India's luxury trains and how to fit one into a private trip

A luxury train in India is a hotel that moves at night. You sleep in a private cabin with its own bathroom, eat in restaurant cars and wake in a new city, where coaches and guides wait on the platform for a set programme of sightseeing. The routes, departure dates and timings are fixed by the operator, and you share the days with the other guests on board, usually a few dozen people.

That is the trade. You give up the private car, the private guide and the freedom to linger at a fort until the light changes. You gain the novelty of the train itself, no packing between cities and a sociable dining car. For some travellers it is the high point of a lifetime trip; for others it feels like a tour coach on rails. We help you work out which you are before you book anything.

Each train also has a firm rhythm: early starts for excursions, set meal times, and on some evenings a smarter dress code in the dining cars. Cabins are comfortable but compact compared with a palace hotel room, and the bathrooms are small. None of this is a problem if you know it before you board.

Run by IRCTC, the catering and tourism arm of Indian Railways, the Maharajas' Express is among the most expensive trains in the world and has the largest cabins of the Indian luxury trains, from deluxe cabins up to a presidential suite that takes a whole carriage. It has run four itineraries, most of them six nights between Delhi and Mumbai or as a loop from Delhi, covering Agra, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Bikaner, with one route that reaches Varanasi and Lucknow. A shorter three-night route covers Agra, Ranthambore and Jaipur.

It runs in the cool season, roughly October to April, on a published set of dates. Fares are quoted per cabin and change each season, so we quote them live rather than here; check current status before you travel. If you book it, we usually add private nights before and after: an arrival night close to the departure station, and a stretch the train does not cover, such as Varanasi by private boat or a quiet lodge in the hills.

The Palace on Wheels was the first of India's luxury tourist trains, launched in 1982 by Indian Railways and Rajasthan's tourism corporation. Its classic seven-night loop leaves Delhi and visits Jaipur, Sawai Madhopur for Ranthambore, Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur and Bharatpur, ending with the Taj Mahal at Agra. The saloons are named after former Rajput states and decorated in their style.

The train has had pauses and changes of operator over the years, and it has not run every season. We check each year before we suggest it, and you should check current status before you travel. When it runs, it is the most complete way to see Rajasthan by rail in a single week, though you see each city in a day or less, and the desert cities in particular deserve longer than that.

The Golden Chariot runs in the south and is operated by IRCTC. Its routes centre on Karnataka's palaces, temples and wildlife, and some itineraries have added Goa or a run into Tamil Nadu and Kerala. For our travellers it is the one luxury train that touches Goa and Kerala, though only briefly. Itineraries and dates change from season to season, so check current status before you travel.

In practice, Kerala is better seen from the water than from the rails. A private kettuvallam through the backwaters, or the slow coast road from Kochi to Marari, gives you far more of the place than a day stop from a train. Goa is the same: a train can show you a church and a beach in an afternoon, but its best hours are the quiet lanes of Fontainhas and the old mansions of Salcete.

Several regular and special trains are useful even if you never board a luxury one. They are comfortable rather than lavish, and we use them where the train is quicker or more pleasant than the road, with your car and luggage meeting you at the other end.

Timetables, train numbers and classes change, and tickets open a fixed number of days before travel, so we book as soon as the window opens. Executive class on a good day train is clean and calm, with meals served at your seat, but it is not a hotel. Check current status before you travel.

• Gatimaan Express, Delhi (Hazrat Nizamuddin) to Agra: about 1 hour 40 minutes
• Shatabdi Express day trains from Delhi to Jaipur or Agra, in executive chair class
• Vande Bharat trains on several routes, including Delhi to Varanasi in about 8 hours
• Day trains across Rajasthan, such as Jaipur to Jodhpur and Jodhpur to Jaisalmer
• The Buddhist Circuit Tourist Train from Delhi to Bodh Gaya, Rajgir, Nalanda, Varanasi and Kushinagar, with a road visit to Lumbini

The choice is less about comfort than about control. This is how a week on a luxury train compares with the private journeys we build.

Our view: if the train itself is the dream, take it, and give it private days on either side. If what you want is Rajasthan, our 11-night palace circuit, from ₹6,50,000 per person, or the 15-night grand tour, from ₹8,60,000 per person, show far more of each city at a slower pace, with your own guide and a car that waits for you rather than a coach that leaves on time.

The train sets the dates, so we start there. Once you have chosen a departure, we build the private days around it: an arrival night near the departure station to recover from the flight, then the train, then one of our own lands where the train does not go. Pairings that work well are the Maharajas' Express followed by Varanasi on the Ganges, the Palace on Wheels followed by Udaipur at a slower pace, or Ladakh in September just before the train season begins.

Tell us which train and which month, and we will check live availability, hold the cabin with the operator and plan the rest as a normal private journey, with one point of contact from your arrival to your flight home. If you are travelling with young children, check the operator's age rules and cabin layouts first; a private route with connecting rooms is often simpler.

• Book the train first: popular winter departures can sell out early
• Add one or two arrival nights near the departure station
• Follow with a private stretch the train skips, such as Varanasi or the Kerala backwaters
• Keep a spare day: trains can run late, so never book a flight tight against arrival