Three cities, three colours, one story
Most honeymoon plans try to fit in too much, and the couple spends more time in the back of a car than at a candlelit table. We took the opposite view: three places, each beautiful in a different way, long enough in each to settle, and evenings that belong to you.
Jaipur, the welcome: the pink city of our own family, with palaces where maharajas lived within living memory, bazaars full of colour and rooftops that turn rose and gold at dusk.
Its spirit: festive and generous.
- Jaipur
- Pink, the welcome
- Jaisalmer
- Gold, the longing, built in 1156
- Udaipur
- White, the peace, founded in 1559
- Desert night
- One of the three in Jaisalmer
- In Jaipur you will: see Amber Fort before the crowds, take a private walk through the City Palace and end with dinner on a rooftop booked for the two of you alone.
- Jaisalmer, the longing: the golden city at the far edge of the Thar, built of honey-coloured stone in 1156 and still alive inside its walls.
- Lace and love songs: its havelis are carved like lace, and its musicians sing love songs older than the city.
- A night in the desert: one of your three nights here is spent at a camp chosen because there is nobody else for miles. There is no sound but the wind and, perhaps, a camel bell.
- Udaipur, the peace: the city of lakes, founded by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559, where palaces rise from the water.
- Turned to the lake: at sunset the whole city seems to face Lake Pichola.
- The finest ending: three nights here, ideally on the island Lake Palace itself.
- What couples remember: years later, guests often tell us the last morning in Udaipur is the moment they remember first.
Day by day, at a honeymoon pace
- Nights
- Eight nights, nine days
- Pace
- One sight a morning, evenings for two
- Best months
- October to March
- Good for
- Honeymoons and anniversaries
- Starts
- Jaipur airport, or the train from Delhi
- Ends
- Udaipur airport
Days 1 and 2: Jaipur
Arrival: our team meets you at Jaipur International Airport, or off the fast train from Delhi, which takes a little over four hours.
Rest first: check into your palace hotel.
First sunset: drive up to Nahargarh, the fort on the ridge, to watch the pink city turn gold below while kites circle overhead.
- First dinner: quiet, in the gardens of your hotel.
- Amber at opening: reach Amber Fort as the gates open, when the Sheesh Mahal is nearly empty and a single lamp can turn its ceiling into a sky of stars.
- No elephant rides: we walk or drive you up, and never book them.
- The City Palace: after lunch and a rest, a private tour of the City Palace, including the royal apartments of the Chandra Mahal.
- The courtyard of the beloved: the painted gates of the Pritam Niwas Chowk.
- Dinner for two: on a rooftop in the old city, set with a table, lanterns and a view of Hawa Mahal or Nahargarh.
- More ideas: our Jaipur things to do page, from a sunrise hot-air balloon flight in season to a morning with a block printer.
Days 3 to 5: Jaisalmer and the dunes
The one long transfer: Jaisalmer is far from everywhere.
By air when we can: in recent winters there has been a seasonal flight between Jaipur and Jaisalmer, and when it runs, we use it.
Otherwise: the overnight train, or a very long road day, five to six hours to Jodhpur and about five more to Jaisalmer. For some couples we arrange a private charter.
- Plainly: we will tell you which option your dates allow when we plan.
- First evening: at Vyas Chhatri, watching the fort walls turn gold in the last light.
- Sunrise: a rowing boat on Gadisar Lake.
- The living fort: walk up into Jaisalmer Fort, where families still live inside the walls, to see the Jain temples during morning worship.
- The havelis: after lunch and a rest, Patwon ki Haveli and Salim Singh ki Haveli.
- A private concert: Manganiyar musicians in a courtyard, singing the love songs of the desert.
- Day five, to the desert: leave in the late morning, stopping at the cenotaphs of Bada Bagh or the abandoned village of Kuldhara.
- Sunset on the dunes: arrive at your camp in the late afternoon for a walk onto the sand as the sun goes down.
- Dinner by a fire for two: and later, when the lanterns go out, the brightest stars of your lives. We arrange stargazing with a telescope if you want it.
Days 6 to 9: Udaipur
A slow breakfast: then leave the desert.
The long way round: by road it is about five hours back to Jodhpur and five to six more to Udaipur.
The faster way: in the winter months, when Jaisalmer's seasonal flights run, we usually fly you with a connection, or arrange a private charter so you land by lunch.
- The reward is the lake: at the Lake Palace, the hotel's boat carries you across Pichola to the door, and the evening has nothing planned at all.
- The palace at opening: on your first full day, the City Palace, climbing to the top courtyards for the view over the water, then rest.
- The hour before sunset: a private boat on Lake Pichola, drifting past the ghats as the City Palace turns from cream to amber.
- Dinner on the island: land at Jag Mandir for a candlelit dinner after the day visitors have gone home.
- The second full day, for yourselves: the fountains and lotus pools of Saheliyon ki Bari, the garden of the maidens, then an afternoon at the spa.
