Three seasons, not four
There are several right answers. A first visit with palaces, bazaars and the desert belongs in the cool season. A tiger photographer belongs at Ranthambore in the heat. A couple who have seen classic Rajasthan and want it green and empty belongs in Udaipur in August.
A big state: Rajasthan stretches from the Thar desert in the west to the forests of Hadoti in the south-east.
- Sardi, cool season
- October to March
- Garmi, hot season
- April to June
- Chaumasa, monsoon
- July to September
- Size
- A little smaller than Germany
- The divide
- The Aravalli hills, Delhi to Gujarat
- The hills split the weather: the Aravallis run diagonally across the state from Delhi towards Gujarat, and they divide the climate as well as the land.
- West of the hills: the dry country of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bikaner, where rain is scarce and the swing between day and night can be enormous.
- East and south of them: in Jaipur, Udaipur and Bundi the land is greener, the lakes fill each monsoon and the extremes are softer.
- How to use this page: we explain each season, then go month by month, then region by region, so you can find your own right answer.
Sardi, the cool season, October to March
The season the world knows: after the rains the sky clears and the light turns golden.
October: still warm afternoons, often in the low thirties.
- December and January: Jaipur's mornings start close to 8°C, and desert nights around Jaisalmer and Bikaner can drop near freezing, so a desert camp needs a proper jacket and a fire.
- By day: bright and comfortable for walking almost everywhere.
- Festivals: Diwali, the Pushkar fair, the kite festival, the Desert Festival and Holi all fall in these months.
- Rates: palace hotels are fullest and their rates highest.
- Our pick: February, with warm days, cool nights, mustard in flower and the best light of the year.
Garmi, the hot season, April to June
The heat arrives fast: by mid-April, afternoons in Jaipur pass 38°C, and in May and June the Thar regularly touches 45°C. Bikaner has recorded 49.5°C.
Life changes shape: shops open early, close at midday and reopen in the evening, and families sleep on their roofs.
- How we plan it: monuments at opening time, a long lunch and a rest in the cool of a palace, a swim, then the lanes and rooftops after five.
- Not for a first visit: long drives in this heat are hard work.
- Best for tigers: the forest dries out and the animals come to the last waterholes.
- Rates and hills: hotels offer their best rates of the year, and Mount Abu, the state's only hill station, comes into its own.
Chaumasa, the monsoon, July to September
Arrival: the monsoon reaches Rajasthan from the south-east, usually around the end of June or early July.
How it rains: heavy afternoon bursts, then the sky clears and everything smells of wet earth, which we call mitti ki khushboo.
- South and east: startlingly green, with the lakes of Udaipur and Bundi full and the stepwells holding water again.
- The far west: very little rain, but when it comes the desert greens for a few weeks.
- Closures: Ranthambore's core zones close for these months.
- The mood: Teej and ghevar, peacocks dancing on palace walls, empty forts and gentle rates.
- Humidity: heavy in July and August, and lovely by the end of September.
Rajasthan month by month
- Coldest mornings
- December and January, about 8°C in Jaipur
- Hottest
- May and June, about 45°C in the Thar
- Wettest
- July and August
- Fixed dates
- 14 January, 26 January, 15 August
- Lunar festivals
- Move by a few weeks each year
- Lunar dates: festival dates follow the Hindu lunar calendar and move by a few weeks each year.
- How we give them: the season and the lunar month here, and the exact dates confirmed for every journey we plan.
January, cool and festive
Weather: bright, cold mornings and warm afternoons. Jaipur starts the day close to 8°C, so bring a shawl for Amber at sunrise.
Desert nights: the camps light fires every night.
- Makar Sankranti, 14 January: the whole walled city of Jaipur climbs onto its rooftops to fly kites, and the sky over Hawa Mahal fills with paper.
- Later in the month: the Jaipur Literature Festival brings writers from across the world, and Bikaner holds its camel festival.
- Republic Day, 26 January: a great parade in Delhi.
