From royal hunting grounds to wildlife reserves
Ranthambore: the private shikar ground of the Jaipur rulers, who kept the dry forest below the old fort for tiger hunts.
Sariska: belonged to the rulers of Alwar.
Bharatpur: the maharajas turned a natural depression into a wetland for duck shoots.
- For tigers
- Ranthambore, Sariska for quiet
- For leopards
- Jawai
- For birds
- Bharatpur, Tal Chhapar, Desert National Park
- Lodge season
- Roughly October to May
- Good for
- Three nights between palaces
- Getting there
- Train or road from Jaipur and Delhi
- Gajner: the Bikaner court held its famous winter sandgrouse shoots there.
- Protected to be hunted: villagers were kept out and cutting was forbidden. When the kingdoms ended, the forests were still standing.
- Ranthambore's milestones: a game sanctuary in 1955, one of the first Project Tiger reserves in 1973, and a national park core in 1980.
- Sariska: a tiger reserve from 1978.
- Keoladeo: Bharatpur's wetland became a Ramsar site in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
- From shooting to watching: the hunters' lodges became guest houses, and new lodges were built for people who came to watch.
- Not simple success: Sariska lost all its tigers to poaching in the early 2000s and was restocked from Ranthambore.
- Constant pressure: Ranthambore's tigers live in a small reserve ringed by farms and villages.
- What a good lodge does: employs local people, supports the forest department and conservation work, and teaches guests to behave well in the park.
- Read more: our region guide to Wild Rajasthan and our journal piece on the tigers of Ranthambore.
What a good wildlife lodge really gives you
Forest department rules: safaris in Rajasthan's tiger reserves are run by the department, with vehicles allotted to fixed zones and routes, limited numbers and the same rules for every guest.
What a lodge controls: everything around the drive. Its naturalists, how it plans your permits, how early it wakes you, what it feeds you and how well you rest.
The naturalist matters most: a good one reads alarm calls, pugmarks and the behaviour of deer and monkeys, and knows which tigress has cubs and where.
- On a quiet morning: a good naturalist makes the forest interesting even without a big cat.
- At a crowded sighting: they keep the jeep quiet and patient.
- Named naturalists: the best lodges are known above all for theirs, and we ask for the senior ones by name where we can.
- Between drives: after a cold January dawn, breakfast in the sun, a spa treatment, a swim or a sleep.
- Evenings: a fire, a drink and the day's stories. That rhythm is the real luxury.
- How drives work: our page on wildlife safaris explains.
Ranthambore, for tigers
- Where: just outside Sawai Madhopur, on the main railway line between Delhi and Mumbai. Most lodges are a short drive from the gates.
- Read more: our Ranthambore guide explains the zones and the fort, and our guide to luxury hotels in Ranthambore compares the lodges.
Aman-i-Khas
What it is: a small camp of tall white tents on the threshold of the park, inspired by the travelling encampments of the Mughal emperors.
Its luxury: calm and deliberately simple, with canvas, cotton, brass and space.
- The layout: dining, spa and lounge tents set apart from the guest tents, a pool and dinners around a fire.
- Who it suits: couples and anyone who values privacy and silence above all.
- Season: roughly October to May, and it books out early because it is small.
SUJAN Sher Bagh
What it is: a tented camp in the spirit of an old hunting camp, run by a family with deep roots in Ranthambore's conservation story.
The tents: brass fittings and Edwardian campaign furniture, in gardens grown lush over the years.
- The lounge: lined with the owner's tiger photographs.
- Its naturalists: among the most respected in the park. Dinner talk is of tigers, territories and tracks.
- Who it suits: travellers who care most about the wildlife. It closes for the monsoon.
The Oberoi Vanyavilas
What it is: luxury tents in walled gardens and orchards a short drive from the park.
The tents: air-conditioned, each with its own garden and deck.
- The spa: built like a Rajasthani haveli around a lily pond.
