The emperor's camp, made small
A court on the move: when Akbar travelled, on campaign, pilgrimage or the hunt, his court went with him.
Cities of cloth: chroniclers describe tented cities laid out to a fixed plan, with the emperor's enclosure at the centre behind walls of cloth, and nobles, soldiers, cooks and merchants arranged around it.
Hunting camps: smaller and lighter, pitched at a forest's edge for days of shikar, the royal hunt.
- Opened
- The early 2000s, by Aman
- Style
- Tents inspired by Mughal camps
- Season
- October to May
- Setting
- The fringe of Ranthambore park
- Good for
- Couples and quiet travellers
- Getting there
- About 20 minutes from Sawai Madhopur
- Akbar knew this country: in 1569 his armies took Ranthambore Fort, when Rao Surjan Hada of Bundi surrendered it after a siege.
- The name: aman means peace, and khas means special or private, the word that names the Diwan-i-Khas, the hall of private audience, in every Mughal fort.
- A first for India: Aman opened the camp in the early 2000s, among the first places to show a tent could be as refined as a palace room.
- The canvas: soaring and white, over solid floors, with each tent divided in the Mughal way by drapes of white cotton rather than walls.
- An honest irony: the camps that inspired it were built for killing tigers, and the Jaipur maharajas kept this forest as a hunting preserve well into the twentieth century.
- Today: the hunting is long over, and the tiger is why everyone comes. Our Ranthambore guide tells how a royal hunting ground became a great tiger reserve.
On the threshold of the park
That is the heart of its appeal. You come back from a drive, dusty and cold or hot and tired, and the camp is simply silent.
Where: in the Aravalli hills on the fringe of Ranthambore National Park, in the village area of Sherpur-Khiljipur, off the road from Sawai Madhopur to the park gates.
- From the station: about twenty minutes.
- The ground: dry, scrubby country at the park's edge, with groves of trees the camp has let grow up around the tents.
- The forest at dusk: on a still evening you hear langurs calling an alarm, a sambar's bark, a peacock settling for the night.
- The park itself: dry deciduous forest dominated by the small, twisting dhok tree, broken by cliffs and ravines and fed by a chain of lakes below the old fort.
- Animals and ruins: that mix makes Ranthambore unlike any other park in India. Our page on things to do in Ranthambore describes it.
- Privacy: the camp is small and the tents are placed apart, so you rarely see another guest except at the firepit or the pool.
Inside the tents
The structure: a solid floor, hardwood and canvas walls and a sun deck outside.
The space: divided by cotton drapes into areas for sleeping, sitting, dressing and bathing.
Campaign furniture: writing desks, a large daybed and a leather drinks chest.
- Walls
- Hardwood and canvas, on a solid floor
- Inside
- Cotton drapes, not walls
- Bathing
- Stone soaking tub and shower
- Climate
- Air-conditioned and heated
- Service
- A personal butler for each tent
- The tub: a stone soaking tub as well as a shower, one of the great pleasures of the camp after a dusty afternoon drive.
- All seasons: air-conditioned for the warm months and heated for the cold ones.
- Private pools: a few larger tents have them, which suit honeymooners and families who want the hot hours to themselves.
- How tents are given: allocation belongs to the camp, so we don't promise one. We tell Aman exactly what matters to you and ask.
- Your butler: every tent has one, and they learn your habits within a day: when you like your tea, whether you want a hot water bottle on a December night, how long you sleep after the morning drive.
- A house party: that attentive, unhurried service makes the camp feel less like a hotel.
A day at the camp, hour by hour
Before dawn
- The wake-up: a knock, tea or coffee on the veranda, warm layers and a blanket in the jeep.
- The drive: leave in the dark and reach the park gate as the light comes up, when tigers are most likely to be moving along the tracks and lake shores.
Late morning
- Breakfast: a late one back at camp, usually ravenous.
- The long middle of the day: a swim in the stepwell pool, a sleep, a spa treatment or a book in the lounge tent. This is the hour the camp was made for.
Afternoon
Out again: a light lunch, then the afternoon drive, perhaps in a different zone.
- Or a change: skip a drive for the climb to Ranthambore Fort or the ruins of Khandar, with a picnic.
- Our rule: we never schedule six drives in a row unless you ask us to.
Evening
- At dusk: a hot bath in the stone tub, then drinks at the firepit, where the day's sightings are told and retold.
