Rajasthan and Agra, India

Palace on WheelsJaipur, the desert, the lake city and Agra

Palace on Wheels leaves Delhi on a fixed week-long loop through Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Agra. Forts and palaces fill the daylight hours, and the nights are spent moving between them. You come back to the same cabin each evening.

The route starts and finishes in Delhi and covers the main royal cities of Rajasthan along with the Taj Mahal at Agra. It is a long-established product with a set rhythm rather than a flexible one.

Discuss this journey Before you go

Read this page in Chinese

PlaceRajasthan and Agra

TypeHeritage sleeper train

SuitsFirst Rajasthan circuit

Stay7 nights, 8 days

Royal cities, desert and the Taj Mahal in order

Rajasthan and Agra, India — Heritage sleeper train.

The train links the main royal cities of Rajasthan with Agra on a route of about a week. It carries the beds and the night-time movement, while the days run to a group timetable that takes you off to the sites. Almost everything is arranged; little is left to decide on the day.

It works best as a first pass at the region, when you want the whole picture rather than one place in depth. The stops come thick and fast. If Udaipur or Jaipur is the point of the trip for you, add separate days outside the fixed loop.

It suits a first Rajasthan trip, an interest in palaces and forts, and a taste for old railway style across many cities. The pace is fixed and the stops are many, so it is not for anyone wanting to settle into one city; judge the carriages on current photos.

A dining car with a gilded vaulted ceiling, long tables set with white cloths and rows of chairs on both sides — Long tables under a gold-vaulted ceiling

Two musicians seated on a station platform with drums and a stringed instrument, travellers stepping down behind them — Musicians playing on the platform for arrivals

A lounge carriage with deep red sofas, gold ornament on the walls and small tables between the seats

A week around the royal cities

Jaipur, a desert fort, a lake city and Agra all fall on one loop, joined by track at night. The distances between them are long, and the sleeper absorbs much of that. You cover a lot of Rajasthan without a single long road day. The route is the point.

A cabin bed with a carved wooden headboard, patterned bedding and a reading light fixed above it

Bags that stay where you left them

For a trip covering this much ground, keeping the room in one place is the plain advantage. No new check-in each afternoon, no bags on a lobby floor. The cabins answer to the old royal railway tradition, and the dining and lounge cars carry the rest of the day.

A passenger standing in an ornate carriage doorway with carved panels and brass fittings around them

A different fort or palace each morning

The off-train programme is dense, which is exactly what a first visit needs. Each city brings different architecture and a different story, and the walking and meeting times are fixed. Read the day sheet in advance, because some stops ask more of your legs than others.

A lakeside palace facade mirrored in still water at dusk, lit windows along the waterfront

Route

A week on rails with Delhi at both ends

The standard route runs seven nights and eight days, with Delhi at both ends. Keep a night in Delhi before departure and a night after the return, and do not connect an international flight to the same day. From Delhi, Varanasi, Mumbai or South India can follow.

Buffering the week at both ends in Delhi

The loop is fixed at seven nights. The two Delhi nights around it are what make boarding and the flight home manageable.

Stay

The standard route runs seven nights and eight days. Keep one night in Delhi before departure and one after the return, rather than connecting straight to an international flight.

Getting there

You gather at a named station or hotel in Delhi. Every off-train visit follows a fixed timetable, so confirm luggage handling and transfers in advance.

Season

The train runs mainly from September to April, and the winter months suit sightseeing in Rajasthan better than the heat on either side of them.

Watch out

There are many stops on a fixed rhythm, which does not suit anyone wanting to stay put in one city. Judge the carriages on current photos, not the name.

Plan this into a journey

The week is fixed. The Delhi nights on either side, and where you fly to afterwards, are the parts that need deciding.

[email protected]

Read this page in Chinese

Discuss this journey