Luxury Rajasthan Tour with Oberoi & Taj Palaces: Cost & Itinerary

The boat leaves the jetty at the City Palace just as the sun drops behind the Aravalli hills. A few minutes later, it glides up to the marble steps of the Taj Lake Palace, a white palace that seems to float on the still water of Lake Pichola. Staff in traditional dress shower rose petals from a balcony above, and a butler leads you through courtyards lit by lanterns to a suite overlooking the lake. That evening, dinner is served by candlelight on a private terrace, with the illuminated City Palace reflected in the water across the lake.

Rajasthan is one of the few places in the world where you can sleep in palaces that were built for royalty and are still owned, in several cases, by the same royal families. A luxury Rajasthan tour combining Oberoi and Taj properties offers some of the finest hotel stays anywhere, paired with private chauffeurs, expert guides and experiences that cannot be bought on any ordinary holiday. This guide covers the best palace hotels and their room rates, a twelve-night luxury route, the cost of luxury cars and private experiences, and the total budget for a couple.

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The Palace Hotels Worth Booking

Two hotel groups dominate luxury travel in Rajasthan. The Oberoi group built new palaces in traditional style, with vast gardens, pools and impeccable service. The Taj group operates historic palaces once owned by maharajas, some still partly lived in by the royal families. The best tours combine both. The rates below are for a standard luxury room per night in peak season, on the higher side, before taxes.

Hotel	City	Room Rate per Night (INR)	Character
Rambagh Palace (Taj)	Jaipur	55,000 – 150,000	Former residence of the Maharaja of Jaipur, vast gardens, peacocks
The Oberoi Rajvilas	Jaipur	45,000 – 110,000	Private villas and tents set in 32 acres of gardens
Umaid Bhawan Palace (Taj)	Jodhpur	70,000 – 200,000	Art deco palace still home to the royal family
Taj Lake Palace	Udaipur	60,000 – 150,000	White marble palace in the middle of Lake Pichola
The Oberoi Udaivilas	Udaipur	60,000 – 130,000	Domes, courtyards and semi-private pools on the lake shore
The Oberoi Vanyavilas	Ranthambore	70,000 – 130,000	Luxury tents beside the tiger reserve
The Oberoi Amarvilas	Agra	50,000 – 100,000	Every room faces the Taj Mahal, 600 metres away
Suryagarh	Jaisalmer	25,000 – 60,000	Modern fortress on the edge of the Thar Desert

Taxes of 18 percent apply to rooms above INR 7,500 per night, so the final figure is higher than the room rate shown. Suites, villas with private pools and palace-view rooms cost 50 to 200 percent more.

In Jaipur, Rambagh Palace is often called the jewel of Rajasthan. Once the residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II, it sits in 47 acres of Mughal gardens, with marble corridors, a polo bar and peacocks wandering across the lawns. The Oberoi Rajvilas, outside the city, is a quieter retreat of villas and luxury tents around an 18th-century temple.

In Jodhpur, Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the largest private residences in the world. Completed during the Second World War, it combines art deco style with Rajput grandeur. Part of the palace is still the home of the royal family, part is a museum and part is the hotel, with 70 rooms and suites.

In Udaipur, the choice between the Taj Lake Palace and The Oberoi Udaivilas is the hardest decision on the tour. The Lake Palace is reached only by boat and feels like a fairy tale. The Udaivilas, on the lake shore, offers larger rooms, semi-private pools and views of the City Palace. Many guests split their stay with one night at each.

In Agra, The Oberoi Amarvilas gives every room a view of the Taj Mahal. Waking up to see the monument turning pink at sunrise from your balcony is one of the great hotel moments in the world.

In Ranthambore, The Oberoi Vanyavilas places luxury tents with teak floors and claw-foot bathtubs beside the tiger reserve, with naturalists who accompany guests on safaris.

These hotels fill months ahead between November and March. For the best rooms, especially palace-view and lake-facing rooms, booking four to six months in advance is wise. Ask your tour company to request room preferences, such as a high floor at Amarvilas or a lake-facing suite at Udaivilas, at the time of booking, since these are allocated early to returning guests.

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A 12-Night Luxury Route

This route combines the finest Taj and Oberoi properties with comfortable drives, sensible pacing and time to enjoy the hotels themselves, rather than using them only as places to sleep.

The tour begins with two nights in Delhi, at The Oberoi New Delhi or The Leela Palace. A private guide takes you through Old Delhi, the Jama Masjid area, Humayun's Tomb and Lutyens' Delhi, with lunch at one of the city's acclaimed restaurants. The second day can be kept light, with a spa treatment or a private shopping visit to design boutiques.

On the third day, drive three and a half hours to Agra and check into The Oberoi Amarvilas for one night. Visit Agra Fort in the afternoon and watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal from your balcony or the hotel's terrace bar. At sunrise, visit the Taj Mahal with a private guide, entering as the gates open.

From Agra, drive four and a half hours to Ranthambore for two nights at The Oberoi Vanyavilas. Enjoy two or three private jeep safaris with an expert naturalist, a candlelit dinner in the gardens, and an afternoon by the pool. Ranthambore Fort, perched on a cliff inside the park, makes a quieter morning visit.

Next, drive three and a half hours to Jaipur for two nights at Rambagh Palace. A private guide shows you Amber Fort early in the morning, the City Palace, where special access to private royal rooms can be arranged, and the old city's jewellers and textile houses. Evening drinks at the palace's polo bar are a highlight.

From Jaipur, fly or drive to Jodhpur for two nights at Umaid Bhawan Palace. The drive takes five and a half to six hours, while the flight takes about an hour. Visit Mehrangarh Fort with a private guide, followed by a sunset dinner on the fort's ramparts or the palace's terrace. A morning village visit with the Bishnoi community or a vintage car viewing at the palace adds variety.

