on April 2, 2008a) You can prefer Trains over flights if there is no time specific boundation. It is always safe to book tickets either in Second AC or Third AC. However, First AC is also available but it is the costliest one...depends upon your budget. Second sleeper to be avoided.
b) Trains booking can be done online using
www.irctc.co.in
but u have to register yourself onto this site before booking tkts...it's free.
Secondly,if u want to see the status of trains/time table/availability of berths etc. u can visit
www.indiarail.gov.in
U can not book tickets over here but u need not to register onto this site for browsing.
c) See, varanasi is overnight journey from Delhi by train. (Advisable to board a train than a flight). So, u can come to delhi and straight away leave for Varanasi as it is on the other side considering Delhi as centre point.
Once u visit Varanasi, either book tickets for Jaipur straight away or come to delhi and than move to Jaipur (Most of the trains passes thru Delhi only.) Jaipur is approximately 6hrs from delhi.However, if u are coming to Delhi from Varanasi...u can either book a bus (LUxury)also but it is advisable to have a train since by that time u will be quite familiarised with trains. Stay in Jaipur as per ur plans and come bk to Agra. From agra, Delhi is approximately 2.5hours by train.
d) For booking Hotels, u can search following sites for best deals
www.yatra.com
www.travelguru.com
www.makemytrip.com
www.cleartrip.com
I hope this will be helpful for u.
Caution: Since trains are always full, u can try booking tickets well in advance say 2months. However, due to certain reasons, if u are not in a condition to book ticket well in advance, there is a special service called TATKAL (offered on the same site) which can be used. The only limitation with this service is that u can book tickets only five days in advance with reference to ur journey dates i.e for Journey date say 6th apr u can book latest on 1st april.
Keep smiling
Vivek
Mouth Watering Food