- Sunset: the Monsoon Palace for the widest view of the lakes and the Aravallis, or Ambrai Ghat as the palace lights come on one by one.
- Day nine: we take you to Maharana Pratap Airport for your flight home.
Moments we arrange quietly
Proposals: our team has quietly arranged rings on boats, on rooftops and on palace terraces, and we know how to keep a secret.
How it works: tell your planner what you have in mind, and we find the place, the hour and the people, with nobody else knowing until the moment comes.
Ideas: our journal on proposal ideas in Udaipur and our Rajasthan honeymoon ideas.
- A rooftop dinner in Jaipur: in the old city, with lanterns and a view of Hawa Mahal or the lit walls of Nahargarh.
- Mehndi: a morning with an artist who paints henna patterns on your hands as brides in Rajasthan still do. Our page on mehndi explains the tradition.
- A courtyard concert in Jaisalmer: Manganiyar musicians singing the old love ballads of the desert.
- Dinner on the dunes: laid on a carpet by a fire, with nobody else in sight.
- A private boat on Pichola: timed so you are mid-lake as the sun drops behind the western hills.
- Jag Mandir by candlelight: reached by boat after the day visitors have gone.
- Breakfast in bed at the Lake Palace: with the shutters open and the lake completely still.
- A vow renewal: in a palace courtyard, with a priest, marigolds and music. Our page on vow renewals explains how we arrange them.
Where you'll stay
Jaipur
Rambagh Palace: the home of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi, one of the most famous couples in India, before it opened as a hotel in 1957.
Which room: ask us for one facing the Mughal gardens.
- The Oberoi Rajvilas: a walled retreat of villas and tents around pools, with one of the best spas in India.
- More intimate: Samode Haveli, inside the old walls, with painted rooms and a terrace for dinner.
- Compare them: our Jaipur hotel guide.
Jaisalmer town
Suryagarh: about thirteen kilometres out on the Sam road, a fort-hotel built in the old Jaisalmer manner from the same yellow stone.
- The house: courtyards, a pool and long dinners under the stars.
- Why we choose it: it gives you the space and calm the town itself lacks.
The desert night
The Serai: SUJAN's camp on about a hundred acres of private desert scrub, with large tented suites and firelit dinners that feel like a private expedition.
- True dunes outside the tent: we choose a small camp near Khuri, well away from the crowds at Sam.
- We have stayed at every camp we book: our guide to luxury desert camps explains what we look for.
Udaipur
Taj Lake Palace: a white marble palace built between 1743 and 1746 on its own island in Pichola, reached only by the hotel's boats.
For a honeymoon: nothing in India compares. We ask for a lake-facing room on an upper floor.
- The Oberoi Udaivilas: on the western shore, with many rooms opening onto semi-private pools along the water.
- The Leela Palace Udaipur: beside it.
- Complete peace: Raffles Udaipur, on its own island in Udai Sagar.
- More: our Udaipur hotel guide.
Tables for two
Jaipur: kachori, laal maas and a cooking class
Breakfast in the old city: pyaaz kachori, a flaky pastry of spiced onion, and a tall glass of lassi before noon.
- Dinner: laal maas, the fiery red mutton of the old hunting camps, or dal baati churma, the dish every Rajasthani family makes for honoured guests.
- Cook together: a cooking class in a haveli with a family who will send you home with their recipes.
- Where we trust: our Jaipur food guide.
Jaisalmer: the food of the desert
Ker sangri: dried desert beans and berries cooked until tangy and rich, with bajra roti and garlic chutney.
- At the camp: the dal is cooked slowly over coals.
- The best meal of the trip: simple food eaten by firelight, couples often tell us. Our Jaisalmer food guide has more.
Udaipur: the grandest tables
The setting is the lake: dinner on a terrace facing the lit City Palace, on the deck of a boat, or on Jag Mandir after dark.
- Mewari cooking: gentler than the desert's, and the vegetarian thalis are excellent.
- Ghevar: in the monsoon, a disc of fried batter soaked in syrup that we only eat in the Teej season.
- Our favourite views: our journal on the best rooftop restaurants in Udaipur.
Drinks, dry days and diets
Drinks: the palace hotels and camps serve wine, beer and spirits.
- Dry days: on certain national holidays and some festivals, alcohol is not served anywhere in Rajasthan. We check them against your dates, and our page on alcohol and dry days explains how they work.
- Allergies and preferences: tell us before you travel, and we brief every kitchen in advance.
- Street food: we choose the stops ourselves, keep to busy stalls where everything is cooked hot, and carry bottled water in the car.
The honest part: distances in the desert
Rajasthan is big: Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Udaipur sit at three corners of the state, and by road the legs between them are long.
Why we don't stop between: on most journeys we soften the distances with a night in between, but with only eight nights we would rather give you the time in the places themselves.
So we cross fast: using the quickest sensible way.