- Its feel: the polish of the Oberoi palace hotels, and the most comfortable rooms in Ranthambore.
- Who it suits: families, anyone wanting every comfort between drives, and travellers combining Oberoi stays in Jaipur, Agra or Udaipur.
The Taj Sawai Madhopur Lodge
What it was: a hunting lodge of the Jaipur royal family, now run by Taj.
- Its feel: old-world lawns and verandahs, from the days when guests came to hunt rather than photograph.
- Who it suits: history lovers who want solid walls rather than canvas, close to the park.
Six Senses Fort Barwara
What it is: a restored fort in the village of Chauth ka Barwara, about an hour from the park.
- Its approach: the Six Senses take on wellness and food.
- Who it suits: travellers who want a spa retreat with a few safaris. We plan fewer, longer drives from here.
Smaller conservation lodges
What they are: a handful of smaller lodges around the park, some on rewilded farmland, built by families long involved in Ranthambore's protection.
- Their strengths: simpler than the big names, but often excellent naturalists and a real sense of place.
- Our rule: we recommend specific ones only where they suit the guest, and only those we have stayed in recently.
Jawai, for leopards among the herders
The landscape: fields, thorn scrub and the wide waters of the Jawai Bandh reservoir, which Maharaja Umaid Singh began in 1946 and which was completed in 1957.
- Where
- Between Udaipur and Jodhpur
- The reservoir
- Jawai Bandh, begun 1946, finished 1957
- Park gates
- None, it is not a national park
- The people
- Rabari herders
- Season
- Most of the year, best in winter
- Your camp is everything: because Jawai is not a national park, the experience depends on the camp's naturalists, its ties with the villages and its rules for watching leopards without disturbing them.
- Read more: our Jawai guide and our guide to luxury hotels in Jawai.
SUJAN JAWAI
Who made it: Anjali and Jaisal Singh, the family behind the SUJAN camps. One of the first luxury camps in the area, and it calls itself a conservation tourism project.
Its setting: tents among granite outcrops and scrub.
- Its design: drawn from the dress of the Rabari and the colours of the hills, with wildlife portraits, vintage furniture and canvas.
- The days: leopard drives at dawn and dusk, walks with herders, evenings by the fire.
- Who it suits: couples, photographers and families who want the finest camp in leopard country.
Other camps around Bera
Many new stays: smaller camps, lodges and homestays have opened around Bera and the reservoir in recent years.
- Mixed behaviour: some are good, and some chase leopards with spotlights and too many jeeps.
- Our rule: we only book camps whose naturalists keep their distance, limit vehicles at a sighting and respect the herders' land.
- Why it matters: our journal piece on the leopards of Jawai explains.
Rawla Narlai, for culture with a leopard drive
For whom: travellers who want temples and village life with a single leopard drive rather than days of safaris.
- What it is: Rawla Narlai, a seventeenth-century hunting lodge of the Jodhpur royal family, about an hour away.
- On the road: a natural stop between Jawai and Udaipur or Ranakpur.
Sariska and the Alwar hills
Closer to the cities: nearer Delhi and Jaipur than Ranthambore.
Less like a closed park: the Neelkanth temples and the old Kankwari fort stand inside it.
- Tigers as a bonus: they are fewer and harder to see, so we suggest Sariska for travellers who enjoy forest, history and birds. Our Sariska guide tells the story of its tigers.
- Sariska Palace: a hunting lodge built by a ruler of Alwar near the park entrance, now a heritage hotel, grand rather than polished.
- Amanbagh: Aman's retreat near the village of Ajabgarh, built around courtyards, pools and gardens in the hills between Sariska and Bhangarh.
- Not true wildlife lodges: but both make a fine base for a dawn drive and a slow afternoon.
- The city: read about Alwar and its palaces.
For birds, blackbuck and the desert grasslands
Keoladeo, Bharatpur
What it is: one of the finest bird sanctuaries in Asia, with more than 350 species recorded.
