India · India
Bespoke Rajasthan desert tours and palace stays
Forts, palaces and desert light
Overview
Overview
Our bespoke Rajasthan desert tours pair time in the Thar with the forts, palaces and local traditions that make the state more than a desert stop. For travellers living in India, we shape the route around your available days, preferred pace and interest in heritage, wildlife or quieter stays.
Rajasthan is India's most cinematic state, and the one most easily done badly. The difference is access and pace: the Amber fort before the coaches arrive, a private courtyard dinner at a working fort, a puppet-maker's home in Udaipur rather than a hotel performance.
We build Rajasthan around three or four bases with a private car and driver, and use the palaces that are still owned and run by the families who built them.
Explore private India holidays, browse curated experiences, or ask our travel designers to shape a Rajasthan route around you.
When to go
Best time to visit
October to March is the season — warm days, cool nights. Late January brings the Jaipur Literature Festival and February the Udaipur wedding rush; both need booking months ahead.
Peak
Oct – Mar
Perfect weather. December and January nights are genuinely cold.
PeakShoulder
Sep & Apr
Warmer but far quieter, and noticeably better value.
GoodSummer
May – Jun
45°C plus. Only for the hill station at Mount Abu.
AvoidMonsoon
Jul – Aug
Green Aravallis, dramatic skies, lowest rates.
ShoulderPractical
Visa, currency, weather and flights
Visa
Domestic for Indian nationals. Foreign visitors use India's e-Visa, applied online and typically issued within three to five working days. Jaipur and Delhi are both designated entry ports.
Full visa guide →Currency
Indian Rupee (INR). Cards work in hotels and larger shops; bazaars and block-printing workshops are cash or UPI.
Weather
Desert climate — large day-to-night swings. A December night in Jaisalmer can drop to 5°C after a 24°C afternoon.
Flights
Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur all have direct flights from Delhi and Mumbai. Most journeys fly into Jaipur or Udaipur and drive between cities, which is where the real Rajasthan is anyway.
| Period | Temperature | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oct – Nov | 18–32°C | Ideal, post-monsoon clarity |
| Dec – Jan | 6–24°C | Cool days, cold nights, best light |
| Feb – Mar | 14–32°C | Warm and lovely; festival season |
| Apr – Jun | 26–45°C | Extreme heat; avoid |
| Delhi → Udaipur | 1h 20m non-stop | IndiGo, Air India, Vistara |
| Mumbai → Jaipur | 1h 55m non-stop | IndiGo, Air India, Akasa |
| Delhi → Jodhpur | 1h 30m non-stop | IndiGo, Air India |
Where to stay
Hotels we recommend
Udaipur · Island palace
Taj Lake Palace
Floating white marble on Lake Pichola, reached only by boat.
Jaipur · Taj palace
Rambagh Palace
Forty-seven acres of peacock gardens; the former Maharaja's residence.
Jodhpur · Design heritage
RAAS Jodhpur
Mehrangarh fort framed from your bed — the best view in the state.
Jawai Bandh · Leopard camp
Suján Jawai
Tented luxury in granite leopard country between Udaipur and Jodhpur.
Jaisalmer · Desert fortress
Suryagarh
A newly built fort with genuinely excellent Marwari food and desert walks.
Highlights
Things to do
Amber Fort before opening
Through the Suraj Pol at 8am, with an architectural historian, before the crowds.
Block printing at Bagru
A working village workshop, carving a block and printing your own length of cloth.
Leopard tracking at Jawai
Granite hills, temple caves and a genuinely wild leopard population, on private land.
Udaipur by private boat at dusk
Lake Pichola, Jag Mandir, the ghats lit up, a glass of something cold.
Marwari horse ride in the Thar
Purebred indigenous horses out of Jaisalmer, ending at a dune camp for dinner.
Bookable now
Experiences here
Suggested route
Our suggested Rajasthan journey
- 1
Arrive Udaipur
Taj Lake Palace by boat. Sunset on the terrace.
- 2
Udaipur
City Palace with a historian, Jagdish temple, puppet-maker's home, evening boat.
- 3
To Jawai
Drive via Ranakpur's Jain temple. Afternoon leopard drive.
- 4
Jawai
Dawn leopard tracking, Rabari village walk, bush dinner.
- 5
Jodhpur
Drive north. Mehrangarh fort, Sardar market, RAAS rooftop.
- 6
Jaisalmer or Bishnoi
Desert fort and dunes, or the Bishnoi villages and Marwari horses.
- 7
Jaipur
Fly or drive. Rambagh Palace, evening at Bar Palladio.
- 8
Jaipur
Amber before opening, Anokhi museum, Bagru block printing.
- 9
Depart
Transfer to Jaipur airport or drive to Delhi via Agra.
Gallery
Rajasthan in pictures
Questions
Frequently asked
Guest stories
What our travellers say
Amber Fort at 8am with an architectural historian was a completely different monument to the one my friends described. Worth the early alarm.
Rhea Malhotra
Mumbai · Rajasthan, 9 nights
Jawai was the surprise — we saw leopards twice and our nine-year-old still talks about the Rabari shepherd more than the palaces.
The Sabharwal family
Delhi · Rajasthan with kids, 8 nights
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