Rajasthan has always slept under canvas
Royal encampments: the Rajput courts and the Mughal emperors travelled with vast camps of embroidered audience halls, carpets, kitchens and stables, struck and pitched each day by an army of tent-men.
Dera: the word for a camp or halting place still means a temporary home across north India, and older people in desert villages use it for any place travellers stop for the night.
Shikar camps: in the hunting season the princely states set them up in the scrub.
- Where
- Jaisalmer, Manvar, Khimsar, Sam and Khuri
- Season
- Roughly October to March
- Setting
- Dunes or open desert scrub
- Good for
- Couples, families, stargazers
- Nights
- One or two, between cities
- Getting there
- A sand track at the end
- Their food lives on: smoked meat, game cooked over embers and breads baked in the sand are part of Rajasthani cooking today.
- The modern camp: borrows the canvas, carpets and fire, and adds a proper bathroom, hot water and a mattress you will be sorry to leave.
- At its best: it gives you the oldest pleasure of the Thar, which is silence, and space enough to hear it.
- Not a sea of sand: most of the Thar is scrub, rock and farmland, dotted with khejri trees and villages, with goats and camels moving between them.
- Where the tall dunes are: in pockets, around Sam and Khuri near Jaisalmer, around Manvar and Osian, and near Bikaner.
- Both are beautiful: a good camp may sit among dunes or in open scrub. Our Maad region guide explains the landscape.
The camps we use, and who they suit
- How we choose: for setting, staff and the way a camp treats the desert and the villages around it.
- The list below: the stays we book most often, from the most polished to the most rustic.
The Serai, near Jaisalmer
Where: about a hundred acres of private desert scrub off the Jodhpur road, around forty minutes from Jaisalmer.
Who runs it: SUJAN, the family behind SUJAN Sher Bagh in Ranthambore and SUJAN JAWAI, with the same sense of design and calm.
- The tents: large, beautifully furnished suites in wonderfully quiet land.
- The days: wake to birdsong and the smell of the desert after a cold night, walk among khejri and thorn scrub at dawn, dine by firelight.
- Who it suits: romance, honeymoons and the feeling of a private expedition with every comfort.
- The trade-off: further from the fort than the Sam road hotels, and scrub rather than tall dunes outside the tent. We arrange a dune evening for those who want sand.
Manvar, between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer
Where: just off the Jodhpur to Jaisalmer highway, about 110 kilometres from Jodhpur in the Shergarh area.
Who runs it: a local family, with a small group of camps and a resort among low dunes and villages.
- The name: the Marwari word manvar, sometimes written manuhar, for the insistent hospitality of the desert: the extra roti you must accept, the plea to stay one more night.
- The main camp: a circle of safari-style tents with a dining tent and music by the fire.
- The quieter camp: larger air-conditioned tents, its own lounge and a pool. We choose it for couples, and the main camp for families who enjoy company.
- Why it works: it turns the long drive to Jaisalmer into two gentle halves. Our Manvar guide describes the villages and landscape.
The dune village at Khimsar
Where: about fifteen minutes from Khimsar Fort, which Rao Karamsji built in 1523 between Jodhpur and Nagaur.
What it is: the same family's desert retreat among the dunes, with cottages modelled on the round thatched huts of a Marwari hamlet.
- The days: evenings by a fire with folk musicians, mornings with tea on the sand.
- Who it suits: travellers who want dune silence with solid walls around them.
- Our pairing: one night in the fort and one in the dune village. Read about Khimsar.
Camps at the Sam and Khuri dunes
Sam: west of Jaisalmer, the tallest and best-known dunes in Rajasthan. At sunset the roadside camps light up like a small town.
Mixed quality: some are wonderful, many are noisy, with loud music and buffets for a hundred people.
- Khuri: to the south-west, quieter and more village-like.
- Our rule: quality changes with season and management, so we check every year and choose only camps set back from the road.
- Compare: our journal sets Sam and Khuri side by side.
Samode Bagh, a camp in a Mughal garden
Not desert: but worth knowing. About four kilometres from Samode Palace.
- What it is: the family's walled Mughal garden of water channels, fountains and old trees, holding a camp of large air-conditioned tents.
- Who it suits: the gentlest introduction to canvas, an hour from Jaipur. Read about Samode.
When a desert fort is better than a tent
- Not everyone's choice: in the cold of late December, some of our guests are glad of stone walls.
- Space with solidity: these hotels give you the desert's silence inside a building, and we often combine one with a single night in a camp.
Suryagarh, on the Sam road
Where: about thirteen kilometres west of Jaisalmer, on the road to the Sam dunes.
What it is: a modern hotel built like an old Jaisalmer fort, in the same yellow stone, around courtyards with a pool at its heart. It doesn't pretend to be historic.
- What it gives: space, calm, a spa and long dinners under the sky.
- Its position: close enough to town for an early start at Gadisar, and to the dunes for sunset.
- Our first choice: for families in Jaisalmer.