- Crowds: high season, and the best rooms go early.
- Fog: morning fog can slow the roads and flights around Delhi and Agra.
February, our favourite month
Why we'd choose it: if we could pick one month for a first journey, this would be it.
Weather: warm days, still-cool nights, and the haze of early winter has usually cleared.
- Mustard and light: the fields of Shekhawati turn the painted towns yellow, and the light is the best of the year for photographs.
- Desert Festival: the Jaisalmer Desert Festival falls around the full moon of Magh, often in February, with camel races, turban-tying and music on the dunes at Sam.
- Music: Jodhpur's World Sacred Spirit Festival has been held at Mehrangarh and Nagaur in February.
- Holi: it sometimes falls at the very end of the month.
- Crowds: still peak season, so plan well ahead.
March, Holi and the first warmth
Holi: the festival of colour usually comes with the spring full moon of Phalgun in March.
The night before: bonfires burn for Holika Dahan, and in Udaipur the royal household lights its own fire in the City Palace. The morning after is all colour.
- Gangaur begins: the day after Holi, running for about eighteen days, with women worshipping the goddess Gauri for a good marriage.
- Weather: days reach the low thirties and nights are mild.
- Crowds: the winter rush begins to thin.
- Tigers: at Ranthambore the forest starts to dry and sightings improve.
- Who it suits: couples, and anyone who wants the season without the busiest weeks.
April, Gangaur and the shrinking waterholes
Gangaur's climax: usually in late March or April. In Jaipur the goddess leaves the Zenani Deorhi of the City Palace in procession, with women in their finest leheriya walking behind her.
In Udaipur: processions go down to Gangaur Ghat on Lake Pichola, and the Mewar Festival is held at the same time.
- Weather: heat builds towards 38°C in Jaipur and higher in the west.
- Tigers: the animals come to the last waterholes at Ranthambore, and serious wildlife photographers arrive.
- Rates: they begin to soften, and palace hotels feel calmer.
- Our rhythm: early mornings, long lunches and evenings outdoors.
May, hot, quiet and full of tigers
Weather: the Thar touches 45°C and the cities slow to a siesta rhythm.
Who comes: most travellers stay away, which is exactly why some of our most experienced guests come.
- The rewards: the year's best palace rates, empty monuments at opening time, and some of the year's best sightings at Ranthambore, with its bare trees and dry streambeds.
- Mount Abu: mild and green, and busy with Indian families on holiday.
- Our rule: never long desert drives for a first-time visitor this month. For a short journey of palaces, pools and tigers, May can be marvellous.
June, before the rain
Weather: the hottest and stillest month, with the whole state waiting for the monsoon.
Dust storms: called aandhi, they sometimes roll across the west in the afternoons.
- Closures: Ranthambore's core zones close at the end of June.
- Who loves it: seasoned travellers, for the empty forts, the late swims and the moment the first rain falls on dry earth and every child in the lane runs outside.
- How we plan it: a short journey, early drives and excellent hotels. We rarely suggest a first visit now.
July, the monsoon arrives
Green overnight: Udaipur's lakes begin to fill and the Aravallis turn green almost overnight.
Scenes: peacocks dance on the walls of Kumbhalgarh, and clouds sit on the hills above Udaipur.
- Teej: the festival of the monsoon falls in the month of Shravan, usually July or August, with women swinging from neem trees in green leheriya.
- Ghevar: a honeycomb of fried batter soaked in syrup, made by the sweet shops and eaten only in this season.
- Practicalities: humid between the showers, and some roads in the south can be slow after heavy rain.
- The mood: quiet, lush and very romantic.
August, Teej processions and green hills
Teej in Jaipur: when the festival falls in August, the Teej procession carries the goddess out through Tripolia Gate in a palanquin, with decorated camels and brass bands.
Weather: showers in afternoon bursts, and the Monsoon Palace above Udaipur often sits in cloud.
