and bar, plus the Oberoi it’s even more upmarket sister hotel is next door and you can take advantage of the restaurant there including their Sunday champagne buffet brunch.

United Coffee House, Block E, Connaught Place, this is an old fashioned gem, popular with both locals and visitors. Excellent waiters, good food. both Indian and continental, and you can also just pop in for a refreshment to escape from the heat and the tuk tuk drivers and sellers around CP.

QBA, at the side of Block E, before Block F, Connaught Place, is a very smart slightly trendy bar and restaurant with a wide variety of food and a very reasonable lunch time buffet during the week. Not the easiest to find but look up and then go round the corner and you will see the entrance, has Happy Hour offers.

Zaffran, Palace Heights Hotel, Block D, Connaught Place, this is very popular with locals and that is not surprising, the India food is excellent and the Tandoori choices are a speciality, it is open for lunch and dinner.

Tao, Block E Connaught Place, has an excellent value set lunch in this smart Chinese restaurant, it also does Happy Hour Drinks.

Blues Bar, Block N, Connaught Place, as the name says music bar with live music on some nights and karaoke on others, happy hours every night, it seemed to be a popular place with the local crowd.

24/7  Bar, Lalit Hotel, Barakhamba Avenue, not far from CP this is a very up market hotel and the 24/7 bar is apparently open 24 hours unlike other Delhi bars which shut at midnight. Didn’t manage to prove this, it was very smart, however when we were there, there were many business type guests.

Side Wok, No 45 Khan Market, Metro Khan Market, this serves Pan Asian food and it is excellent, this branch is unlicensed, but they have another branch at Block P, Connaught Place which serves alcohol.

Blanco No 62 Khan Market, is another smart eating place in the area and does a Happy Hour drinks offer. Like most bars in this area they are up a flight of steep stair and you are not sure what to expect, however in this case a very smart designer place.

Toro, No 29 Khan Market, again up a flight of stairs, Happy Hour Drinks, oriental food and another smart place.

Drink

Beer and wine are available in most middle to upper range restaurants and in some of the more basic places a beer can usually be sourced. The most common beer is Kingfisher which is a pleasant lager type beer. Indian wine is becoming more and more common and Sula is one of the most often seen brands. They produce red, rose, white and sparkling and are perfectly drinkable, the price varies from state to state as there are local taxes included in the price.

There is loads to see in New Delhi, one way to see the sites is on the Hop on Hop Off Bus, HoHo, which runs between every 30 and 45 minutes from their office at Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Opp Hanuman Temple, not far from CP, the whole tour takes about 4 hours but the tickets are valid for 2 days.

As mentioned before, jump in a tuk tuk and take a tour from the Red Fort, to India Gate and past the parliament buildings, other sites can be reached on the metro.

The Akshardham temple, is worth visiting but no cameras or phones are allowed, and only small bags, therefore you would be better taking just money and water as the queues to deposit bags can be long. There are also some exhibitions including a boat ride but unfortunately you cannot do that part without the other two presentations and shows which take 90 minutes.

Khan Market in south Delhi has some good shopping and also an excellent selection of places to eat and drink. It can be difficult to find places and some of the best are up narrow stairs, Fabindia above 20 & 21 has great clothes and materials. There is a branch of Hidesign, where the bags and wallets are a fraction of the prices at home.

There are also numerous malls of which currently Select City Walk is most highly rated but it is quite a way from the centre, it is in the area called Saket which is on the Metro.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is Palaki Bazaar under Connaught Place, be prepared for serious bargaining !

Check out the usual booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.venere.com, in the city there are so many converted palaces to stay in that it would be a shame to choose a modern chain hotel however they do vary in quality.

We stayed at the Diggi Palace Hotel, www.hoteldiggipalace.com, it is reasonably priced, the rooms are fine and the grounds with the wandering peacocks are lovely however the service is variable, the manager seemed off hand and requests are sometimes forgotten. They did however arrange a car to take us to the Amber Fort at a reasonable price and also have a tuk tuk driver who is usually available.

Restaurants & Bars

Copper Chimney, Maya Mansion MI Road, serves reasonably priced Indian food and is licensed, it appears to have a bar in the basement.

Nero’s, MI Road, is very popular with visitors and serves Indian, Chinese and European cuisine, it is a smart place and has good service.

A word of warning if you go to Nero’s do not be tempted to go for a beer to Bouncer’s next door, it was recommended obviously by someone with a sense of humour, it does serve beer but any other similarity with a bar as you would know it is missing. They also over charged.

Mansingh Hotel, Sansar Chandra Road, we found it difficult to find air conditioned places to eat and this had a standard hotel restaurant, it is fine, the food was OK and the service pleasant.

Rambath Palace, seven star luxury with its own polo lawn, do go and have a drink in the Polo Lounge, the bar snacks are excellent and the prices are not that expensive. The hotel is down a lovely drive and when you are leaving walk back down the drive, do not be tempted to ask them to call you a taxi as it will cost more than your drinks and snacks.

Drink

Beer and wine are available in most middle to upper range restaurants and in some of the more basic places a beer can usually be sourced. The most common beer is Kingfisher which is a pleasant lager type beer. Indian wine is becoming more and more common and Sula is one of the most often seen brands. They produce red, rose, white and sparkling and are perfectly drinkable, the price varies from state to state as there are local taxes included in the price.

There is lots to see in the city of Jaipur, but be sure to get a car to the Amber Fort, ideally to be there when it opens at 8am. You can take an elephant ride up or your driver will take you up for another 200 rupees. The building, the views, the whole thing is stunning and you can stop at the lake on the way back and see the palace in the middle.

In the City the three main things to see are the City Palace, the Palace of the Winds and the Jantar Mantar the observatory, with huge astronomical sculptures.

The shopping is great but the hassle is even greater.

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Check out the usual booking sites such as www.booking.com or www.venere.com, we stayed at the Gateway Hotel, Fatehabad Road, it was called the Taj View, and yes they have half of their rooms with a view, it is just that it is not a very good view. The problem is very bad double glazing. It is a shame as the rooms are good, the staff are very pleasant, I just think that if I was to go back I would not stay there just for the view. They arranged a great driver and guide when needed at what was a very reasonable price.

The Oberoi Amar Villas, if you can afford it, is the place to stay, with the views and top notch facilities as you would expect. We were fortunate enough to be able to lunch there but apparently in high season it is for guests only.

Restaurants

Oberoi Amar Villas is not always open to non-residents but it is worth checking if you can get a reservation for a meal.

ITC Mughal Hotel has an excellent buffet at lunch time and an a la carte restaurant in the evening, worth checking that it can be booked by non-residents.

Gateway Hotel,  Jhankar Restaurant, a la carte Indian restaurant open for dinner only, we did not try it but it looks very smart and gets good reports.

Drink

Beer and wine is available in most middle to upper range restaurants and in some of the more basic places a beer can usually be sourced. The most common beer is Kingfisher which is a pleasant lager type beer. Indian wine is becoming more and more common and Sula is one of the most often seen brands. They produce red, rose, white and sparkling and are perfectly drinkable, the price varies from state to state as there are local taxes included in the price.

The main attraction will not disappoint, it does not matter how many times you have seen it in photographs and on film, the Taj Mahal is truly wonderful and your first view will take your breath away. Try and get your hotel to get tickets the day before to save having to queue, the best times are sunrise or sunset and it is so worth it to be there at sunrise. You cannot fail to be staggered by the beauty of the building.

Also go and visit the Red Fort which is the other major site in Agra.