The Palace On Wheels has been running, on and off, since 1982: a week-long loop of Rajasthan in carriages built to look like the private saloons of the maharajas.

After a pause of two seasons it is back, with new mattresses and the same silver thali. We rode it from Delhi and back to see whether it is still worth the fare.

Why We Always Start Early

In India the difference between seven and ten in the morning is the difference between a place and a queue. The light is lower and warmer, the air is cool enough to walk, and the people you meet are the ones who live there rather than the ones who came to see it. Our guides would rather lose an hour of sleep than an hour of that.

Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi framed by palms
Seven in the morning, and the garden to ourselves.

What The Morning Looks Like

  1. Tea at the door. Your host knocks at half past five with chai and the day’s plan written on a card.
  2. The drive while it is cool. Roads are empty, and the driver knows which dhaba has the first hot parathas.
  3. The first hour, nearly alone. We arrive as the gates open and walk in the opposite direction to the crowd that follows.
  4. Breakfast somewhere with a view. By the time the coaches arrive, we are sitting down to eat.

“Everyone has seen the photograph. What they have not seen is the hour before it, when the stone is still cold and the gardeners are sweeping the paths.”

Imran Qureshi · Driver & Road Host

What To Bring

A light layer for the first hour, shoes you can slip off at every temple door, and small notes for chai. Leave the big camera lens at the hotel; the best photographs of the morning are usually of the people you meet on the way.

The red sandstone gate of a Mughal fort
A domed Mughal tomb at the end of a garden path

We plan every journey around mornings like this one. Tell us where you would like to wake up, and we will find the hour when it is at its best.