- Dinner: by candlelight, and bed early, because tomorrow starts in the dark again.
Dining, and the fire that ends every day
The dining tent: softly lit, with one long central table and several smaller ones, so you choose company or privacy.
The kitchen: Indian dishes alongside a range of Western ones.
The garden: most vegetables and herbs come from the camp's own organic plot.
- Winter produce: mustard greens, carrots, peas and fenugreek, the harvest of every farm around Sawai Madhopur in that season.
- The firepit: a sunken circle of stone benches around a great iron bowl of burning logs, where naturalists tell stories and guests compare sightings.
- Under the stars: on many nights dinner itself is served outside by candlelight.
- Eastern Rajasthan's food: it cooks with more wheat and dairy than the desert west. Dal, seasonal vegetables, fresh rotis and a jaggery sweet can be the best meal of a trip.
- The dishes explained: our Rajasthani food guide.
- Dietary needs: tell us in advance. The kitchen is used to Jain, vegan and allergy menus.
A stepwell for a pool, and a spa among the trees
The stepwell pool: stone steps descend into the water, with a sunny terrace of loungers and a grove of trees for shade.
The real stepwells: our page on the stepwells of Rajasthan explains the baoris and kunds built for water and rest.
- The spa: small and calm, with two treatment areas set around a little fountain.
- Treatments: traditional Ayurvedic therapies, massages, scrubs, wraps and baths.
- Also: mindfulness sessions and an outdoor gym.
- The traditions: our page on spas and Ayurveda explains them.
- The lounge tent: books, magazines, board games and a small selection of local crafts and fabrics.
- A hot afternoon: a book in the lounge tent with a cold nimbu pani, fresh lime water, is as good as any safari.
Safaris, forts and rivers
- Drives
- Twice a day, about three hours
- Vehicles
- Open six-seat Gypsies
- Permits
- Forest department, by zone
- Book
- As soon as dates are fixed
- Guided by
- Aman's naturalists
Game drives in the national park
When: early morning and late afternoon, each around three hours, in open six-seat Gypsies.
- Permits: issued by the Rajasthan forest department and assigned by zone. They sell out early in high season, so we book as soon as your dates are fixed.
- Guides: Aman's naturalists. Our page on tiger and leopard safaris explains zones, vehicles and sighting etiquette.
Ranthambore Fort
UNESCO: inscribed in 2013 among the Hill Forts of Rajasthan.
- The climb: a stone ramp through its gates to a plateau of ruined palaces, tanks and temples.
- Trinetra Ganesh: the temple where families still post wedding invitations to the god.
- When: early morning or late afternoon, with a guide.
Khandar Fort
Where: a short drive from camp, on a hill about 300 metres above the plains.
- Why go: ruined palaces looking out over the country, and very few visitors make the climb.
- How: the camp arranges a personal guide and a picnic lunch.
The Banas riverbed
Distance: about two hours away by open jeep.
- Why go: rich birding country in the dry season.
- How: a half day with a naturalist, walking the banks with a picnic. A lovely change after several dawn drives.
The Chambal river
A longer day: to one of the cleanest rivers in northern India, for a slow boat ride with a naturalist.
- Look for: river terns, skimmers, turtles and the gharial, the thin-snouted crocodile that is critically endangered and survives wild in only a few rivers.
- Read more: our page on Kota explains the river and its country.
Dastkar and the village crafts
What it is: Dastkar Ranthambhore, a craft initiative working since 1989 with women from villages around the reserve, many from families resettled when the park was created.
- What to buy: block prints, patchwork and embroidery, well made and fairly paid.
- More crafts: our page on block printing and crafts.
When to stay
The camp's season: closed from June to September, open from October to May.
The park's rhythm: core zones close from about July to September for the monsoon, when tracks turn to mud and animals breed and disperse.
October and November: fresh and green after the rains.
- Camp open
- October to May
- Camp closed
- June to September
- Core zones closed
- About July to September
- Coldest
- December and January, near two degrees
- Favourite
- February and March
- Hottest
- April and May, towards forty
- December and January: cold, especially in an open jeep at dawn, with overnight lows that can fall to a couple of degrees. Bring a warm jacket, gloves and a hat.
- February and March: many people's favourite months, with warm days and cool mornings.