Finally, drive six hours to Udaipur via the Ranakpur Jain Temple for three nights, split between the Taj Lake Palace and The Oberoi Udaivilas. Udaipur's days are for slow luxury: a private boat ride on Lake Pichola at sunset, a tour of the City Palace and its crystal gallery, a cooking class, or a spa day. Fly from Udaipur to Delhi or Mumbai for your international connection.

This route covers about 1,500 to 1,700 kilometres by road, with no drive longer than six hours and every hotel visited for at least one full day. For travellers who want the desert, a two-night extension to Suryagarh in Jaisalmer fits easily between Jodhpur and Udaipur, though it adds two longer drives.

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Luxury Car, Chauffeur and Private Experiences

On a luxury tour, the car is an extension of the hotel. For long drives across Rajasthan, the most comfortable choices are a top-model Toyota Innova Hycross, a Toyota Fortuner or a Kia Carnival with captain seats. These cars handle Indian highways well and are easy to service along the route.

A luxury chauffeur service in Rajasthan with a senior English-speaking driver costs about INR 7,500 to INR 9,500 per day for an Innova Hycross and INR 10,000 to INR 14,000 per day for a Kia Carnival, all-inclusive. For a twelve-night tour, the car comes to about INR 95,000 to INR 175,000 in total. Mercedes-Benz and BMW sedans are available for airport transfers and city use in Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur, at INR 15,000 to INR 30,000 per day, but are rarely used on long rural routes.

Private guides on a luxury tour are senior, experienced specialists, often historians or authors. They cost INR 4,000 to INR 8,000 per day, and the best are booked weeks in advance.

Private experiences are where a luxury tour truly stands apart. In Udaipur, a private dinner on a floating pontoon or the jetty of the Lake Palace costs INR 25,000 to INR 60,000 per couple. A private sunset boat on Lake Pichola costs INR 8,000 to INR 15,000. In Jodhpur, a private dinner on the ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort, with musicians and a view over the blue city, costs INR 40,000 to INR 90,000 per couple depending on the menu and setup.

In Jaipur, hot air balloon flights over the countryside near Amber Fort run from October to March and cost INR 15,000 to INR 20,000 per person. Polo matches at the Jaipur Polo Ground take place between January and March, and guests at Rambagh Palace sometimes receive invitations to watch. Private visits to the workshops of gem cutters, block printers and blue pottery artisans can be arranged with advance notice.

In Ranthambore, a private safari jeep, rather than a shared one, costs about INR 18,000 to INR 25,000 per safari for foreign visitors, including the park fees and a naturalist.

Spa treatments at Oberoi and Taj properties cost INR 9,000 to INR 25,000 per person per session. Butler service, airport lounge access and private check-in are included at most of these hotels.

For travellers who love trains, the Palace on Wheels and the Maharajas' Express offer luxury rail tours of Rajasthan, but at a fixed pace and a cost of roughly USD 5,000 to USD 25,000 per person for a week. A private car tour offers more freedom and longer stays in the palace hotels themselves.

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Total Cost of a Luxury Rajasthan Tour

Putting all the elements together gives a realistic total for a couple on the twelve-night route above, in peak season, excluding international flights.

Style	Total per Couple (INR)	Total per Couple (USD)
Selected luxury: one palace stay, five-star elsewhere	600,000 – 850,000	6,800 – 9,650
Full Taj and Oberoi collection, deluxe rooms	1,200,000 – 1,600,000	13,600 – 18,200
Taj and Oberoi with suites and lake or palace views	2,000,000 – 3,000,000	22,700 – 34,000

These totals include twelve nights of hotels with breakfast, a premium car and senior chauffeur for thirteen days, senior private guides in each city, monument tickets, two private safaris in Ranthambore, one domestic flight, a daily meal and drinks allowance of INR 12,000 to INR 18,000 per couple, and a selection of private experiences.

Hotels make up about 65 to 75 percent of the total on a luxury tour. Meals at palace hotels are a significant additional cost. A dinner for two at Rambagh Palace or the Lake Palace costs INR 12,000 to INR 25,000 with wine, and a full day of meals at a luxury hotel can reach INR 20,000 to INR 30,000 for a couple.

There are smart ways to enjoy luxury without paying for it every night. Many travellers choose two or three signature stays, such as the Oberoi Amarvilas in Agra and the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, and use excellent five-star or boutique heritage hotels elsewhere. This "selected luxury" approach often costs half as much while keeping the moments that matter most.

Peak dates add a large premium. Between 20 December and 5 January, rates at these hotels can rise 50 to 100 percent, with compulsory gala dinners on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve costing INR 20,000 to INR 50,000 per person. February and March offer pleasant weather and slightly lower rates, while October and early November are good value with warm days.

Payment terms at luxury hotels are stricter than at mid-range properties. Many require full prepayment 30 to 60 days before arrival in peak season, with non-refundable rates offering savings of 10 to 15 percent. Travel insurance that covers cancellation is strongly advised at this level of spending.

Tipping also scales with the experience. Senior chauffeurs on luxury tours usually receive INR 1,000 to INR 1,500 per day, senior guides INR 1,000 to INR 2,000 per day, and butlers and boatmen smaller amounts at each hotel.

Heritage India Private Tours arranges luxury Rajasthan tours with Oberoi and Taj palaces, premium vehicles, senior chauffeurs and private experiences tailored to each couple. Founder Magan Singh has hosted travellers in Rajasthan for more than 27 years and knows how to pace a palace tour so every hotel is enjoyed to the full.