Staying connected, the Rajasthan way
Cheap and fast: India has one of the largest and cheapest mobile data markets in the world, and Rajasthan shares in it.
Where it works: fast 4G is normal in every city and town, 5G has reached the main cities, and most highways have signal nearly the whole way.
WhatsApp everywhere: from palace hotel managers to the village potter, and our planners and chauffeurs too.
- Cities and towns
- Fast 4G; 5G in main cities
- Highways
- Signal nearly all the way
- Weak spots
- Deep desert, forest parks, thick fort walls
- Everyone uses
- SIM rules
- Passport and visa; rules change
- The Thar: large and thinly populated, so signal fades between villages and in the deep dunes.
- Forest parks: Ranthambore and others have weak or no signal in many zones.
- Fort walls: often several metres of stone thick, they block signal better than any modern building.
- Paperwork: India requires identity checks for every connection, and foreigners buying a local SIM must show passport and visa.
- Changing rules: the process changes from time to time and differs a little between operators, so check the current position with your provider or the operators.
- Your journey does not depend on your phone: your chauffeur, guides and planner keep everything running on roaming, a local SIM or no signal at all.
- Your choice is for convenience: messages home, photographs the same evening, maps when you wander, and a video call with the grandchildren from a palace terrace.
Your options, compared
- Roaming
- No paperwork, costs more
- Indian SIM
- Cheap data, Indian number, ID checks
- Indian eSIM
- Keeps home SIM, same checks
- Travel eSIM
- Data only, works on landing
- Wi-Fi only
- A gentle break
International roaming
Simplest: keep your own number and switch on roaming; many providers sell daily or weekly packages for India.
- Trade-off: costs more than local data, but needs no paperwork, works the moment you land, and keeps your number for banks and home.
- Who it suits: for a journey of a week or so, many guests find it the least effort.
- Check first: the price and daily limits, because standard roaming without a package can be very high.
An Indian SIM card
The operators: a local prepaid SIM from Airtel, Jio, Vi or the state-owned BSNL gives cheap data and an Indian number.
- What you need: passport and visa, usually a photograph and a local address, which can be your hotel.
- Timing: activation can take a few hours or longer, so buy it on your first day.
- Who it suits: longer journeys, heavy data users, and anyone needing an Indian number for local services.
An Indian eSIM
No card: some Indian operators offer eSIMs for compatible phones.
- Same checks: you may still need to visit a store with your documents.
- Two numbers: your home SIM stays in the phone, useful for messages from your bank.
A travel eSIM bought online
Before you leave: international providers sell India data packages you install at home, so data works when you land.
- Data only: usually without an Indian number, and dearer per gigabyte than a local SIM.
- Read the terms: check which Indian network it uses, and confirm it works in Rajasthan, not only the big metros.
Wi-Fi only
A gentle break: some guests rely on hotel internet and their chauffeur's phone in between.
- Still reachable: your planner and chauffeur can always be reached through the hotel.
- For emergencies: we can lend you a local phone if you would like one.
Buying an Indian SIM: what to expect
Local address: you may be asked for one in India, and sometimes a local contact; our team can act as your local reference where that is allowed.
Verification: the operator checks your documents and activates the connection afterwards.
Validity: tourist connections are usually tied to your visa and stop when it expires or after a set period.
- Documents
- Passport, Indian visa or e-Visa
- Photo
- Passport-size, sometimes taken in store
- Address
- Your hotel booking usually serves
- Phone
- Unlocked
- Activation
- A few hours to a day or more
- Where
- Airport counter or official store
- Limits: foreign visitors may be limited in how many SIM cards they can hold.
- Unlocked phone: needed for another operator's SIM, so check with your home provider before you leave.
- Keep the paperwork: the SIM's packaging and receipt show your number and plan.
- Where to buy: an operator's counter at a major international airport such as Delhi or Mumbai, or an official operator store in a city.
- Avoid bazaar shops: small phone shops often cannot process foreign passports.
- Tell your planner: we can take you to an official store on your first day in Delhi or Jaipur and help with the forms.
- A general picture: requirements change and vary by operator, so check the current rules before you travel.
Do you need an Indian phone number?
Not essential for most guests: hotels, guides, chauffeur and planner all use WhatsApp, which works on any number with data.