- April and May: afternoons climb towards forty degrees and beyond, and the forest is dry and bare.
- Why photographers come then: animals gather near the lakes and waterholes, and sightings can be excellent. The pool, shade and air-conditioned tents make midday bearable.
- Busiest: Christmas, New Year and Indian holiday weekends. A camp this small books out early.
- Read more: our guide to the best time to visit Ranthambore, and our journal on the best time for tigers.
Who Aman-i-Khas is for
Couples and honeymooners
- Romance, silence and privacy: three nights, a fireside dinner, a spa afternoon, and a tent with its own pool if you can get one.
- Pair it with Udaipur: on our Rajasthan honeymoons.
Travellers who want a retreat as much as a safari
- A rest between cities: if you want Ranthambore to feel like that rather than an expedition, this is right.
- Its best hours: the camp shines between drives.
Wildlife enthusiasts
- The same tigers: you see them from here as well as anywhere, because the zones are shared.
- Deeper wildlife talk: if you want dinner conversation about territories, tracks and tiger lineages with people who have spent their lives here, SUJAN Sher Bagh has that culture.
Families
Older children: welcome and well looked after.
- Young children or big groups: families wanting gardens to run in and more facilities usually do better at The Oberoi Vanyavilas.
- Compare the three: our guide to luxury hotels in Ranthambore.
What most visitors miss
The camp between drives: the stepwell pool, the spa and the lounge tent are at their best in the quiet middle of the day.
The fort: most visitors drive past its walls on the way to the zones. Climb it, and the forest makes sense from above.
- Khandar: almost nobody makes the climb, so you may have the ruined palaces to yourselves.
- The birds: the Banas riverbed and the Chambal are a different world from the tiger tracks.
- The village crafts: Dastkar's work tells the story of the families who lived in the forest before it became a park.
- The firepit: the naturalists' stories after dark are half the education of a stay.
Aman-i-Khas on our journeys
Palaces and tigers: on Palaces and Tigers, three nights here follow Jaipur and lead on to the leopards of Jawai. A natural choice for couples.
A quieter first visit: on the Golden Triangle with Ranthambore, it turns a classic route into something calmer.
- The grand tour: on The Royal Rajputana, two nights here break the run between Jaipur and Jodhpur.
- A short escape: our short escapes page pairs two nights in Jaipur with two at the park.
- Mind the season: the camp closes from June to September, so at the edges of the year we check dates before anything else.
- Book it first: in winter, because it is small, we secure Ranthambore and build the journey around it.
Before you go
Layers for the jeep: a warm jacket, gloves and a hat from December to February, which come off as the sun rises.
Muted clothes: greens, browns and khaki for safari, nothing white or bright.
- A scarf or buff: the forest tracks are dusty, especially in the dry months.
- Binoculars: for birds and for animals at a distance.
- Sun cover: a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen for April and May.
- ID details: safari permits are booked in each guest's name against an ID, so we ask for them early.
Getting to Aman-i-Khas
From Delhi by train: fast trains to Sawai Madhopur take four to six hours, then a twenty-minute drive. Many guests prefer this to the long road. Our page on trains in Rajasthan explains classes and booking.
From Jaipur: about three hours by road. Jaipur is the nearest airport with good connections, about an hour's flight from Delhi.
- Nearest station
- Sawai Madhopur, about 20 minutes
- From Delhi by train
- Four to six hours
- From Jaipur
- About three hours by road
- Nearest airport
- Jaipur
- From Agra
- About five to six hours
- From Agra: about five to six hours, and we often break it at the Abhaneri stepwell.
- From Delhi by road: a long day, so we usually route through Jaipur or use the train.
- On arrival: your chauffeur meets you at the station or drives you throughout, and our planners confirm safari permits before you arrive.
What we tell friends before Aman-i-Khas
Stay three nights: four to six drives, a visit to the fort and real time in the camp.
Book a private Gypsy: it is quieter, and you can stay with a sighting as long as the animal is relaxed.
- Warm layers, December to February: dawn drives in an open jeep are genuinely cold.
- Safari manners: wear muted colours and keep your voice low at sightings.
- Not just tigers: leopards, sloth bears, crocodiles, sambar and hundreds of birds live here too.
- Mind Ganesh Chaturthi: avoid that week, in August or September, if you want a quiet visit to the fort. Our journal on the tigers of Ranthambore has more background.