How to explore: by cycle-rickshaw, bicycle and on foot with a naturalist.
- Where to stay: modest compared with Jaipur. Laxmi Vilas Palace, a royal family palace on the edge of town, is a heritage hotel, and several lodges stand near the entrance for dawn starts.
- From Agra: some guests stay at The Oberoi Amarvilas and drive over for a long morning.
- Read more: our Bharatpur guide and our birding page.
Tal Chhapar
What it is: a grassland sanctuary famous for blackbuck and, in winter, migrant raptors.
- No luxury lodges: we base guests in Bikaner at Laxmi Niwas Palace or Narendra Bhawan and leave before dawn.
- Keen birders: can stay at simple lodges nearby for both dawn and dusk. Read about Tal Chhapar.
The Desert National Park
Where: south-west of Jaisalmer.
- What it protects: the last stronghold of the great Indian bustard, with chinkara, desert foxes and raptors.
- Where to stay: Suryagarh or The Serai, going out with a specialist naturalist.
- Read more: our page on luxury desert camps and our guide to the Desert National Park.
Kumbhalgarh and the Aravalli forests
The sanctuary: Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary runs through forested hills below the great fort towards Ranakpur.
- Its animals: leopards, sloth bears and many birds, seen only now and then.
- Where to stay: resorts below the fort, such as The Aodhi. See our guide to luxury hotels in Kumbhalgarh.
Panna and the forests of central India
A second chance: Panna lost its tigers too, and has seen them return after a reintroduction programme.
Good company: it pairs beautifully with Khajuraho, Orchha and Varanasi on a journey into central India.
- Pashan Garh: Taj's wildlife lodge on the edge of the reserve, with cottages of local dry-stone scattered across a hillside above the forest.
- Sarai at Toria: a small eco-lodge on the Ken founded by conservationists, with mud-walled, thatched cottages and food from local farms. Lovely in winter, and without air-conditioning.
- Compare: our page on where to stay in Orchha and Khajuraho and our guide to luxury hotels in Khajuraho.
- How it fits: our Rajasthan, Khajuraho and Orchha journey shows the route.
Tents, cottages and what you give up
Tented stays: many of the finest, at Aman-i-Khas, Sher Bagh, Vanyavilas and Jawai.
The magic of canvas: peacocks at dawn, a sambar's alarm call at night, wind in the trees.
- The trade: canvas is never quite soundproof, tents can be cool on winter nights and warm in April, and a few camps keep them simple by design.
- Cottages and buildings: thicker walls, more insulation, often more space, and open through more of the year.
- Who prefers walls: families with small children and light sleepers.
- Before the monsoon: in the hottest weeks a solid room is a mercy.
Seasons, closures and the best months
The monsoon closure: Ranthambore's core zones close from about the start of July to the end of September. In recent years some outer zones have stayed open in the rains, weather permitting.
Camp seasons: most tented camps open roughly October to May. We confirm dates each year.
October and November: green after the rains, with thick forest and soft light.
- Ranthambore core closed
- About July to September
- Tented camps
- Roughly October to May
- Busiest
- Christmas and New Year
- Gentlest
- February and March
- Hot but rewarding
- April and May
- Bharatpur birds
- About November to February
- December and January: cold dawns, beautiful mist and the busiest weeks around Christmas and New Year.
- February and March: for many of us the gentlest introduction, with pleasant days, thinner leaves and good sightings.
- April and May: hot, and animals come to the remaining water, which can mean the best tiger viewing of the year.
- Read more: our journal piece on the best time for tigers and our Ranthambore month guide.
- Jawai: leopards are seen through most of the year, with winter the most comfortable and camps quieter in the heat.
- Bharatpur: the wetland birds are best from about November to February, when the winter migrants are in.
