Why winter is the desert's season
Comfortable days: sightseeing in Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur is easy from mid-morning to late afternoon.
Cold nights: the dry air loses its heat fast after sunset. The difference between dawn and two in the afternoon can be fifteen degrees.
- Day temperature
- Often in the low twenties
- Night temperature
- Can fall close to freezing
- Record cold
- Bikaner has dropped below zero in January
- Rain
- Almost none
- Light
- Clear, low and golden
- Clear skies: little haze and almost no cloud, so sunrise on the fort and sunset on the dunes are sharp and golden.
- Wildlife: migratory birds arrive from Central Asia, and the open grasslands are at their most alive.
- Festivals: the Bikaner Camel Festival, the Nagaur fair and the Desert Festival at Jaisalmer all fall in the cold months.
- Short days: the sun sets around six in midwinter, so we start sightseeing early and keep the evenings for the fire.
- The catch: this is peak season. The best camps and hotels fill early, especially over Christmas and New Year.
- Further east: Delhi and the plains can have dense morning fog from mid-December to January, which delays flights and trains. Inside the Thar, fog is rare.
Dressing for a day that changes four times
Dawn: a fleece or light down jacket, a warm hat and gloves for a sunrise on the dunes or an open jeep.
Mid-morning: peel down to a long-sleeved cotton shirt. The sun is strong even in January.
Midday: sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat. Desert sun reflects off sand and pale stone, and burns faster than you expect.
- Light down jacket
- For dawn and night
- Warm hat and gloves
- For open jeeps
- Cotton layers
- For the warm middle of the day
- Sun kit
- Sunglasses, sunscreen, hat
- Lip balm, moisturiser
- The air is very dry
- Evening: the jacket goes back on the moment the sun touches the horizon. In ten minutes the temperature drops sharply.
- Night at a camp: a proper warm jacket, thick socks and something warm to sleep in. The fire helps, but tents cool quickly.
- A big scarf: cotton or wool, for warmth at dawn and for your face when the wind lifts the sand.
- Shoes: closed shoes that slip off easily, for forts, dunes and temples where shoes come off at the door.
- Modest dress: shoulders and knees covered, for men and women alike, in villages and temples.
- Dry skin: the winter desert air is very dry. Drink plenty of water, even when you don't feel hot, and pack lip balm and a rich moisturiser.
- Local trick: buy a woollen shawl or a camel-wool blanket in Jaisalmer's bazaar. It is what everyone here wears, and it packs flat.
A winter day in the desert, hour by hour
Dawn, wrapped up
Where: a sunrise on the dunes from your camp, or on the edge of Gadisar Lake as the fort turns gold.
- What to drink: hot milk with saffron or sweet ginger tea from a stall, held in both hands.
- Wildlife: this is the hour for bustards, foxes and chinkara on the grasslands, and for the cranes at Khichan.
Late morning, the fort and the havelis
- Where: up into Jaisalmer Fort and its Jain temples, then the carved lanes of Patwon ki Haveli.
- Why now: the stone has warmed, the light is high and the lanes are comfortable on foot.
Midday, sun on the terrace
- Lunch: outdoors, in the sun. In winter, everyone here eats on the roof or in a courtyard.
- Rest: an hour in the warmth before the evening. The desert sun in January makes you sleepy.
Late afternoon, out to the sand
Night, the fire and the stars
Music: Manganiyar musicians by the fire, if you ask us to arrange them.
- Dinner: hot and slow-cooked, with bajra rotis and ghee.
- After: walk away from the camp lights and look up. On a moonless winter night the sky is astonishing.
The desert's winter visitors
Demoiselle cranes at Khichan
What: thousands of demoiselle cranes that fly in from Central Asia each winter and are fed by the villagers of Khichan, near Phalodi.
- When: from about September to March, at their peak in the coldest months.
- Best hour: early morning, at the feeding ground. Our piece on the demoiselle cranes of Khichan tells the story.
The great Indian bustard
Where: the Desert National Park, beyond Jaisalmer. The Sudasari enclosure is about 55 kilometres from town.