- Delhi to Jaipur
- A little over 4 hours by fast train
- Jaipur to Jodhpur
- 5 to 6 hours
- Jodhpur to Jaisalmer
- About 5 hours
- Jodhpur to Udaipur
- 5 to 6 hours
- Jaisalmer flights
- Seasonal, in winter
- Jaisalmer's airport: runs seasonal flights in the winter months, recently to cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur, and closes to civil flights for much of the summer.
- Schedules change: every season, so we confirm them as soon as your dates are fixed.
- When the flights suit: the transfers become half-days.
- When they don't: a private charter, which is quick and surprisingly romantic; trains, including overnight services; or a long road day with a good chauffeur, a comfortable car and a lunch stop we have chosen.
- A closer desert: swap Jaisalmer for a desert night nearer the other cities, such as Manvar near Jodhpur.
- Or leopards: the leopard country of Jawai, between Jodhpur and Udaipur.
- Or break it: add a night in Jodhpur.
- Every leg explained: our guide to getting around Rajasthan.
When to go
October to March: warm, dry days and cool nights.
December and January: cold nights, close to freezing in the dunes. You will want a warm jacket by the fire, and the camps provide heaters or warm bedding.
February: our favourite month for this route, with soft light, comfortable days and the Jaisalmer Desert Festival, held around the full moon of Magh.
- Best
- October to March
- Our favourite
- February
- Busiest
- Christmas and New Year
- Coldest
- December and January, near freezing
- Avoid
- April to September, camps closed
- Book early for the holidays: at Christmas and New Year the Lake Palace and the best camps need booking months ahead.
- Diwali: in October or November, it lights Jaipur's bazaars from end to end and fills Udaipur's ghats with lamps reflected in the lake.
- Kites: on 14 January, Jaipur's whole walled city flies them from its roofs for Makar Sankranti.
- Holi and Gangaur: Holi falls in February or March, and Gangaur follows, with women carrying the goddess to the lake in Udaipur.
- Festival journeys: our Holi in Rajasthan and Diwali in Jaipur journeys are built around them.
- April to June: the desert is very hot and the camps close, so we would not run this route then.
- The monsoon: July to September, Udaipur is at its most romantic, with green hills and full lakes, but the desert camps are closed.
- A monsoon honeymoon: try Udaipur romance in four nights or a journey through Mewar instead.
- Month by month: our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan.
Make it yours
Shorter
- Five or six nights: drop Jaisalmer and spend the time between Jaipur and Udaipur, perhaps with a night at the hill palace of Samode.
- Or all lakes: give four nights to Udaipur with our Udaipur romance journey.
Longer
Ten or twelve nights: add Jodhpur between Jaisalmer and Udaipur, with a night under the walls of Mehrangarh.
- Over the hills: drive on to Udaipur via the marble temple of Ranakpur.
- Bundi: or add its painted palace and stepwells. Bundi is the quietest romantic town in Rajasthan.
- More desert nights: our honeymoon in Udaipur and Jaisalmer journey.
For an anniversary
More comfort, less movement: couples celebrating a milestone often want this.
- How we plan it: the Oberoi hotels for their service, one sight a day, and a vow renewal in a palace courtyard in Udaipur.
- The Taj Mahal: some add a night at Agra at the start, for the most famous monument to love in the world.
For adventurous couples
- Add: a sunrise balloon flight over Jaipur in season, a second night in the dunes, a leopard safari at Jawai or a horse ride through the Marwar countryside.
- More ideas: our Rajasthan honeymoons page, for couples who like to keep moving.
How we look after you
A private chauffeur: and car in each city, with every flight, train or charter booked and timed around you.
Meetings: at every airport and station, with help through check-in so you never queue alone.
Private guides: in Jaipur, Jaisalmer and Udaipur, who know when to talk and when to let you wander.
- No commission shops: we never take you to them.
- Quiet surprises: rooftop dinners, boats, concerts and surprises arranged discreetly, and kept secret if one of you is planning something.
- The right room: we tell each hotel you are on honeymoon or celebrating an anniversary, and ask for it.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout, ready to move a dinner, add a spa morning or book a boat for tomorrow.
- No published prices: the hotels, rooms, transfers and private moments make each journey different.
- A written plan and a clear quote: after one conversation with your planner. Our page on what a luxury Rajasthan journey costs explains what makes the difference.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
Honeymoons and anniversaries: you will love Rajasthan for Two if you are celebrating either.
Without rushing: if you want the most beautiful parts of Rajasthan at an easy pace.
- Evenings together: if you value them more than a long list of sights.
- A little adventure, a lot of comfort: such as a night in the desert.
- Not right if: you want to see as much as possible, or long transfers would spoil your holiday, because Jaisalmer is far from the other two cities.
- The whole of Rajasthan: choose the Royal Rajputana.
- Lakes and temples, little travel: Mewar Lakes and Temples is gentler.
- A first visit with the Taj Mahal: take the Golden Triangle and Udaipur.
