Luxury Rajasthan Tour with 5 Star Hotels

Your luxury Rajasthan tour begins the moment you clear immigration at Indira Gandhi International Airport. A representative from Heritage India Private Tours greets you in the arrivals hall with a fresh flower garland and cold towels, and a senior chauffeur takes charge of your luggage before guiding you to a premium air-conditioned vehicle. The drive to your five-star hotel in central Delhi takes between forty minutes and an hour depending on traffic, with chilled water and Wi-Fi in the car. We request early check-in for morning arrivals, and your suite is ready with welcome amenities so you can rest after the long flight.

Depending on your arrival time, the rest of the day is for unwinding. Most five-star hotels in Delhi offer excellent spas, and a jet-lag massage is one of the smartest ways to start a two-week journey. Your tour manager calls on you in the evening for a short welcome briefing over a drink, going through the itinerary, the hotels, and any preferences regarding dining, pace and special occasions you may be celebrating along the way. For dinner, we can reserve a table at one of the hotel's acclaimed restaurants, many of which rank among the best in India for North-West Frontier or modern Indian cuisine.

Overnight stay in Delhi.

After breakfast, your private guide meets you in the lobby for a full Delhi city tour. The morning begins in Old Delhi at Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, built by Shah Jahan, where you climb the southern minaret for a view across the tangled rooftops of Shahjahanabad. A cycle rickshaw then carries you through the lanes of Chandni Chowk, past the spice wholesalers of Khari Baoli and silver merchants of Dariba Kalan, before you reach the Red Fort, its red sandstone walls stretching for more than two kilometres. Please note that the Red Fort is closed on Mondays, so on those dates we reorder the day to suit.

Lunch is at a refined restaurant in Connaught Place or back at your hotel, followed by a drive into Lutyens' Delhi past India Gate and the Rashtrapati Bhavan. The afternoon belongs to Humayun's Tomb, the garden mausoleum that inspired the Taj Mahal, and its restored Sunder Nursery gardens, and then the Qutub Minar, a 73-metre victory tower raised in the twelfth century with Quranic inscriptions spiralling up its fluted sandstone. Your guide adds context at each stop without rushing. In the evening, the chauffeur can take you to the Lodhi Colony art district or for cocktails at a rooftop bar in Mehrauli overlooking the Qutub.

Overnight stay in Delhi.

Following breakfast, you set off for Jaipur along the Delhi–Jaipur expressway, a smooth, wide road that makes the five-hour drive comfortable in your premium vehicle. Your chauffeur will suggest a short coffee break at a good highway stop, and there is the option of a detour to Neemrana, where a fifteenth-century hill fort has been converted into a striking heritage hotel; a lunch on its terraces breaks up the drive nicely. As you near Jaipur, the Aravalli hills rise on either side and fortified walls begin to appear on the ridgelines, a first glimpse of the Kachwaha kingdom. Your chauffeur points out each one as you pass.

In Jaipur, you check into a former royal palace now run as a five-star hotel, its marble corridors, manicured lawns and courtyards giving a sense of how the maharajas once entertained. We request a palace or garden-view suite, and the staff will help you settle in with a welcome drink. The rest of the afternoon is for enjoying the hotel itself: a dip in the pool, afternoon tea on the lawn, or a walk through its historic rooms. In the evening, the hotel's signature dining room serves royal Rajasthani dishes such as laal maas and safed maas in a setting of chandeliers and portraits.

Overnight stay in Jaipur.

An early, relaxed start brings you to Amber Fort just as the gates open, the yellow and pink sandstone catching the first sunlight above Maota Lake. Rather than the elephant ride, we prefer a private jeep up the ramp, which is faster and kinder to the animals. Your private guide shows you the Diwan-i-Khas, the Jai Mandir with its convex mirror-work, the Sukh Niwas where water channels once cooled the air, and the zenana quarters where the royal women lived. A short stop on the way back at Jal Mahal gives the classic view of the water palace sitting in Man Sagar Lake.

After lunch at your hotel or a fine restaurant in the old city, the afternoon brings the City Palace, still home to the Jaipur royal family. Your guide leads you through the Mubarak Mahal's textile gallery, the armoury, and the four seasonal gates of Pritam Niwas Chowk, and, where available, we arrange access to rooms not on the standard route. Next door, the Jantar Mantar observatory holds nineteen astronomical instruments built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. The day ends with a photograph of the Hawa Mahal from a quiet cafe terrace across the road, before returning to the palace hotel for the evening.

Overnight stay in Jaipur.

The morning is given to two lesser-visited sights that show another side of Jaipur's royal story. First is Nahargarh Fort, set high on the ridge above the city, with the Madhavendra Bhawan's identical suites built for the maharaja's queens, all linked by hidden corridors. A short drive further leads to Jaigarh Fort and its Jaivana cannon, once the largest wheeled cannon in the world. From the walls of both forts, the pink city spreads out below in neat grids planned by Jai Singh II in the eighteenth century, an early example of town design in India. Your guide explains the grid and its nine sectors.
Jaipur has been a centre of gemstone cutting for centuries, and in the afternoon your guide introduces you to a reputable family-run jeweller in the old city, where you can watch craftsmen setting emeralds and learn the traditional kundan and meenakari techniques. There is no obligation to buy, and the visit is as much about craftsmanship as shopping. Later, you are free to return to the hotel spa for an Ayurvedic treatment or take a vintage car drive around the hotel grounds where offered. Dinner is a private candlelit table on the palace lawns, set up by our team with the hotel.

Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Today your chauffeur drives you west across Rajasthan to Jodhpur, with the countryside changing from green fields to a drier, sandier landscape as you go. The journey takes about six hours, so we break it with lunch in Ajmer or at a pleasant heritage hotel en route, and the comfortable vehicle and frequent stops keep the day easy. Along the way, look out for women in vivid odhnis walking to village wells, camel carts loaded with fodder, and the occasional peacock crossing the road, small scenes of rural Rajasthan seen from the window. Your chauffeur is happy to stop whenever a scene catches your eye, so photographs never have to be taken through glass.

Your home in Jodhpur is a five-star palace hotel, one of the largest private residences in the world, built in the 1930s and 1940s in a grand Indo-Deco style and still partly occupied by the royal family. A suite here comes with views across manicured gardens toward Mehrangarh Fort on its rock. Spend the evening enjoying the property: the underground pool, the marble-floored bar, and the domed rotunda. Dinner at one of the palace's restaurants is the perfect introduction to Marwar cuisine, with dishes like ker sangri and Jodhpuri mirchi vada served with modern finesse. A sommelier can pair Indian wines with the menu.

Overnight stay in Jodhpur.

Your private guide collects you after breakfast for a visit to Mehrangarh Fort, a massive fortress rising more than 120 metres above the city. You enter through a series of seven gates, the last of them, Loha Pol, marked with the handprints of royal widows. Inside, the museum is one of the best curated in India, with galleries of palanquins, howdahs, turbans, arms, and miniature paintings. The Phool Mahal, Sheesh Mahal and Takhat Vilas show the opulence of Rathore court life, and the views from the ramparts over the blue houses below are extraordinary. Allow a good three hours to see the fort without hurrying.

After lunch, you visit Jaswant Thada, a marble memorial built in memory of Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, its thin marble walls glowing almost translucent in the afternoon light. Your guide then takes you into the old city for a short walk among indigo-washed houses, ending near the Ghanta Ghar clock tower and the Sardar Market, known for its spices, textiles and bandhani fabrics. Back at the palace, you might choose a private tour of the hotel's own museum wing, which holds royal photographs, clocks and vintage cars. Dinner tonight is at a rooftop table facing the lit fort walls.

Overnight stay in Jodhpur.

After a leisurely breakfast, you leave Jodhpur for Jaisalmer, the golden city set deep in the Thar Desert. The road is good and quiet, passing through Shergarh and Pokhran, and the drive takes around five hours including a refreshment stop. As you approach Jaisalmer, the fort appears suddenly on the horizon, its yellow sandstone walls rising from Trikuta Hill like a sandcastle. On arrival, you check into a five-star desert resort or luxury tented camp, chosen for its spacious suites, private verandas, and impeccable service in an otherwise remote landscape. Lunch is served at the resort, giving you a chance to settle in after the drive before the afternoon outing.

The afternoon is yours to relax by the pool or take a spa treatment. As the heat fades, your guide takes you to Gadisar Lake, an old water reservoir surrounded by shrines and temples, where the carved Tilon Ki Pol gateway frames the water beautifully. From there, it is a short drive to the Bada Bagh cenotaphs, a hilltop group of royal chhatris standing among wind turbines on the horizon, ideal at sunset for photographs. Dinner tonight is served at your resort, with live Manganiyar folk music under the desert sky as a welcome to Jaisalmer. Ask for the local kadhi pakora.

Overnight stay in Jaisalmer.

The morning is spent inside Jaisalmer Fort, one of the very few inhabited forts left in the world, where about a quarter of the old city's residents still live within its walls. Your private guide leads you through the lanes to the Raj Mahal palace, the seven interconnected Jain temples with their filigree carving, and small shops selling embroidered textiles and silver. Leaving the fort, you visit Patwon Ki Haveli, a group of five mansions built by a wealthy merchant family in the nineteenth century, and Salim Singh Ki Haveli with its peacock-shaped brackets and overhanging balconies. Lunch is at a rooftop restaurant facing the fort.

In the afternoon, a chauffeured jeep takes you to the Sam Sand Dunes, around 40 km west of the town. Here, a short private camel ride carries you across the sand to a quiet dune for sunset, followed by a jeep safari over the ridges for a little excitement. Once the sun goes down, your team has arranged a private dinner on the dunes, with a table, lanterns, carpets and a personal chef preparing Rajasthani dishes over an open fire, accompanied by folk musicians and dancers. It is one of the most memorable evenings of the tour. Warm shawls are provided.

Overnight stay in Jaisalmer.

