Rajasthan Private Tour for Senior Travelers

A representative from Heritage India Private Tours meets you inside the arrivals area of Indira Gandhi International Airport, not out in the crowded pick-up zone, and helps with trolleys and bags. If you requested a wheelchair, airline staff bring you to the meeting point and our team takes over from there. Your chauffeur, who will remain with you for most of the tour, brings the car close to the exit. The drive to your hotel in central Delhi takes forty-five minutes to an hour depending on the time of day. Bottled water, tissues and a small phrase card in the car make the first hour in India much easier.

At the hotel, check-in is handled by our representative while you sit in the lobby, and room keys are brought to you. We request ground-floor or lift-adjacent rooms for all senior guests and confirm this again on arrival. The rest of the day is entirely free. After a long-haul flight, we strongly suggest a light meal, plenty of water and an early night rather than any sightseeing. Your tour manager will call in the evening to go over the coming days, answer questions about medication, dietary needs or walking limits, and leave a contact number available at all hours. 

Overnight stay in Delhi.

After a late breakfast, your local guide meets you at the hotel. The morning focuses on Old Delhi, starting with a drive past the Red Fort walls, which are impressive from the road even when the fort is closed on Mondays. At Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, your guide arranges a visit through Gate 1, which has fewer steps, and seating in the shaded cloisters while the courtyard is explained. Then a cycle rickshaw takes you along the lanes of Chandni Chowk, so you can see the spice sellers of Khari Baoli and the old havelis without walking through crowds. The ride lasts around thirty minutes.

Return to the hotel area for lunch and a proper rest. In the late afternoon, when the light is soft and the heat has eased, visit Humayun's Tomb, the sixteenth-century garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal. The paths through the Charbagh are wide and flat, with benches along the water channels, and wheelchairs are available at the entrance. On the way back, your chauffeur drives slowly down Rajpath, now called Kartavya Path, past India Gate and the government buildings designed by Edwin Lutyens. A short photo stop is made where parking is easy. Dinner can be at the hotel tonight. 

Overnight stay in Delhi.

Breakfast is unhurried, and departure is set for around nine to avoid the worst of the Delhi morning traffic. The expressway towards Jaipur is smooth, and your chauffeur plans two comfortable stops along the way at highway restaurants with clean western toilets and good tea. Many guests enjoy simply watching rural India pass by: mustard fields in winter, brick kilns, camel carts and small roadside shrines. Cushions and a light blanket are kept in the car for added comfort, and the air-conditioning can be adjusted at any time. Just ask your chauffeur to slow down or pause whenever you need a break.

You reach Jaipur by early afternoon and check in at a hotel chosen for its gardens and easy access. After lunch, rest until late afternoon. If you feel up to it, your chauffeur can drive you to Birla Mandir, a white marble temple at the foot of Moti Dungri hill, which has a ramp at the side entrance and looks lovely when lit at dusk. Otherwise, enjoy a quiet evening in the hotel garden, perhaps with a cup of masala chai and a plate of pakora. Your Jaipur guide will call to introduce himself and confirm tomorrow's timings. 

Overnight stay in Jaipur.

Morning starts at Amber Fort around nine, when it is still cool. Instead of walking up the long ramp or riding an elephant, our seniors take an electric cart or a jeep directly to the upper courtyard at Jaleb Chowk, which saves a steep climb of about twenty minutes. Your guide shows you the the pillared hall of public audience, the Ganesh Pol gateway and the mirror work of Sheesh Mahal, with benches in shaded corners for regular sitting breaks. The fort has some steps between levels, so the guide chooses the easiest path through, and there is no pressure to cover every corner. A photo stop at Jal Mahal follows on the drive back.

After lunch and a rest, the afternoon visit covers the City Palace, which is largely on one level with wide courtyards. The Mubarak Mahal displays royal costumes and textiles, and the Pritam Niwas Chowk has four painted gates representing the seasons. Next door, Jantar Mantar shows the giant astronomical instruments of Sawai Jai Singh II, best appreciated from a few well-placed viewpoints. To see Hawa Mahal, rather than climbing inside, settle into a café balcony opposite with a lemon tea and admire the façade at leisure. Evening is free for an early dinner, and the hotel kitchen will gladly make dishes milder on request. 

Overnight stay in Jaipur.

A relaxed start allows time for a final stroll in the hotel garden before the drive to Pushkar. The highway is good and the journey takes about three hours, with a tea break at Kishangarh. If you are interested, a short stop at a marble showroom here shows how local white marble is cut and polished, all at ground level and seated if you wish. The last stretch of road climbs over the Nag Pahar hills before descending into Pushkar, a small town gathered around a sacred lake. You arrive in time for lunch at your hotel, which is chosen for its quiet location just outside the busy centre.

