Jaisalmer in Two Nights
The short trip most first time visitors take. A full day inside the living fort, an afternoon of havelis and Gadisar Lake, then a night on the Sam dunes.
Private tours and chauffeur driven cars from the heart of the golden city. Fort mornings, dune evenings and a driver who knows every road between them.
Most visitors get three days in Jaisalmer. Our job is to make sure none of them is spent in the wrong place at the wrong hour, or waiting for a car that never arrives.
We are a tour company and a taxi service in the same small office. The driver who meets your train is the one who takes you out to the dunes two days later, and the person who wrote your itinerary is on the end of the phone the whole way.
Fort at first light, havelis in the shaded hours, dunes for sunset. The order matters more than the list.
Fuel, tolls, parking, permits and the driver allowance are in the quote. Nothing appears on the last morning.
Private trips only. Slow the day down, add a stop, stay longer at the lake - just say so.
Where from, where to, the date and roughly what time. A train number is enough for a station transfer.
We suggest a car that fits the group and the luggage, and tell you what each option costs for that route.
You get the fare, what it includes, the driver name and the vehicle number by message before the day.
The driver contacts you the evening before. Pay at the end of the trip unless the booking needs an advance for a camp or hotel.
Private trips from a single desert night to a week across western Rajasthan, each one a starting point rather than a fixed departure.
The short trip most first time visitors take. A full day inside the living fort, an afternoon of havelis and Gadisar Lake, then a night on the Sam dunes.
The unhurried version. Two nights in town, one under canvas, with time for Kuldhara at first light and a long evening safari across the dunes.
For travellers drawn to the western frontier. Tanot Mata temple, the Longewala war memorial and the India-Pakistan border road, with a fort day either side.
Railway station transfers, a car for the day around Jaisalmer, or a driver for a fortnight across Rajasthan.
A car and driver for the day around Jaisalmer. Fort, havelis, Gadisar Lake, Bada Bagh and the dune road, stopping as long as you like at each.
Overnight trains reach Jaisalmer early. We wait on the platform side and get you to the hotel before check-in wherever possible.
Jodhpur, Bikaner, Jaipur, Udaipur, Mount Abu and Ahmedabad. One driver for the whole route rather than a handover at each city.
Transfers between hotels, desert camps and the town, including the late run back after a cultural evening at the dunes.
Sedans for two, a seven seater for a family, a tempo traveller when everyone wants to travel together.
Seven seats with a genuinely usable third row. The most common family car on our Jaisalmer sightseeing days and short desert transfers.
Twelve to seventeen seats with standing room and a proper luggage bay. The sensible answer when a group wants to travel together rather than in convoy.
The workhorse for long Rajasthan circuits. High ground clearance for the dune approach roads and enough space that nobody rides with a bag on their knees.
Forts, havelis, a rainwater lake and an abandoned village, all within a day of the golden city.
The living fort
Jaisalmer Fort
Founded in the twelfth century and still inhabited. Several thousand people live inside the walls, among sandstone houses, temples and rooftop terraces.
Merchant mansion
Patwon Ki Haveli
Five linked mansions raised by a brocade trading family from 1805, carrying the most intricate carved facade in the city.
Water and light
Gadisar Lake
A fourteenth century rainwater reservoir ringed with ghats and pavilions. Come at sunrise, when the birds are still on the water.
Royal residence
Mandir Palace
The later home of the Jaisalmer royal family, just below the fort near Gadisar gate, with its five storey Tazia Tower and some of the finest stone carving in the city.
The Thar proper
Sam Sand Dunes
The classic dune field about forty kilometres west of town. Camel and jeep safaris run late in the afternoon and most desert camps are here.
Twin facades
Nathmal Ki Haveli
Late nineteenth century, carved by two brothers working on opposite wings. The halves are almost, but never quite, mirror images.
Army heritage
Jaisalmer War Museum
Run by the Indian Army on the Jodhpur highway, about 10 km from town. Tanks, a fighter jet, the Longewala hall and a light and sound show in the evening.
Royal cenotaphs
Bada Bagh
Rows of domed chhatris on a ridge above an old mango garden. The last hour of light turns the whole slope amber.
Late afternoon safaris, a night under canvas at Sam, folk music around a fire and a dinner served in the open.
An hour out across the dune crests in the late afternoon, walking pace, with the handler leading. Short enough for children and long enough to lose the road behind you.
Twenty fast minutes over the soft dunes in an open four wheel drive. Sit at the back if you want the ride, at the front if you want the photographs.
The reason most people come. We time the drive so you are on a west facing crest with twenty minutes to spare and something cold to drink.
Swiss tents with proper beds, attached bathrooms and hot water, or simpler canvas closer to the sand. We book the standard you ask for and tell you honestly what each one is like.
Kalbeliya dancers and Manganiyar musicians around the fire after dark. Traditional repertoire, played live, not a recording over a speaker.
A Rajasthani thali served at the camp, then the fire and a sky with no town light in it. Bring something warm; the desert drops fast after sunset.
The people planning your route live here. They know which fort gate is quiet at nine, which dune road washes out after rain and where the good chai is.
Commercially licensed, familiar with every road on the itinerary, and used to travellers who want to stop for a photograph without being sighed at.
Air conditioning that works in May, seats that are not worn through, and a boot that actually takes the luggage you are travelling with.
Registered commercial vehicles, valid insurance and a named contact in the office for the whole trip, not a call centre.
Royal architecture
Folk dance
Desert chhatris
Camel country
Heritage stays
Local cuisine
Temple carving
Water and ghats
Send your dates and the number of travellers. You will get a written itinerary, one all-in price and a person to talk to about both.