Rajasthan is India’s largest state by area, covering more than 342,000 sq. km. It is home to around 80 million people, more than France or Italy. Rajasthan is no secret to travelers: in 2024, more than 230 million Indians and 2.1 million foreigners sought its magic. Numbers that are hard to digest.
India isn’t just for backpackers chasing budget adventures. It’s a dream for adult and couples travelers, too. Not many are aware, but with guided heritage walks, fine dining, and warm hospitality, Rajasthan invites mature travelers to savor India’s royal charm in comfort and style. I was intrigued.
Landing in the capital, New Delhi (a flight via Abu Dhabi proved most attractive), was the beginning of an extensive journey to discover an unforgettable state. An epic of palaces, deserts, forts, and vibrant culture.
Smart planning is essential to make the journey smoother. The train is tempting: Rajasthan is well connected by Indian Railways, including overnight routes. State buses, along with private luxury and sleeper buses, are widely available. By air? All major cities have airports, useful if you are short on time. But we chose the car + driver option. The most comfortable way, offering flexibility for towns, palaces, and the countryside.
Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, welcomed over 600,000 international visitors last year. Like us, they came not only for monuments but to step into the essence of royal life. Jaipur, the Pink City, unfolds as a living poem of rose-hued palaces, bustling bazaars, and sunsets that set the horizon aflame. History and royalty linger in every archway and desert breeze. The city’s blush began in 1876, when the maharajah welcomed the Prince of Wales by repainting the old city terracotta pink, the Rajput color of hospitality. The impression was so striking that laws still require Jaipur’s historic heart to remain in its rosy cloak, a glow unlike anywhere else in India.
To wander Jaipur, 240 km. southwest of New Delhi, is to walk through marvels: The Hawa Mahal, with its 953 windows for unseen royal gazes, left us speechless. The impressive City Palace is still home to Jaipur’s royals. Beyond the walls, Amber Fort dazzles with mirrored halls, and from Nahargarh Fort on the Aravalli Hills, sunsets bathe the Pink City in gold. Three days here, and we traveled from one jaw-dropping attraction to another.
Pushkar, 145 km. west by road, takes around three hours by car. This mystical desert oasis shimmers with a sacred lake beneath an endless sky, devotion humming in the air. Our drive from Jaipur shifted from smooth highways to dirt roads where cows waded through floodwaters. The town first appears like a mirage of color, myth, and spirituality.
Around the lotus-born lake rise whitewashed temples and ghats where saffron-clad sadhus chant at dawn, while pilgrims immerse themselves in the holy waters. The streets swirl with incense and camel bells, bazaars draped in fabrics, and rooftop cafés serving both masala chai and falafel with menus in Hebrew. Blending the sacred with the bohemian.
At the heart of this devotion stands the Brahma Temple, one of the few in the world dedicated to the Hindu god of creation. Pushkar draws a rare mix: pilgrims, artists, yogis, and backpackers. Making it at once a holy site, cultural carnival, desert escape, and spiritual sanctuary.
Some 200 km. west of Pushkar, a four-hour drive, lies Jodhpur. An intriguing destination. Renowned as the Blue City at the edge of the Thar Desert, it proved an unforgettable stop. Its indigo-painted houses ripple like a sapphire sea beneath the desert sun, watched over by the mighty Mehrangarh Fort, with soaring walls, intricate palaces, and echoing courtyards heavy with Rajput legend.
The old town bazaars burst with spices, fabrics, and silver, their scents of cardamom and incense weaving through narrow lanes. To wander Jodhpur is to step into a timeless tapestry where power, poetry, and everyday life entwine.
ABOUT 250 km. from there, a five-hour journey brought us to Udaipur, the White City of Rajasthan. A dream of marble and water, where palaces float on shimmering lakes and sunsets bathe the sky in royal hues.