Bookings and payments: we book your restaurants, and cards or cash work in most places a visitor goes.
- When it helps: Indian food delivery apps, booking train tickets yourself, some local payment apps and Indian shopping websites.
- OTPs: many of these send a one-time password by text, only to an Indian mobile number, so a local SIM or eSIM is then worth the paperwork.
- Never share an OTP: with anyone who asks by phone or message, even if they claim to be a bank, hotel or delivery company. Genuine businesses never need it.
- Payments in detail: our guide to money and tipping.
Where the signal is strong, and where it fades
Cities: Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Ajmer and Kota have fast 4G, and 5G in many areas.
Highways: good signal most of the way, with short gaps in hilly Aravalli stretches.
Forts and palaces: thick walls block signal in the inner rooms of Mehrangarh, Amber Fort and the fort hotels, so step into a courtyard or onto a terrace.
- Cities
- Fast 4G, 5G in many areas
- Highways
- Good, short Aravalli gaps
- Fort interiors
- Weak; try courtyards
- Deep desert
- Weak or none
- Park zones
- Often weak or missing
- Pushkar fair
- Networks slow
- Jaisalmer Fort: usually fine in the lanes, weaker deep inside the old houses.
- The deep desert: around Sam, Khuri and remoter camps, signal can be weak or absent; many camps have Wi-Fi in a central area only.
- Wildlife parks: in Ranthambore, Sariska and around Jawai, the park zones often have weak or no signal, though lodges usually have Wi-Fi.
- Hills and villages: Mount Abu and larger villages have service; small hamlets in the hills of Mewar may not.
- Big gatherings: at events such as the Pushkar fair, networks can slow with so many people online at once.
- Operators differ: in remote places one network may work where another does not.
Connectivity along a typical journey
- Delhi airport
- Operator counters, good Wi-Fi
- Jaipur
- Fast; weak inside palaces
- Road west
- Mostly fine, gaps between towns
- Desert camp
- Often dining-tent Wi-Fi only
- Ranthambore zones
- Little or none
- Udaipur
- Good, including on the lake
Arriving in Delhi
At the airport: the international terminal has operator counters and good Wi-Fi, a sensible place to start a SIM.
- Don't queue tired: after a long night flight, we can collect your documents and finish it later at an official city store.
- Your first day: our Delhi guide.
Jaipur
Across the city: fast data, including in the walled city's bazaars.
- Inside palaces: the signal weakens in the City Palace and the inner rooms of Amber, then returns in the courtyards.
- Hotels: Wi-Fi is generally strong.
- Second chance: the easiest place in Rajasthan to visit an official operator store if you didn't buy a SIM in Delhi.
On the road to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer
Highways: signal most of the way, with gaps between small towns.
- Download now: a good stretch for the offline maps and podcasts you'll want in the desert.
- Jaisalmer: data is generally fine in town and in the fort.
- At the dunes: it fades, and by the camp you may be on Wi-Fi in the dining tent only.
Ranthambore and the parks
Town and lodges: Sawai Madhopur and the lodges have service.
- Inside the zones: expect little or none; your naturalist and driver stay in touch by their own means.
- Photographs: can wait until you are back at the lodge.
Udaipur
City and lake: good service around Lake Pichola, including on most boat trips.
- Palaces: island and lakeside palaces have Wi-Fi, though rooms with thick old walls vary.
- Into the hills: the drive to Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur crosses country where signal comes and goes.
Wi-Fi in palaces, havelis and camps
Almost everywhere: nearly every luxury hotel in Rajasthan offers Wi-Fi, usually free for guests.
Modern resorts: at The Oberoi Rajvilas and similar, generally fast and reliable throughout.
Real palaces and forts: excellent in the public rooms, slower in a suite at the end of a long stone corridor.
- Heritage havelis: vary more.
- Need to work? Tell us, and we will ask for rooms close to the routers and confirm the speed to expect.
- Camps and lodges: often Wi-Fi in the main lounge or dining tent and little or none in the tents.
- A gift, not a fault: guests who switch off for two nights in a camp near Jaisalmer usually call it the most restful part of their journey.
- Important video calls: plan them from a city hotel, not a camp or fort, and test the connection the day before.
- A quiet room: our planners can arrange one, or a business centre if your hotel has one.