Mihir Garh, near Rohet
Who built it: the family of Rohet Garh, in open country.
- What it is: a newer fort in the old style, rising from the sand like a castle of clay.
- Its feel: small and secluded, with large suites and little to do but ride, walk, swim and watch the sky.
- Who it suits: couples who want privacy above all.
Khimsar Fort
- The fort itself: a walled garden, a pool and family history.
- A fine base: for the dune village, blackbuck in the fields at dusk and Nagaur.
Which camp for which journey
Coming from Jodhpur: Manvar sits on the way, and The Serai is reached before Jaisalmer itself.
Short of time: a single night at Manvar gives you the dunes without adding a day to the journey.
- For romance
- The Serai
- To break the drive
- Manvar
- Dunes with walls
- Khimsar dune village
- Tallest dunes
- Sam, chosen carefully
- Near Jaipur
- Samode Bagh
- Families in Jaisalmer
- Suryagarh
- First time under canvas: Samode Bagh or the quieter Manvar camp, with air-conditioned tents and a pool.
- Want the classic sand: a carefully chosen camp at Sam or Khuri, set back from the road, or a dune evening from The Serai.
- Not sure about tents: a night at Suryagarh, Mihir Garh or Khimsar Fort, with sunset on the dunes still in the plan.
Camps beyond the Thar
Beside the White Rann of Kutch
Where: across the border in Gujarat, where the Thar gives way to the salt flats of the Great Rann.
- The camps: in the cool months a tent city rises at Dhordo for the Rann Utsav, and other seasonal camps open nearby.
- Why go: walk onto the white salt at sunset and under a full moon.
- Read more: our page on luxury stays in Kutch and our Rann Utsav guide.
At the Pushkar fair
When: around the full moon of Kartik, in October or November. We confirm the dates each year.
- The camps: temporary luxury tents on the edge of Pushkar, with herders' fires and bells all around.
- Why stay: the only way to be close to the fairground at dawn.
- Read more: our Pushkar Camel Fair guide and our page on luxury stays in Pushkar.
In leopard and tiger country
- Wildlife camps: some of India's finest tented camps, such as Aman-i-Khas and SUJAN Sher Bagh at Ranthambore, and SUJAN JAWAI among the granite hills of leopard country.
- Another chapter: our page on wildlife lodges describes them.
A night in a good camp, hour by hour
Arrival, in time for lunch
The timing: we plan the drive so you arrive for a late lunch, not in the fierce middle of the afternoon.
- Tea first: as it always is in Marwar.
- Then rest: tents are cool in the heat of the day, and an hour on the verandah listening to the wind in the scrub is part of it.
Late afternoon, out into the sand
About four: the light softens. Go out by jeep, camel cart or on foot, to the dunes or a village.
- Real visits: a herding family or a potter who welcomes guests and is paid properly, not a staged village show.
- The outings: our page on the jeep safari in the Thar explains them.
Sunset on a dune
Barefoot: climb as the sand cools and watch shadows race across the ripples.
- Twenty minutes: that is about how long the colour takes to drain from gold to rose to grey.
- A good camp: has a table and a drink waiting, on a dune away from the crowds.
Evening, the fire and the music
The fire: after dark the camp gathers round it.
- The musicians: often from the Manganiyar or Langa communities, hereditary singers who once performed for desert patrons at births and weddings.
- The instruments: the kamaicha, a bowed instrument, and the clack of khartal castanets.
- How it should be: acoustic, and finished at a civilised hour. Our page on the Manganiyar singers tells their story.
Dinner and the stars
Desert food: ker sangri, dried desert berries and beans; bajra millet rotis with ghee; dal, kadhi and perhaps laal maas, the fiery red mutton of Marwar.
- Lights down: the lanterns go down and the sky comes up.
- The Milky Way: plain to see on a moonless winter night. Our page on stargazing in the Thar explains what to look for.
Dawn, the coldest hour
Before sunrise: wrap up and take your tea outside.
- Utter stillness: the sand printed with the tracks of beetles, foxes and birds.
- First light: the dunes turn pink. This is the hour our guests remember most.
What we look for in a camp
We visit: the camps we use, and we listen to what guests tell us afterwards.
Set back: from the main road and the loudest neighbours. Silence is the whole point of the desert.
- A proper tent: a private bathroom with hot water, a real bed, and warm bedding or a heater for winter nights.
- Music: acoustic and live, ending at a sensible hour.
- Food: cooked fresh for guests in camp, not a buffet for coach parties.
- Camels: healthy, rested and well treated, with handlers paid fairly. We don't book camps that work animals too hard.
- Respect for the desert: refilling water bottles rather than handing out plastic, keeping lights low, taking rubbish away and never driving over dunes for fun.
- Village visits: arranged with families who welcome guests and are paid properly, not staged as a show.
When the camps open, and when they close
November to February: warm, perfect days and cold nights, sometimes close to freezing. Bring a jacket for the fire, and expect a hot water bottle in bed.