This is the longest travel day of the tour, so we start early after breakfast and make the drive as relaxed as possible. Your chauffeur takes the route back past Pokhran, around the edge of Jodhpur and then south through Pali into the Aravalli hills, and there are several comfortable stops along the way for coffee and lunch. A favourite break is at a heritage hotel near Pali, where a quiet courtyard lunch makes the halfway point a pleasure rather than a chore. Your vehicle is fully equipped with chilled water, snacks and Wi-Fi, and the seats recline for a rest on the open highway stretches.

You arrive in Udaipur in the early evening and check into a five-star lakeside palace hotel, where we request a lake-view suite looking over the water toward the City Palace. After a long day, the best welcome is a quiet evening on your balcony as the sun sets over the Aravallis and the lights of the palaces begin to shimmer across Lake Pichola. Dinner can be in your suite or at the hotel's lakeside restaurant, with a menu of Mewari specialities and international dishes. Rest well, as the next three days are in one of India's most romantic cities.

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

After breakfast, your private guide accompanies you to the Udaipur City Palace, the largest palace complex in Rajasthan, built over four centuries by successive Mewar rulers. Inside, the Mor Chowk peacock courtyard, the Zenana Mahal, the Krishna Vilas painted chamber and the Sheesh Mahal are highlights, each telling a different chapter of the dynasty's history. Next door, the Crystal Gallery holds a remarkable collection of glass furniture ordered from England in the 1870s but never unpacked during the maharaja's lifetime. Your guide shares the stories of Maharana Pratap and the Sisodia clan as you walk. A late lunch follows at a terrace restaurant inside the palace grounds.

After a relaxed lunch, there is time to rest at the hotel before the highlight of the day: a private sunset cruise on Lake Pichola. Your boat glides past the Lake Palace, sitting like a white jewel on its island, toward Jag Mandir, where Shah Jahan is said to have taken refuge as a young prince. On the island, you can stop for a drink at the terrace cafe before returning to shore as the city lights come on. Dinner is at a fine-dining restaurant with a lake view, chosen to match your tastes. Your chauffeur drives you back.

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

The morning begins at the Vintage and Classic Car Collection of the Mewar royal family, housed in the old state garage. The collection includes a Rolls-Royce Phantom from the 1930s, several Cadillacs and a Mercedes once used to receive Queen Elizabeth II, all kept in immaculate condition. From there, you visit Saheliyon Ki Bari, an eighteenth-century garden designed for the royal ladies, with marble elephants, fountains and lotus pools. Your guide also takes you to the Jagdish Temple, a seventeenth-century Indo-Aryan temple with intricate carvings dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Morning prayers here bring bells, chanting and the scent of marigold garlands, a lively contrast to the quiet car museum.

The afternoon is left free, perhaps for a session at the hotel spa, a private cooking demonstration with the hotel chef, or browsing the miniature painting studios near the City Palace. For panoramic views, ask your chauffeur to drive you up to the Monsoon Palace on Sajjangarh hill, where the whole city and its lakes lie below at sunset. In the evening, we recommend attending the Dharohar folk dance performance at Bagore Ki Haveli, a lively showcase of Rajasthani music and dance. Dinner is at your hotel or at another lakeside restaurant of your choosing. Your chauffeur is on call.

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

After a leisurely final morning on the lake, your chauffeur drives you north into the forested Aravalli hills toward Ranakpur. The road winds through small villages, farmland and hillsides covered in dhak trees, and the drive takes about two and a half hours. On arrival, you check into a luxury resort set in the forest close to the temple, with spacious cottages, a large pool and views over the hills. After lunch, a short drive brings you to the Ranakpur Jain Temple, which opens to non-Jain visitors from noon until 5 pm. Mornings are reserved for worship by the Jain community, which is why the visiting hours are set this way.

Built in the fifteenth century from pale marble, the temple is famous for its 1,444 pillars, each carved differently, and its spectacular domes and ceilings. Your guide explains the Jain beliefs and the symbolism behind the carvings, including the intricate Kalpavriksha leaf design and the single-stone carving of Parshvanath surrounded by a thousand snake heads. Leather items, food and cameras without a permit are not allowed inside, so your guide will brief you beforehand. Return to your resort for a quiet evening and a farewell dinner by the pool, with the sounds of the forest all around. Tea is served on your veranda.

Overnight stay in Ranakpur.

Following a relaxed breakfast, you have time for a short nature walk around the resort grounds, where langur monkeys and birds such as the grey hornbill and Indian paradise flycatcher are often seen in the trees. Your chauffeur then drives you back through the Aravalli hills to Maharana Pratap Airport in Udaipur, a journey of about two and a half hours, timed around your flight. Your domestic flight to Delhi takes about an hour and a quarter, and your bags are checked through without fuss. Our team confirms all flight timings the evening before, and a packed breakfast is prepared by the resort if your departure requires an early start from Ranakpur.

On arrival in Delhi, our representative meets you and assists with the transfer to the international terminal or, if you have a later departure, to a day-use room at an airport hotel arranged on request. Over fourteen days, you have stayed in palaces, dined under desert stars and seen the finest forts and temples of Rajasthan with a private car and driver always at hand. We hope the comfort and care of this trip will stay with you long after you return home, and our team in Jaipur will be glad to welcome you back to India for another journey whenever you are ready.