- Where to go: Bundi and Mewar, when the stepwells hold water again and the lakes are full.
- Independence Day, 15 August: kites on the rooftops of Old Delhi.
- Rates: hotels are quiet and rates gentle.
- Pack and plan: a light rain jacket, and expect your plans to bend around the weather.
September, the land at its greenest
The land: the rains taper off and leave the countryside greener than most visitors imagine Rajasthan can be.
Weather: the first half is humid, the second half often lovely, with clearing skies and cooler nights.
- Birds: at Bharatpur the great heronry is in full noise, with painted storks and egrets nesting in the acacias.
- Good for: crafts, food, long lunches in havelis, and photographs of green fields under old forts.
- Rates: still gentle, with the season proper only weeks away.
October, the season opens
Ranthambore reopens on 1 October: fresh and green after the rains.
Folk music in Jodhpur: the Rajasthan International Folk Festival fills Mehrangarh with musicians around the Sharad Purnima full moon, and the Marwar Festival is held at the same full moon.
- Navratri and Dussehra: nine nights of devotion, then Dussehra. At Kota Dussehra the fair burns effigies taller than houses.
- Diwali: it sometimes falls at the end of October.
- Weather: days settle around 33°C, the light turns golden and the season begins in earnest.
November, Diwali lamps and the camel fair
Diwali: in October or November it lights Jaipur's bazaars from end to end, and Johari Bazaar glows like a jewellery box.
Pushkar: around the Kartik full moon, usually in November, tens of thousands of camels, herders and pilgrims gather at the Pushkar Camel Fair.
- Weather: close to perfect everywhere, with warm days, cool evenings and clear skies.
- Birds: migratory birds begin to arrive at Bharatpur and Jawai.
- Booking: palaces go months ahead, especially for the Diwali and fair weeks.
December, polo and fireside dinners
Polo: clear skies, cool nights and the Jaipur polo season under way at the Rambagh grounds.
Desert mornings: cold, with dinners moved indoors or around a fire on a palace terrace.
- Christmas and New Year: magical in a palace, and the best suites go nine to twelve months ahead.
- Fog: it sometimes slows the road between Delhi and Agra.
- The quiet window: before the holiday rush, the first three weeks of December are among the quietest and most beautiful of the season.
The right season for each part of Rajasthan
- The Thar
- October to March, best in February
- Mewar
- Winter, and again in the monsoon
- Hadoti
- October and November
- Shekhawati
- November to February
- Mount Abu
- October and November, and winter
The Thar: Jaisalmer, Bikaner and the dunes
Sharpest seasons: from November to February the days are warm and dry and the nights properly cold, sometimes near freezing in the dunes.
Winter pleasures: a luxury desert camp, a fire, a sky full of stars and the Desert Festival.
- Summer: hot by April, and from May to June the sand burns through your shoes.
- Monsoon: little rain this far west.
- When we send guests: October to March, and we love February and early March most, when the nights soften but the stars stay sharp.
Marwar: Jodhpur and the village forts
On the desert's edge: Jodhpur's summers are serious and its winters crisp.
- The season: October to March, with the folk festival at Mehrangarh in October and cool winter mornings on the ramparts.
- Village forts and rawlas: Rohet, Khimsar and Chandelao are lovely from November to February, when the fields are green with winter wheat and mustard and migratory cranes are on the ponds.
Mewar: Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and the Aravallis
Two seasons: the one part of Rajasthan we recommend in both winter and monsoon.
- Winter: the classic time for Udaipur's lakes and palaces.
- The secret season: in the monsoon the Aravallis turn green, the waterfalls run, mist sits on the walls of Kumbhalgarh and the Monsoon Palace finally makes sense.
- April to June: hot, and in a poor rain year the lakes can fall low before the monsoon refills them.
Dhundhar: Jaipur, Amer and the east
The season: October to March, though the city is good in almost any month if you plan around the heat.
- Best on festival days: Diwali in the bazaars, kites on Makar Sankranti, and Gangaur and Teej processions from the City Palace.