- Why it matters: critically endangered, with fewer than a couple of hundred left in the wild.
- Read more: our piece on the great Indian bustard.
Raptors and the houbara
- What: a remarkable winter gathering of eagles, falcons, harriers and vultures over the open desert.
- Also: small groups of houbara bustards, smaller cousins of the great Indian bustard, in the Sudasari and Sam areas.
Blackbuck and harriers at Tal Chhapar
- Where: the grasslands of Tal Chhapar, on the way between Bikaner and Shekhawati.
- What: herds of blackbuck and wintering harriers hunting low over the grass.
The Bishnoi villages
- What: blackbuck and chinkara grazing in frosty fields at dawn, unafraid of the families who have protected them for centuries.
- Where: south of Jodhpur. Our Bishnoi villages morning explains how we visit.
Choosing a desert camp for the cold months
Bedding: heavy quilts, the light Jaipuri razai or proper duvets, and extra blankets without having to ask.
Hot water: reliable hot showers morning and night. In January it is the first thing we check.
Heating: a heater in the tent, or at least hot-water bottles. A good camp warms the tent before you return from dinner.
- Heating
- In the tent, or hot-water bottles
- Hot water
- Morning and night
- Music
- Ends at a civilised hour
- Camels
- Healthy, rested, well handled
- The fire: a proper fire for dinner and music, sheltered from the wind.
- Location: set back from the loudest neighbours. Sam is busy in peak season. Khuri is calmer.
- Arrive before dark: we time drives so you reach camp for sunset. Unpacking in a cold tent by torchlight is no way to begin.
- Our camps: The Serai, SUJAN's tented camp on private desert about forty minutes from Jaisalmer, and Manvar Desert Camp between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
- A fort instead: Suryagarh, a modern fort on the Sam road, is warmer and has a pool for the sunny afternoons.
- More detail: our guide to luxury desert camps explains what we look for.
The winter sky over the dunes
Choose the moon: plan your camp night for the days around the new moon. The full moon of a festival washes out the stars.
The winter stars: Orion, the Pleiades and Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, rise high in the winter evening.
- The Milky Way: on winter evenings you see its fainter outer band across the sky. The bright core is a summer sight, though by late winter it rises low in the south-east before dawn.
- Dress for it: stargazing means standing still in the cold. Wear everything you brought.
- Let your eyes adjust: twenty minutes away from torches and phone screens and the sky doubles.
- With an expert: some camps arrange a telescope evening. Our pages on stargazing and stargazing in the Thar explain more.
What the desert eats to stay warm
Bajre ki roti: pearl-millet flatbread, thick and nutty, eaten in winter because millet is said to warm the body. Always with a smear of ghee or white butter.
Ker sangri: the desert's own dish of dried berries and khejri beans, tangy and spiced. Our ker sangri explainer tells its story.
Gond ke laddoo: rich balls of wheat flour, ghee, dried fruit and edible gum, made in every Marwari kitchen in the cold months.
- Raab: a warm, thin porridge of millet flour and buttermilk or jaggery, drunk in villages on cold mornings.
- Kadhi: yoghurt and gram flour curry, gently sour and comforting, with bajra roti.
- Moong dal halwa: a winter wedding sweet of lentils slow-cooked in ghee and sugar. Heavy, and worth every spoonful.
- Hot milk: with saffron or turmeric, from a bazaar stall in the morning.
- Laal maas: for meat eaters, mutton slow-cooked with fiery red Mathania chillies. A cold desert night is exactly what it was made for.
- Bikaner's snacks: bhujia and kachori, best eaten hot. See our food of Bikaner and food of Jaisalmer guides.
What most winter visitors miss
Smoke over the villages: at dawn, the smoke of cooking fires hangs low over the desert hamlets, and the light comes through it in long golden bars.
Herders by the fire: Raika herders warm their hands at small twig fires on cold mornings. With a guide, you may be offered tea. Our piece on the Rabari herders explains who they are.
- The fort lit at night: from the edge of Jaisalmer, the floodlit walls glow gold in the clear winter air.
