Travel in Jaipur

Ten of our fifteen India tours stop in Jaipur. We checked that day by day rather than trusting the number, and all ten genuinely sleep here — none of them just mentions the name in passing. What the check also showed is a pattern worth knowing before you enquire. Eight of the ten give Jaipur two nights and one full sightseeing day. You arrive by road in the afternoon, from Delhi, from Agra, or across the Shekhawati region, you see the city the next day, and you leave the morning after. Jaipur is a stop on a Rajasthan route, not a base you settle into.

That one full day is close to identical on every tour. The golden-yellow Amber Fort on its hill outside the city comes first, then the Jantar Mantar stone observatory, then the City Palace in the middle of the old town, still partly lived in by descendants of the former Maharaja. The Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds, finishes the list — and this is the first thing to be plain about: every itinerary treats it as a photo stop from the street. None of them goes inside. Most days end with a cycle rickshaw ride through the bazaars.

The second thing to be plain about is the elephant. Jaipur is the place people picture elephants carrying visitors up the ramp to Amber Fort, and that ride is in none of our itineraries. Royal Rajasthan & Varanasi states that a jeep takes you up; the others do not offer the elephant at all. Nahargarh Fort, the Galtaji monkey temple, hot-air ballooning over Amber and the Chokhi Dhani village dinner appear in no itinerary we sell either. If one of those is the reason you want Jaipur, book elsewhere.

Evenings are where the tours differ, and that is a real choice. Seven put you in the Raj Mandir cinema for a current Hindi film — it is not subtitled, and that is rather the point. Two, The magic of Rajasthan and Royal Rajasthan & Varanasi, swap that for the evening ceremony at the white Birla Temple, lit up under the Moti Dungri fort on the hill above. Three tours add afternoon tea in a local family's home.

Two tours give Jaipur three nights. Royal Rajasthan & Varanasi, 14 days from EUR 1,520, is the only one that spends the extra day on the city itself: Jaigarh Fort above Amber, the royal cenotaphs at Gaitore, the Jal Mahal water palace from the shore, the Albert Hall Museum, a stepwell photo stop, and a sari and turban lesson at a textile house. It also ends in Varanasi by night train. The other three-night stay, Golden Triangle & Colors of India, 7 days from EUR 1,515, is our Holi trip. It runs on fixed dates, and the third day is the Holi celebration in a royal garden with DJs and a crowd — a shared event, not a private one. It is also the only tour with hands-on Jaipur days: block printing with artisans and a cooking class in a private home.

A few practicalities. Nobody flies into Jaipur; every tour arrives on the road. Only one leaves by air — India – from North to South flies Jaipur to Kochi on day eight, on the way to Kerala. No itinerary uses a train to or from Jaipur. The Jaipur monuments open every day of the week, so the Friday closure that dictates the Agra schedule on the Golden Triangle tours does not affect your day here.

Five of the ten name your Jaipur hotel in advance: Trident Jaipur, Narain Niwas Palace, Alsisar Haveli, and Shahpura House on two tours. The other five list no hotel at all, so ask us first if that matters. There is no Jaipur-only trip. The shortest route in is seven days, the cheapest is The magic of Rajasthan at ten days from EUR 1,000, and if you are timing a visit, read our month-by-month guide before you fix dates.