- Summer and rain: a little less fierce than the west in summer, and a short, green monsoon.
- More detail: our best time to visit Jaipur guide.
Hadoti: Bundi, Kota and Jhalawar
The wettest corner: the south-east gets more rain than the rest of the state, and it shows.
- After the rains: Bundi's lakes are full, the Chambal runs high past Kota and the hills are covered in green.
- Loveliest months: October and November, with Kota's Dussehra fair and the Bundi Utsav usually held in the cool season.
- Summer: hot and humid.
Shekhawati: the painted towns
Best months: November to February for the haveli towns of the north-east.
- Winter light: mornings can be very cold, but the light on the frescoes is soft and clear.
- Mustard: in late January and February the surrounding fields turn yellow.
- Summer: among the hottest in the state.
Mount Abu: the hill station
Its own calendar: Indian families come in April to June to escape the plains, so it is cooler but crowded.
- Monsoon: heavy rain.
- Our preference: October and November, when it is green, clear and calm, and the bright, cold days of winter.
The wildlife calendar
- Ranthambore opens
- 1 October
- Core zones close
- End of June
- Best tiger months
- March to June
- Bharatpur winter birds
- December to February
- Bharatpur heronry
- August to October
- Jawai leopards
- All year, best October to March
Ranthambore: October to June
Open and closed: the park opens on 1 October and its core zones close at the end of June for the monsoon.
October and November: green and fresh, with soft light.
- December and January: cold on early drives in an open jeep.
- March to June: the forest dries out, the leaves fall and the tigers come to the lakes and waterholes, which makes them far easier to find.
- Read first: our guide to Ranthambore and the best time for tigers.
Jawai: leopards all year, best in winter
Every season: the leopards of Jawai live among granite hills and are seen all year.
- Most comfortable: October to March, with green fields and soft light.
- Birds: migratory birds on the reservoir from about November to February.
- In the heat: the dry country can make leopards easier to find near shade and water.
Bharatpur: two great seasons
Winter visitors: they arrive after the monsoon fills the marsh at Keoladeo, and December to February is the peak for ducks, geese, pelicans, cranes and raptors.
- The heronry: from August to October the resident water birds nest in a great, noisy colony.
- A monsoon highlight: Bharatpur is one of the few places in Rajasthan where the rainy months are a peak.
The desert and the grasslands
Tal Chhapar: at Tal Chhapar blackbuck are present all year, and winter brings migrating harriers and other raptors to the grassland.
- The great Indian bustard: the Desert National Park is home to one of the rarest birds in the world, and the cool months are the only comfortable time to look for it.
- Khichan: near Phalodi, villagers have fed wintering demoiselle cranes for generations, and the birds come in their thousands through the cold season.
Festivals through the year
How the calendar works: most festivals follow the lunar calendar, while Makar Sankranti and the national holidays fall on fixed dates. Our festival calendar has a page for each.
Makar Sankranti, 14 January: kites over every roof in Jaipur, and a day we always spend on a haveli terrace. See the kite festival.
Jaipur Literature Festival, usually late January: writers and readers from around the world, and the city's best rooms booked early.
- Fixed dates
- Makar Sankranti and national holidays
- Lunar dates
- Move by up to a few weeks a year
- Busiest festival weeks
- Diwali and the Pushkar fair
- Dates confirmed
- When we plan your journey
- Bikaner Camel Festival, January: decorated camels, races and the finest moustaches in the desert.
- Desert Festival, the full moon of Magh, usually February: three days of music, camels and turban-tying in Jaisalmer, ending on the dunes.
- Holi, the full moon of Phalgun, usually March: bonfires on the first night and colour the next morning. Our Holi guide explains how to enjoy it safely.
- Gangaur, the eighteen days after Holi, ending in March or April: processions of the goddess Gauri in Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur. See Gangaur.
