Experience The Versatility of Rajasthan in 12 days – A Complete Travel Guide #RememberRajasthan

We started our journey the Pink City, Jaipur. We had reached Jaipur from Kolkata by flight and it was already noon when we reached. After taking some rest in our hotel, we went to the RTDC office to arrange the next day sightseeing. Luckily we got the seats for next day sightseeing at 8.30 A.M. Night stay in Hotel. I will tell the details about the hotels later.

Jaipur Sightseeing :

Next day after having our breakfast, we started for Jaipur City tour. In the first half we had visited Birla Mandir, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar, City Palace. Among them Jantar Mantar is in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site of India. Actually it is an astronomical observation site built in the early 18th century. After that we went to Nahargarh Fort and had your lunch in the fort. In the second half we visited Amer Fort, Jal Mahal. After that we headed back to our hotel. In Jaipur, you will get many roof top restaurant. It is a nice experience. One should definitely experience this for dinner if you are in Jaipur. Night stay at hotel.

Rate for Full day City Tour (Conducted by RTDC) in A.C. Bus : Rs. 500 (Per Person) (Note: Entry fee, Lunch is not included in this price).

Today our plan was to experience jungle life in Rajasthan. So, we took early morning train from Jaipur Railway Station (JP) to Sawai Madhopur station (SWM - Nearest railway station to Ranthambhore). After reaching at Sawai Madhopur station we put our luggage in the cloak room. One retiring room was also pre booked in Sawai Madhopur station for freshen up. Because at night we had train for Udaipur. One can book safari in advance through online portal. The website is : http://fmdss.forest.rajasthan.gov.in

But unfortunately, we are not lucky enough to get the advance ticket. So, we stood in a queue for getting spot booking. Oh, it was a long waiting for us. Safari timings for Ranthambhore National Park is mentioned below:

From 1st Feb to 31st March and from 1st October to 31st October : Morning Trip from 6.30 A.M. to 10.00 A.M. and Evening Trip from 2.30 P.M. to 6.00 P.M.

From 1st November to 31st January : Morning Trip from 7.00 A.M. to 10.30 A.M. and Evening Trip from 2.00 P.M. to 5.30 P.M.

From 1st April to 15th May : Morning Trip from 6.00 A.M. to 9.30 A.M. and Evening Trip from 3.30 P.M. to 6.30 P.M.

From 15th May to 30th June : Morning Trip from 6.00 A.M. to 9.30 A.M. and Evening Trip from 3.30 P.M. to 7.00 P.M.

We reached at Udaipur, the city of Lakes, in the morning. After that we checked in to our pre-booked hotel. There are many hotels in Udaipur, but try to stay near Lake Pichola. It will be a great experience for you to see the lake from your hotel room or from balcony. After that we headed to Udaipur City Palace. Then one by one we covered Moti Magri, Chetak Smarak, Jagdish Temple on the same day. We visited these places by auto which was widely available at the market area and at the same time it was cost effective also. In the evening, we arranged a car for the next day’s sightseeing which was at Haldighati. And then returned back to our hotel.

After having our breakfast, we started for Haldighati. Haldighati is around 50 km from Udaipur. On the way we visited Eklingji Temple. After reaching Haldighati, we spent time in Rana Pratap memorial and museum. Then we went to Rakht Talai, the large bowl like natural structure between the hills, was filled with the blood of the brave warriors of the battle between Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor. During our return back to Udaipur, we visited Shrinathji Temple at Nathdwara and also visited Saheliyon-ki-Bari at Udaipur. In the evening, we joined the cultural program at Bagore-Ki-Haveli. The day ended at Hotel.

So, in first two days we had experienced Palaces, Mahal, then we had experienced Jungle and then experienced the City of Lakes. Our next destination was at a hill station, Mount Abu. It is near the Gujarat border and set on a high rocky plateau in the Aravalli Range and surrounded by forest, it offers a relatively cool climate and views over the arid plains below. From Udaipur we took a car to Mount Abu. The roads towards Mount Abu from Udaipur is awesome. It is approximately 165 k.m. journey and took 3-3.5 hour to reach Mount Abu. After checked-in to the hotel, we had our lunch and took rest. In the afternoon, we went to Nakki Lake, Toad Rock. The sunset from the 'Sunset Point' was mesmerizing. The night at Mount Abu was chilling.

We arranged a car for that day's sightseeing by asking our hotel manager. After breakfast, we started for the sightseeing. First we went to Dilwara Temple. Then we headed to Achalgarh Fort, Achaleswar Temple. And finally we proceed for Guru Sikhar, the heighest point of Aravalli Range. Then we returned back to our hotel and took our dinner a bit early as we had to catch the train to Jodhpur(JU) at mid-night from Abu Road Station (ABR). So similar to day 3 we spent our night at train.

We reached at Jodhpur in the morning. After that we checked in to a hotel near the railway station. Because we had to take train for Jaisalmer on that same day at night. The hotel was not pre booked but we get a hotel on spot at a very cheap rate. After having breakfast, we arranged a car for full day sightseeing at Jodhpur, the Blue City. First we went to Umaid Bhawan Palace, then one by one we covered Mandore Garden, Jaswant Thada, Meherangarh Fort. If you have time, you can spend one day at Bishnoi Village also. But as we had time and cost constraints, we had not stayed there. From Meherangarh fort we returned back to your hotel. After taking rest and completing our dinner we again went to Jodhpur Railway station. We took the night train for Jaisalmer, as we had a plan to reach there next day at early morning. In this way we got extra time in Jaisalmer.

After reaching Jaisalmer in the morning, we checked in to the hotel. Post lunch we went for desert safari, that means a night stay at desert, in the sea of sand. The hotel manager of Jaisalmer had arranged our desert safari. During hotel reservation in Jaisalmer, you also can talk to the hotel accordingly. We experienced sunset in Sam Sand dunes and also done Camel safari in the desert. In the evening, a cultural program was conducted by the desert camp and after that we took our dinner.

Please note : Desert safari price includes accomodation in desert, transportation in desert (go and back), camel ride, tea/coffee & snacks, camp fire, folk music & dance, buffet dinner, morning breakfast.

Before the sun rose, it was around 4.00 A.M., we went for the jeep safari which we had booked from previous day. It cost us approximately Rs. 2500-3500 for a full jeep and it was seperate from our desert safari package. In the middle of Thar desert we experienced the beautiful sunrise. After that we returned back to our camp for breakfast. Then we proceed for Jaisalmer sightseeing. At first we stop at Kuldhra, an abondoned village. Then one by one we went to Lodhurwa temple, Gadisar Lake, Amar sagar Jain Temple, Nathmalji-Ki-Haveli. And in the last part of our journey we spent some time in Jaisalmer Fort (Sonar Kella). Then we returned back to the hotel where we had checked in previous day and took our dinner. At night we took train from Jaisalmer to Bikaner.

We reached at Bikaner in the morning. After checking in to our hotel and having our breakfast, we went for Bikaner sightseeing. One by one we covered Junagarh Fort, Lalgarh Palace, Suraj Pole, National Research Centre on Camel and Karni Mata Temple. In National Research Centre on Camel we tasted camel milk. In Bikaner one can purchase Bikaneri Snacks. We stayed that night at the hotel.

We returned back to Jaipur by early morning train and from Jaipur we took our return flight for Kolkata.

So in a single trip we have experienced the Royal aspect of the palaces, seen the green and wild Rajasthan, experienced the hilly terrain, gone to the history, experienced the desert life. In a nut shell we have experienced the diversity of the Rajasthan as much as possible to cover in a single trip. Hope you also will like my plan and will do your planning by yourself.