If you need to work on your journey
Tell us early: which days you need to work and for how long.
Work days in cities: we place them in city hotels with strong internet, such as Jaipur or Udaipur, not in a camp or fort hotel.
- Rooms and tests: we ask for rooms near the routers and test the connection the day before an important call.
- On the road: a phone hotspot works on most main highways, but don't plan a video call from a moving car.
- A spare option: a local SIM plus roaming, or two networks, so if one fails the other usually works.
- Download in advance: any documents you need.
Plugs, power and charging
Sockets: usually type D, three round pins in a triangle, or type C, the two round pins of much of Europe; larger type M serves heavier appliances.
Universal sockets: many hotels have them, but a simple type C and D adapter covers almost everything.
- Voltage
- 230 V, 50 Hz
- Sockets
- Type D, type C, type M
- Adapter
- Type C and D covers most
- Power cuts
- Rare; hotel generators
- Power banks
- Usually hand luggage only
- Chargers: most phone, camera and laptop chargers accept 230 volts.
- Check appliances: hair dryers and others from countries with lower voltages.
- Power cuts: less common than they once were; luxury hotels have generators that start within seconds.
- Smaller properties: heritage places and camps may have shorter cuts.
- A power bank: useful on long drives, early safaris and festival days, when you use your phone camera all day.
- Airline rules: power banks usually go in hand luggage only, so check with your airline.
Paying with your phone
UPI: India's instant payment system lets people pay by scanning a QR code with a banking app, and it has spread to almost every shop and stall in Rajasthan.
The catch: most UPI apps need an Indian bank account and an Indian mobile number.
- Visitor schemes: some allow certain international visitors to use UPI, but they change and are not available to everyone, so check before you rely on them.
- Rarely needed: hotels, good restaurants and established shops accept international cards, and we settle most arrangements for you.
- Cash in small notes: for tips, bazaar purchases and temple offerings. See money and tipping.
What is useful on your phone
WhatsApp: how almost everyone in India communicates, including our planners, chauffeurs, guides and many hotels.
An offline map of Rajasthan: download it before you leave, so it works where signal fades.
- A translation app: with Hindi downloaded for offline use. Our guide to Rajasthani words and phrases teaches the greetings that matter more.
- Airline and insurer apps: for the domestic flights in your plan, with your policy details saved.
- Document photos: your passport, visa and insurance, stored securely, alongside the paper copies.
- A currency converter: if you like to know exactly what you are paying in bazaars.
Rules, privacy and things to leave at home
Satellite phones: not permitted in India without government permission, and travellers have been detained at airports for carrying them. Leave them at home.
Drones: tightly regulated; flying near monuments, airports, military areas and many cities is prohibited without permission.
- Satellite phones
- Not permitted without government permission
- Drones
- Prohibited near monuments, airports, military areas
- Public USB points
- Avoid
- OTPs
- Never share
- Hoping to fly one? Ask us well before you travel, because rules change and permissions take time.
- Public Wi-Fi: treat it with the usual caution in cafes and airports, and use secure connections for banking.
- Charging: avoid unfamiliar public USB points.
- Scam calls: if you receive unexpected calls offering prizes, refunds or help, simply hang up.
- Cameras and phones at sacred sites: many temples do not allow them, and some monuments charge for cameras or forbid tripods.
- Where you can take pictures: our photography tips and our temple etiquette guide.
The case for switching off
When the signal fails: a long lunch at a village rawla, a conversation with a herder at a well, a night in a camp with only a fire and a Manganiyar singer.
- Want a day off? Tell us; we will give your family a way to reach you through us and make sure nothing important is missed.
- Where to try it: our stargazing in the Thar evening and our desert camps.
- Or in Bundi: a slow afternoon in a heritage haveli in Bundi, where the loudest sound is the bell of a temple down the lane.
How we stay in touch with you
Your planner: on WhatsApp throughout your journey, answering quickly at any hour for anything urgent.
Your chauffeur: carries a local phone, often on two networks, and knows where signal fades on each road.
- Every hotel: has your planner's number, and your planner has theirs.
- No-signal stops: before a desert camp or forest zone, we tell you in advance and give your family a landline number for the camp or lodge.
- A local phone: we can arrange one for emergencies for the length of your journey.
- On the road: our private chauffeur journeys page explains how our team looks after you.