- Frost on the dunes: on the coldest January mornings, a thin crust of dew or frost can sit on the sand and the camp tents. It is gone by eight.
- Mustard and cumin fields: where there is water, winter crops of mustard, cumin and wheat turn patches of the desert green and yellow.
- The wells: in the villages around Jaisalmer, women gather at the step-wells and tanks in the warm hours to draw water and talk.
- Sunset at Bada Bagh: the royal cenotaphs of Bada Bagh glow at sunset and stay quiet even in peak season.
Warm things to buy in the desert
Pattu: a woven woollen cloth of western Rajasthan, usually white or cream with simple geometric borders, made into shawls and blankets.
Camel-wool blankets: rough, warm and long-lasting, woven by village weavers. Buy from a cooperative where you can.
- Barmer embroidery: quilts, cushion covers and shawls stitched by the women of Barmer, with mirror work and bright thread.
- Leather jootis: hand-stitched desert shoes, good for dry winter days but stiff at first. Wear them in slowly.
- Woollen safas: in winter, older men wear their turbans thicker, sometimes in wool. A good gift for the man who has everything.
- Where to shop: we take guests to makers and cooperatives we know, never to commission showrooms. Our shopping guide explains how we choose.
The winter festival calendar
Christmas and New Year: the busiest weeks of the year in the desert camps. Book many months ahead, or come in late January instead. See Christmas and New Year.
Makar Sankranti: usually 14 January, when kites fill the sky over Jodhpur and Jaipur. See our Makar Sankranti page.
- Christmas and New Year
- Peak crowds in camps and hotels
- Makar Sankranti
- Usually 14 January, kites everywhere
- Bikaner Camel Festival
- January
- Nagaur fair
- Magh, usually January or February
- Desert Festival
- Ends on the full moon of Magh
- Bikaner Camel Festival: in January, with camel parades and races at the city of the camel. See the Bikaner Camel Festival.
- Nagaur: one of India's largest livestock fairs, with bullocks, camels and Marwari horses. See the Nagaur cattle fair.
- The Desert Festival: three days of music, turbans and camels at Jaisalmer, usually in February. Our Desert Festival guide has the practical detail.
- Dates: all of these except Makar Sankranti follow the lunar calendar. We confirm the dates each year.
How we put a winter desert trip together
Start in Jodhpur: Jodhpur is the usual gateway, with flights and Mehrangarh at opening time.
Break the drive: Jodhpur to Jaisalmer is about five hours. A night in the dunes at Manvar makes it a pleasure.
Add the cranes: Khichan, near Phalodi, sits on the road and is best at dawn.
- Jodhpur to Jaisalmer
- About five hours
- Jaisalmer to Bikaner
- Five to six hours
- Jaisalmer to Sam
- About forty kilometres
- Jaisalmer to Sudasari
- About 55 kilometres
- Three nights in Jaisalmer: two in town or at Suryagarh, one in a dune camp.
- Then Bikaner: five to six hours north-east, for Junagarh Fort, a palace hotel and the camel research farm.
- How long to allow: at least seven nights for Jodhpur, the dunes and Jaisalmer. Ten lets you add Bikaner and the cranes without a single rushed day.
- Flights: Jaisalmer airport has run seasonal winter flights in some years. Schedules change, so we confirm them when we plan your trip.
- The full loop: our desert triangle links Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner. Under the Thar Sky is the seven-night version with more time in the dunes.
- Winter across Rajasthan: our winter in Rajasthan journey adds Jaipur and Udaipur.
Who will love the Thar in winter
First-timers: winter is the easiest, most reliable season for the desert.
Birdwatchers: cranes, bustards and raptors make December to February the finest months.
- Couples: firelit dinners, silent dunes and a jacket to share. Our Rajasthan for two journey fits it well.
- Families: children love camels and campfires. Pack extra layers for small ones, who feel the cold first.
- Photographers: the clearest light of the year. Our photography tips cover the best hours.
- Less suited to: anyone who hates the cold at night, or who wants the dunes to themselves over New Year.
- Month by month: see Rajasthan in December and Rajasthan in January.