How we choose a lodge for you
Wildlife first: we choose the strongest naturalists and plan more drives, mixing zones, with a full-day drive if you want one.
With children: a lodge with space, a pool and easy food, and shorter drives. Our page on travelling with children has more.
Rest as much as tigers: we look at the spa and grounds as carefully as the safari.
- Permits: released by the forest department and sold out months ahead for busy weeks, so we book as early as the rules allow.
- Distance to the gate: ten extra minutes in the dark before dawn is ten minutes less in the forest.
- Three nights: two is the minimum, and one night is almost never enough.
- One naturalist: ask for the same one for all your drives, so they learn what you want to see.
- Winter dawns: bring warm layers, a hat and gloves for an open jeep. Lodges lend blankets and hot water bottles.
- Park manners: wear muted colours and keep voices low.
- Binoculars: good ones matter more than a long lens for enjoying the forest.
- Back trouble: tell us. Tracks are rough and drives last three to four hours.
Watching wildlife well
Good behaviour in the park is simple. Stay in the vehicle, keep quiet, don't ask the driver to break the rules, turn off the flash and give an animal space to cross. A tigress walking past your jeep without changing her pace is the finest compliment the forest can pay.
Beyond the rules: we follow the forest rules and ask more of our partners.
- What we refuse: lodges that bait animals, chase leopards with spotlights or let vehicles crowd a sighting.
- No elephant rides: and no captive-animal shows.
- In Jawai: camps that respect the herders' land and limit jeeps at a sighting, because the leopards live among people and that trust is easily broken.
- Our thinking: our journal piece on why we don't offer elephant rides and our page on ethical animal encounters.
- Don't throw anything: in the park, ever.
- Beyond the park: the best lodges employ and train villagers, buy food locally and support conservation and community projects.
- We ask first: before working with any lodge. The finest in Rajasthan take it seriously. Our note on travelling responsibly has more.
What most visitors miss
The small life: kingfishers on the lake edge, crocodiles on the banks, langurs keeping watch for everyone else.
The alarm calls: learn the sambar's bark and the langur's cough from your naturalist, and you start to hear the forest working.
- The ruins: at Ranthambore, the fort and the old pavilions by the lakes are part of what makes the park unique.
- The edges: the villages around the reserves, and the people who live with the animals every day.
- The middle of the day: the long, quiet hours at the lodge are as much a part of a wildlife stay as the drives.
Who will love a wildlife stay, and who won't
The patient and curious: couples who like early mornings and quiet evenings.
Young naturalists: families whose children want to learn tracks and bird calls.
Photographers: for the light and the animals.
- After a week of palaces: anyone who needs a change of air.
- The right attitude: enjoying a morning of langurs, spotted deer, crocodiles and kingfishers, with a big cat as the reward rather than the whole point.
- Less suited: those who dislike early starts and cold, and anyone with back or neck trouble, for whom three hours on a rough track can be hard.
- Tiger counters: anyone who will measure the stay only by whether a tiger appeared.
- For them: a single night and one drive, or a stay such as Six Senses Fort Barwara or Amanbagh, where the forest is one pleasure among several.
- Limited mobility: our page on accessible travel explains how we plan.
Wildlife lodges on our journeys
Ranthambore's place: naturally between Jaipur and Agra or Udaipur.
Royal hotels and tigers: our palaces and tigers journey.
The classic route plus tigers: our Golden Triangle with Ranthambore.
- For children: our family journey through Jaipur, Ranthambore and Udaipur is paced for them.
- Leopards: Jawai fits between Udaipur and Jodhpur, often with a night at Narlai.
- Three wild places: our big cats and birds journey combines Ranthambore, Jawai and Bharatpur.
- For birders: our birding journey is built around the wetlands and grasslands.
- Other stays: our pages on palace hotels, heritage havelis and luxury desert camps, with the stays hub bringing them together.
- No published prices: after one conversation we draw a route, choose the lodge and the drives, and quote.