Like Tel Aviv, it shares the title of “White City,” but here the glow comes from palaces, havelis (grand mansions), and temples built of pale stone and marble. Symbols of purity and devotion. At its heart rises the City Palace, a vast complex of courtyards and pavilions overlooking Lake Pichola, blending Rajput and Mughal grandeur. Nearby, the 17th-century Jagdish Temple still echoes with prayer, while high above, the Monsoon Palace crowns a solitary hill, offering sweeping views of lakes and the Aravalli ranges aflame at dusk.
I was especially intrigued by the opportunity to stay in Rajasthan’s heritage palace hotels. Many havelis and royal residences have been transformed into heritage and luxury retreats, offering guests the chance to live like maharajahs amid courtyards, marble halls, and ornate frescoes. These historic residences provide a rare moment to immerse oneself in the royal past while savoring modern comfort.
From royal residence to heritage hotel
In 1971, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi abolished the privy purses and officially derecognized India’s maharajas through a constitutional amendment. The royals lost their titles, financial support, and many privileges. Transforming their residences into heritage hotels was a unique solution.
In Jaipur, I found myself at Alsisar Haveli, a noble retreat built in 1892 by the aristocrat Thakurs of Alsisar. Restored and opened as a heritage hotel in 1994, it has retained its Rajput soul: arcaded courtyards, carved balconies, and frescoed halls that hum with memory.
In Jodhpur, Ajit Bhawan became our “home away from home,” though it is far more than a hotel. Built in the 1920s as the residence of the younger brother of the maharajah of Jodhpur, it was India’s first palace to open its doors as a luxury hotel.
The family still lives in an adjacent royal wing. Chiseled stone facades, arched verandas, and sprawling courtyards welcomed us into an atmosphere where tradition breathes in every detail, from vintage photographs on the walls to the scent of desert blooms drifting through its gardens.
Many new hotels in Rajasthan also draw inspiration from traditional state mansions, blending heritage ambiance with modern amenities. Pratap Mahal Resort, part of IHCL SeleQtions – one of India’s leading brands – in Ajmer near Pushkar, was one such striking experience.
Yet the most illuminating and dreamy experience in Rajasthan was a modern palace born of timeless inspiration, opened in July: The Fairmont Udaipur Palace. Here, heritage and luxury merge in the hills above the White City of India. Surrounded by leopard artworks and sculptures, symbolizing the animals that still roam the region, we were welcomed with a royal-style ritual, showered with rose petals beneath a grand canopy. With the goal not merely to build a luxury hotel but to create a “palace within a palace,” the architects sought to evoke the grandeur of Rajasthan’s royal heritage while delivering modern luxury.
“A modern maharajah, maybe a millennial, if he had to build a palace, I think this would be the place,” says the enthusiastic hotel manager, Harsh Champawat. “We offer in our Fairmont 12 pools, 11 restaurants, and 327 guestrooms,” he adds.
Our spacious, pampering guest room was richly appointed, blending Rajasthani heritage elements with an exquisite semi-private pool facing the hills and the Monsoon Palace shimmering on the horizon. We felt indeed like a maharajah family – divine. Building the palace started just before COVID and was completed rather quickly this summer.
“Why Accor’s Fairmont and not another luxury global brand?” I asked manager Champawat. “Fairmont leads in India because it offers something rare. Its palatial properties, strong cultural storytelling, and positioning in the booming luxury weddings/events market here have made it a standout brand in the country,” he explains.
After two weeks of living in Rajasthan’s heritage hotels, palaces reborn as sanctuaries, we left carrying more than memories. Each carved archway, mirrored hall, and courtyard whispered of kings and queens long gone, yet still alive in our minds.
To wake each day within marble walls, dine beneath frescoed ceilings, and watch sunsets from ramparts was to be folded into history itself. Rajasthan – the land of kings – does not just host you. It crowns you with its timeless grandeur, leaving my daughter and me part of its royal tapestry. These heritage hotels alone make the journey worthwhile.
Remember: India is not that far away.
The writer is the Travel Flash Tips Publisher.