Why we spend the holidays in palaces
Not a Rajasthani festival: but Rajasthan has always been good at welcoming guests for one.
Palaces dressed for it: the palace hotels decorate their courtyards, light fires in the evenings and hold festive dinners.
Carols and midnight mass: the cities' small Christian communities fill their churches.
- Nights
- Ten
- Pace
- Christmas Day free, long lunches in the sun
- Best months
- Late December to New Year's Day
- Good for
- Families, couples, friends together
- Starts
- Jaipur
- Ends
- Udaipur
- Winter at its best: roses and bougainvillea in the gardens, clear skies and long golden afternoons.
- Light and evenings: the light is low and soft all day, which photographers love, and dusk comes early, which leaves long evenings by the fire.
- Jaipur: the Kachwaha capital, laid out by Sawai Jai Singh II in 1727 and washed pink in 1876.
- Jodhpur: the Rathore capital, ruled from Mehrangarh on its cliff since the fifteenth century.
- Udaipur: the capital of Mewar, the proudest of the Rajput houses, built around its lakes in the sixteenth century.
- A palace in each: where the former royal family's history is part of the walls, and the festive season is done with real style.
- The shape of a good holiday: four nights in Jaipur put Christmas in the middle, two in Jodhpur give you the most dramatic fort in India, and four in Udaipur end with the last sunset of the year over the water.
- The road between: a long, beautiful drive south through the Aravallis, with the marble temple of Ranakpur on the way.
- Background reading: our guides to Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.
- Holiday rules: no early start on Christmas Day and no long drive on New Year's Eve.
- Something to come back to: every city has a pool or a garden for the middle of the day, and every evening has a fire, a terrace or a lake.
- Real sightseeing, family rhythm: three of the finest forts and palaces in India and one of its greatest temples, arranged around a family at rest rather than a tour on a schedule. If someone sleeps until ten on Boxing Day, nothing is lost.
Day by day, from Christmas Eve to the first morning of the year
- Jaipur to Jodhpur
- Five to six hours
- Jodhpur to Ranakpur
- About three hours
- Ranakpur to Udaipur
- About two more hours
- Jaipur to Ranthambore
- Three to four hours
- December sunset
- About half past five
Days 1 and 2: Jaipur, the Pink City in winter
Arrival: we meet you at Jaipur airport and take you to your palace to rest.
A light first day: late December fog sometimes delays morning flights from Delhi. Walk in the gardens, then take a late-afternoon drive through the walled city as the walls turn rose.
- Let the sun rise first: Amber at six on a December morning is bitterly cold and still grey.
- Amber Fort: reach Amber Fort as the gates open, wrapped in a shawl. By ten the courtyards are warm enough to sit in.
- No elephants: we walk or drive you up, and we don't book elephant rides.
- Afternoon: lunch outdoors in the sun, then a rest.
- Sunset at Nahargarh: drive up to Nahargarh for the view over the city, at about half past five in December.
Day 3: Christmas Eve in the walled city
The bazaars: walk them in the morning with a guide who grew up in them.
Snacks: pyaaz kachori, the onion-filled pastry, and a clay cup of lassi.
- Winter sweets: the halwais sell hot gajak, the sesame and jaggery sweet of the cold months, and you will want some for the room.
- City Palace: a private tour in the late afternoon of the City Palace, including the rooms of the Chandra Mahal.
- Christmas Eve is yours: most palace hotels hold a festive dinner, and we can take you to a carol service or midnight mass at one of the city's churches.
- Or keep it simple: a fire, a quiet table and an early night before Christmas morning.
Day 4: Christmas Day, unhurried
No alarms: breakfast on the lawn in the winter sun, presents on the terrace, a swim if you are brave, a long lunch.
- If you go out: the Jantar Mantar is at its best near midday, when its giant sundials mark the time to within seconds.
- After dark: the Albert Hall Museum is lovely lit up.
- Polo: for many guests the best Christmas present in Jaipur is a slow afternoon at the polo. December is in the city's season, and we check the fixtures for you.
Day 5: Jaipur to Jodhpur
The road: about five to six hours after breakfast through the farmland of central Rajasthan, with lunch on the way.
- Arrival: in the late afternoon, as Mehrangarh catches the last light on its cliff.
- Evening: check in at your palace and take a drink on the terrace as the fort is lit.
Day 6: Mehrangarh and the blue city
Mehrangarh at opening: walk its palaces with a private guide, from the Phool Mahal to the cradles and palanquins of the museum. See Mehrangarh.
From the ramparts: the blue-washed houses of Brahmpuri spread out below.
- Jaswant Thada: walk down to Jaswant Thada, the white marble memorial on its lake, then lunch.
- The old city: walk the lanes to the clock tower market and Toorji ka Jhalra, the restored stepwell.
- Taste it: a mirchi bada, the stuffed chilli fritter Jodhpur loves.
- Evening: the Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum if you didn't go in the morning, then dinner on the terrace.
Day 7: Jodhpur to Udaipur, by way of Ranakpur
Early breakfast: the road south climbs into the Aravalli hills.