October and March: warmer, with comfortable evenings and hot middays.
- Camps open
- About October to March
- Best months
- November to February
- Winter nights
- Close to freezing
- Closed
- April to the monsoon
- Book early for
- Desert Festival, Christmas, New Year
- April to June: the Thar is very hot, with dusty afternoon winds, and most camps close.
- The monsoon: the desert greens briefly after rain, but Thar rain is short and unpredictable, and the tented camps stay shut.
- The Desert Festival: the Jaisalmer Desert Festival, over about three days ending on the full moon of Magh, usually in February, fills every camp near the city.
- Christmas and New Year: just as full. Book those months well ahead.
- Read more: our guide to the best time to visit Jaisalmer and our winter in the Thar piece.
- Out of season: we use desert forts and hotels such as Suryagarh or Khimsar Fort, and still arrange a dune sunset and a dinner under the stars.
Camels, villages and the fragile desert
A classic pleasure: a short sunset camel ride across the dunes, kind to the animal in the right hands.
The herders: the Raika and Rabari communities have bred and cared for camels for centuries.
A shrinking world: camel numbers have fallen sharply in recent decades as roads and tractors replaced them. A fair ride with a good handler helps keep that way of life alive.
- What we look for: healthy, rested camels with clean saddles and no sores, and short rides rather than long hauls.
- Read more: our page on camel safaris and our journal piece on the camels of Rajasthan.
- Scarce water: every litre is pumped from deep underground or trucked in, so a short shower is a kindness to the desert.
- Leave nothing: bring a refillable bottle, carry wrappers back to camp and never leave anything on a dune.
- Ask first: before photographing people, especially women. Our note on travelling responsibly explains how we work.
- No dune bashing: we avoid the jeep races some camps sell. They scar the dunes, frighten wildlife and spoil the silence for everyone.
Getting there, packing and small comforts
The sand track: most camps sit at the end of one, and the last kilometre can be slow. Your chauffeur knows the way, and camps often send a jeep to the road if the sand is soft.
Daylight arrivals: we time the drive for them, because finding a camp in the dark is no fun.
Distances: our page on road distances and drive times has the rest.
- The Serai
- Around forty minutes from Jaisalmer
- Sam dunes
- About an hour from Jaisalmer
- Manvar
- Roughly halfway, Jodhpur to Jaisalmer
- Arrive
- In daylight
- Signal
- Patchy, sometimes none
- Pack light: leave the big suitcase in the car and take a soft overnight bag. Tents have less storage, and porters carry bags across sand.
- Winter kit: warm layers, a hat, a scarf against the wind and thick socks, and a light jacket even in March.
- Wind and sand: sunglasses and a scarf help when the afternoon wind lifts the sand.
- A small torch: for the walk between tent and fire, though good camps light the paths. Our packing guide has a full list.
- Off the grid: most guests come to see weak signal as a gift. If you must be reachable, we choose a camp nearer the road.
- Dietary needs: tell us in advance. Camp kitchens buy supplies days ahead, and happily cook for you if they know.
Who will love a desert camp, and who won't
Couples above all: there are few more romantic places in India than a fire in the dunes.
Families: children love the camels, the sand and the stars.
Photographers: for the light at dawn and dusk.
- City-weary travellers: anyone who has spent days in palaces and cities and needs a night of space.
- On our journeys: our Rajasthan honeymoons and family journeys both include a camp night for this reason.
- Less suited: those who sleep badly in the cold, those who need a gym and a long menu, and anyone with limited mobility, because sand is hard going and some camps are spread out.
- Not soundproof: a tent never is.
- The alternative: Suryagarh, Mihir Garh or the Khimsar dune village, with the dunes at sunset still on the plan.
- How long: one night is enough for most. Two let you add a village walk, a longer camel outing or an afternoon of nothing. More than two is for true desert lovers, and they know who they are.
What most visitors miss
The tracks at dawn: beetles, foxes and birds write the night's story on the sand, and the wind erases it by mid-morning.
A walk, not a ride: the scrub around a camp is full of birds and khejri trees, and on foot you hear it.
- The working villages: herders moving goats and camels, women at the wells. Go with someone the families know.
- The moonless nights: plan your dates near the new moon for the darkest skies.
- The second night: the first evening is about arriving. The second is when the rhythm of the desert takes over.
Desert nights on our journeys
The classic route: a camp at Manvar between Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, or outside Jaisalmer, with a fort or haveli on either side.
Built around the desert: our Under the Thar sky journey.
- Three desert cities: our desert triangle links Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner.
- Festival time: our desert festival journey times a camp night for the festival.
- For couples: the Udaipur and Jaisalmer honeymoon pairs a lake palace with the dunes.
- Other stays: our pages on palace hotels, heritage havelis and wildlife lodges, with the stays hub bringing them together.
- What to expect: our journal piece on a night in a desert camp.
- No published prices: after one conversation we draw a route, choose the right camp and tent, and quote.