After a rest, your local guide accompanies you to the lake in the late afternoon. Pushkar's ghats have many steps, so we arrange a seat at a terrace café or a hotel overlooking the water, from where you can comfortably watch the nightly aarti at Varaha Ghat. Lamps are waved, conch shells are blown and bells ring out across the lake. It is a deeply moving sight, and you do not need to climb a single step to enjoy it. Please note that Pushkar is a holy town, so food is vegetarian and alcohol is not served. 

Overnight stay in Pushkar.

Before leaving, your guide takes you to the Brahma Temple, whose red spire marks one of India's only major shrines to Lord Brahma. The entrance has a short flight of steps, and the guide will help you up at a comfortable pace, or describe the inner shrine if you prefer to wait in the shaded courtyard. Shoes are left outside, and the guide will keep an eye on them. Afterwards, drive through the narrow Main Bazaar slowly, with a brief stop for a cup of tea and a taste of malpua, the syrup-soaked pancake Pushkar is famous for. Then set off south towards Udaipur.

The drive passes through the Aravalli hills, greener and cooler than the plains, with clean rest stops arranged at Beawar and Bhim. Lunch is at a good highway restaurant about halfway. Your chauffeur keeps a steady, safe pace and does not overtake aggressively, something our seniors always mention in their feedback. You arrive in Udaipur in the late afternoon, and our representative completes check-in for you at a lakeside hotel with lift access. Rest this evening and enjoy dinner with a view of the lake and the city lights reflected on the water. Room service is available if you would rather eat in. 

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

The City Palace in Udaipur is a huge complex, but your guide chooses a route that includes the lift near the main entrance, avoiding most of the steep internal staircases. You see the Mor Chowk courtyard, where three peacocks were made from thousands of coloured glass pieces, the hanging gardens of Badi Mahal and the royal rooms of Zenana Mahal. Benches are placed throughout, and the views across the lake to Jag Mandir are some of the finest in Rajasthan. After the palace, a short drive takes you to the Crystal Gallery or simply back to the hotel, depending on how you feel. Your guide will check in with you regularly rather than pushing on to the next room.

Lunch and a nap are followed by a private boat ride on Lake Pichola in the late afternoon. Our team arranges a boat with a covered seating area and assisted boarding from a jetty with steady steps. You glide slowly by the white Taj Lake Palace and the Gangaur Ghat archway, with a pause at the Jag Mandir island palace island if you wish. As the sun sets, the white palaces glow gold and orange. Dinner tonight could be at a lakeside restaurant with soft music, a good selection of vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes and attentive staff who will happily adjust the spice level. 

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

This day is deliberately light. Once breakfast is done at your own pace, your guide accompanies you to Saheliyon ki Bari, laid out by Maharana Sangram Singh II for the queen and her companions. Flat paths lead past marble elephants, lotus pools and fountains that are still fed by gravity from Fateh Sagar Lake. Seating is available under shady trees, and the garden is a lovely place for photographs. Afterwards, drive along the shore of Fateh Sagar, with a stop at a lakeside café for a fresh lime soda and a small snack before heading back to the hotel. Toilets at the garden are basic, so your chauffeur plans a stop at a café with better facilities.

The afternoon is completely free. Many of our senior guests enjoy an Ayurvedic massage at the hotel spa, a quiet hour with a book, or a little shopping in the hotel arcade for silver jewellery, miniature paintings or embroidered shawls. If you would like to see more, you can be taken to the old Bagore ki Haveli in the evening for its nightly folk dance performance, which has seating and lasts about an hour. Otherwise, enjoy a farewell dinner at the hotel and pack for tomorrow's flight. Your chauffeur will help weigh bags against the domestic allowance. 

Overnight stay in Udaipur.

After breakfast, you are driven out to Udaipur's Dabok airport, a short road journey east of the city. Our team arranges wheelchair assistance at check-in if needed and helps with luggage until you reach the airline counter. The flight from Udaipur to Delhi takes about one hour and fifteen minutes, saving you a long and tiring road journey of almost eleven hours. On arrival at Delhi airport, a representative meets you at the domestic arrivals exit and assists with the transfer to the international terminal or a nearby hotel, depending on your onward flight timing. Domestic and international flights both use Terminal 3 for most airlines, which keeps the walk short.

If your international flight leaves late in the night, we can arrange a day-use room near the airport so you can rest, shower and have a meal before departure. Our representative stays in touch by phone until you have checked in for your homeward flight. Over nine days you will have seen two capitals of very different eras, a holy lake town and the most graceful palaces of Mewar, all at a pace that respects comfort and health. Heritage India Private Tours thanks you for travelling with us and wishes you a safe and smooth journey home, and we look forward to hearing your stories.