- Ranakpur after about three hours: Ranakpur is the great fifteenth-century Jain temple in a wooded valley, its marble hall held up by pillars that tradition counts at 1,444, no two alike.
- Temple manners: leave shoes and leather outside and walk slowly.
- On to Udaipur: after lunch, about two more hours through the hills, arriving for the evening lights on the lake.
Days 8 and 9: Udaipur, the city of lakes
City Palace before the crowds: a morning in the City Palace, the largest palace complex in Rajasthan, with a private guide.
Walking down: the Jagdish temple on the way, then the lanes to Gangaur Ghat.
- Sunset boat: on Lake Pichola to Jag Mandir.
- A garden in the cool: Saheliyon ki Bari, the garden of the maids of honour.
- Shilpgram: the crafts village west of Fateh Sagar, whose large fair is held in the last days of December.
- Evening: the folk dance programme at Bagore ki Haveli, or the view at dusk from the Monsoon Palace.
Day 10: New Year's Eve on the water
A slow day: breakfast late and a spa treatment in the afternoon.
- The last sunset of the year: from a private boat on Pichola, as the City Palace turns from cream to gold to rose.
- Festive dinners: the hotels hold them that night, and we book your table months ahead.
- Or quietly: a private dinner on a terrace or a rooftop, with the lake below.
Day 11: The first morning of the year
Udaipur wakes late: the perfect morning for a quiet walk along the ghats, where the pigeons and the washerwomen take no notice of the calendar.
- Fly from Udaipur airport: home or onwards.
- Or stay on: the first week of January is still peak season, then the city grows calmer.
The palaces we choose, and the alternatives
Book six months ahead: over Christmas and New Year the best rooms sell out first, often six months or more ahead.
- Holiday terms: some hotels ask for minimum stays and a place at their festive dinners.
- The room, not the category: we know which rooms face which way and which are near the party, and we choose for you.
Jaipur: Rambagh Palace
Its story: a garden house in 1835, then the residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi, and a hotel since 1957.
- What it has: peacocks on the lawns, a polo ground next door and the Suvarna Mahal dining room under gilded ceilings.
- Ask for: a room facing the Mughal gardens, where winter breakfasts in the sun are the best in the city.
- Alternatives: The Oberoi Rajvilas for calm and space, Samode Haveli for the walled city.
Jodhpur: Umaid Bhawan Palace
A palace on a hill: the former royal family still lives alongside a Taj hotel, with gardens, space and Mehrangarh on the skyline.
- Under the fort: RAAS Jodhpur is the alternative we suggest in the old city.
- By a lake: Bal Samand Lake Palace is a gentle heritage choice.
Udaipur: on the lake or above it
Taj Lake Palace: on its island in Pichola, the most romantic place in India to see in the New Year.
The Oberoi Udaivilas: gardens, pools and views across the water to the City Palace.
- The other great choices: The Leela Palace Udaipur and Raffles Udaipur.
- In the royal house itself: Shiv Niwas Palace and Fateh Prakash Palace, inside the City Palace complex.
- Compare them: our guide to luxury hotels in Udaipur.
In the countryside instead
A quieter Christmas: a palace with fewer guests and village life at the gate.
- Near Jaipur: Samode Palace, in the Aravalli hills.
- Near Jodhpur and Udaipur: Rohet Garh and Devi Garh.
- All of them: our guide to palace hotels.
The season, honestly
Weather: days in Jaipur and Udaipur are usually sunny and pleasant. Mornings are cold, colder still in the desert.
Jodhpur: a little warmer by day and just as cold at night.
Pack: a warm jacket or heavy shawl for early starts and evenings, light layers for the afternoons, and something smart for the festive dinners.
- Days
- Sunny, low to mid twenties
- Dawns
- Sometimes near freezing in Jaipur
- Fog
- Around Delhi, late December and January
- Busiest
- Christmas to New Year
- Calmer
- Early December, late January
- Why we start in Jaipur: fog can slow the roads and flights around Delhi in late December and January.
- The busiest fortnight: Christmas to New Year is the busiest and most expensive of the year, as Indian families travel for the holidays alongside visitors from abroad.
- What that means: big monuments crowded by mid-morning, slow roads to Amer and busy boats on Pichola at sunset.
- How we plan around it: sights at opening time, private tours and boats, and the middle of the day in the palace gardens.
- Only these dates: they are still wonderful.
- If you can move: the first fortnight of December or the second half of January is calmer and just as lovely. Our Rajasthan in December guide has more.
Festivals and events in the season
Shilpgram fair: fills Udaipur's last days of December with artisans and folk performers from across western India.
Polo: Jaipur's season is in full swing.
- Mount Abu: the Mount Abu Winter Festival falls at the end of December.
- Early January: the kites of Makar Sankranti and the Jaipur Literature Festival.
- The details: our page on Christmas and New Year in Rajasthan.
Make it yours
Shorter, in seven nights
- The shape: three nights in Jaipur for Christmas, a flight to Udaipur, and four on the lake.