- Teej, in Shravan, usually July or August: swings, green leheriya, ghevar and the goddess carried through Jaipur.
- Navratri and Dussehra, usually October: nine nights of devotion and dance, then the burning of Ravana's effigy, largest of all at Kota.
- Rajasthan International Folk Festival, near the Sharad Purnima full moon, usually October: dawn concerts on the ramparts of Mehrangarh.
- Diwali, the new moon of Kartik, October or November: lamps on every ledge and the bazaars lit end to end. Read about Diwali in Rajasthan.
- Pushkar Camel Fair, around the Kartik full moon, usually November: the great gathering of herders, camels and pilgrims at the sacred lake.
- The polo season, roughly December to March: matches at the Rambagh grounds in Jaipur, and occasionally a private game for our guests.
Crowds, rates and the quiet weeks
The peak weeks: Diwali, the week of the Pushkar fair, and the stretch from just before Christmas to just after New Year.
Book early for palaces: in those weeks the best suites at Rambagh Palace and Taj Lake Palace are often booked nine to twelve months ahead, and smaller heritage hotels fill quickly too.
- Busiest weeks
- Diwali, Pushkar fair, Christmas to New Year
- Book peak weeks
- Nine to twelve months ahead
- Rest of cool season
- Four to six months ahead
- Highest rates
- October to March
- Kindest rates
- May, June and the monsoon
- Indian holidays matter: the Diwali school holidays and long weekends bring Indian families to Udaipur, Jaipur and Mount Abu in large numbers, with a happy energy in the bazaars.
- How rates move: highest from October to March and peaking over festival and holiday weeks, softer in April, kindest in May, June and the monsoon, and rising again from late September.
- No figures here: rates change each year and depend on the room, so we never quote them on our pages.
- The monsoon bonus: the same palace suite can feel like a more generous kind of luxury, with more staff time, more space and often an upgrade.
- How quotes work: our guide to what a luxury Rajasthan journey costs explains how season and room category shape a quote.
Which month suits you
First-time visitors
When: between mid-October and mid-March.
- Why: comfortable days for the forts, cool evenings for rooftop dinners and the widest choice of festivals.
- Journeys for it: our Royal Rajputana journey and Golden Triangle and Udaipur are built for this season.
Couples and honeymooners
Warm and romantic: February and March, and Holi can be wonderful in a private courtyard.
- Quieter and greener: the monsoon in Udaipur is unforgettable.
- Journey for it: our Rajasthan for Two journey works in both seasons.
Families with children
Best months: October, November, February and March, when the heat is gentle and the desert nights are not too cold.
- Christmas holidays: popular and magical, but book early.
- Pacing: our family journeys explain how we pace the days.
Wildlife lovers and photographers
Tigers: Ranthambore from March to June.
- Birds: Bharatpur from December to February.
- Light on stone: February, early March and October are the best months of the year.
- Drama: the monsoon gives green fields and dramatic skies.
Repeat visitors
- You have seen the winter: now come in August for Teej, in September for the green land, or in October for the folk festival at Mehrangarh.
- Journey for it: our Monsoon in Mewar journey shows a Rajasthan most visitors never see.
What to pack for each season
October to March: light cotton for the day, and a warm jacket, scarf and layers for early mornings, safaris and desert nights. December and January in the Thar need proper warmth.
April to June: loose, breathable cotton or linen in light colours, a wide hat, good sunglasses and high-factor sun cream. Plan to drink much more water than you expect.
- October to March
- Cotton by day, warm layers at dawn
- April to June
- Loose linen, hat, high-factor sun cream
- July to September
- Quick-dry clothes, light rain jacket
- Every season
- Temple scarf, slip-off shoes
- July to September: quick-drying clothes, a light rain jacket or umbrella, and sandals that can get wet. Mosquito repellent matters more after the rains.
- In every season: a scarf or shawl to cover your shoulders in temples, and shoes you can slip off easily.
- More detail: our full packing guide, and our weather and climate guide for temperatures.