- The trade: you lose Jodhpur and Ranakpur, but you lose the long drives too.
A desert New Year
Swap Udaipur for the Thar: after Jodhpur, drive to Jaisalmer.
- Where: The Serai, SUJAN's tented camp, or Suryagarh, with a fire, desert music and a sky full of stars.
- Book very early: these are the busiest weeks of the year for desert camps.
- The route: our Under the Thar Sky journey.
With tigers
Two or three nights: at Ranthambore, three to four hours from Jaipur.
- Where: SUJAN Sher Bagh or The Oberoi Vanyavilas.
- Cold dawns, scarce permits: winter safaris are cold at dawn and holiday permits sell out early, so we book them as soon as they open.
For families
What children love: palace gardens to run in, camels, forts with secret staircases and polo matches.
- Keep it easy: short drives and a pool afternoon every day.
- Fly instead: consider swapping the long drive from Jaipur to Jodhpur for a flight where schedules allow.
- More ideas: our family journeys and Jaipur, Ranthambore and Udaipur family journey.
For several generations together
For grandparents: ground-floor rooms or suites close to the main buildings.
- For children: connecting rooms.
- Separate guides: so each part of the family sets its own pace. Our multi-generation journeys explain how we plan.
For couples
- All four Udaipur nights: at Taj Lake Palace, with a private boat on New Year's Eve.
- Shaped around the holidays: our honeymoon journeys and Rajasthan for Two.
With the Taj Mahal
- Begin in Delhi and Agra: the Taj at sunrise on the misty mornings of late December, then on to Jaipur for Christmas.
- The shape: our Golden Triangle and Udaipur follows it.
The winter table
Bajra season: winter is the season of bajra, pearl millet, whose heavy, nutty rotis are eaten with white butter and jaggery or a fiery garlic chutney.
In the markets: mustard greens arrive.
Sweets for warmth: gajak and til laddoo, made of sesame and jaggery, are sold everywhere.
- Jaipur mornings: mawa kachori and hot jalebi.
- Jaipur dinners: laal maas, mutton in a red sauce of Mathania chillies, or the gentler safed maas.
- Jodhpur: start the day with pyaaz kachori and a mirchi bada, and finish with makhaniya lassi.
- Udaipur: ask for a Mewari thali with dal baati churma.
- Christmas lunch: the palace hotels will cook you a full one if you want, and they do it well.
- One Rajasthani feast: we always suggest one as well, on a terrace in the winter sun, with the cook explaining every dish.
- What to order: our Rajasthani food guide and Rajasthani thali guide.
- Wine with dinner: Rajasthan has dry days on certain national holidays and elections. Our note on dry days and alcohol explains the rules.
How we look after you
Private car throughout: we meet you at Jaipur airport, and a chauffeur who knows every road on the route drives you all the way. We use flights where they save time.
Local guides: private guides in each city who grew up there, and private tours of the City Palaces at the quietest hours.
- Booked months ahead: your festive dinners, polo, the boat on Pichola and your New Year's Eve table, all confirmed again in December.
- For cold mornings: a warm layer, blankets and hot water in the car.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout, for a delayed flight, a changed lunch or a present that needs wrapping.
- No published prices: holiday rates and minimum stays vary by hotel and year, so we quote after one conversation about how you like to travel.
- Thinking about value: our page on what a luxury Rajasthan journey costs.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
Warmth and beauty: you want the holidays somewhere warm and beautiful, with real history around you and a festive dinner at the end of the day.
Who it suits: families with school holidays, couples, groups of friends and several generations travelling together.
- Room to rest: the three palaces give you space between the sights, and the pace leaves time for doing nothing at all.
- Choose another journey if: you dislike crowds, want the great monuments to yourself, or the cost of the holiday weeks feels wrong for what you want.
- The alternative: come in the first half of December or late January, and choose The Royal Rajputana or our winter in Rajasthan journey.
- What you gain: the same weather, quieter palaces and much more choice of rooms.
What we tell our cousins before the holidays
Book early: six months is sensible, and earlier for the best rooms at Taj Lake Palace, Rambagh and Umaid Bhawan.
Two climates in one day: a warm jacket for dawn and dusk, light layers for noon, and a scarf for temples and the sun.
- Book
- Six months or more ahead
- Delhi connections
- A spare hour or two for fog
- Temples
- Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off
- Hello
- Khamma ghani
- Shopping
- No commission stops
- Allow for fog: if you connect through Delhi, leave a spare hour or two for your flight, especially in the mornings.
- Temple dress: shoulders and knees covered, and shoes you can slip off easily at Ranakpur and the Jagdish temple.
- Learn khamma ghani: khamma ghani is the Rajasthani hello. It opens doors in all three cities.
- No shops, politely: say no to any driver or guide who suggests one. Our guides are paid never to play the commission game.
- A present if you like: not expected, but a box of sweets or something from home at Christmas is always remembered. Our note on tipping in Rajasthan explains the customs.
