Private journeys in seven lands · a planner replies within one working day
Try "Udaipur", "tiger", "honeymoon", "Ladakh in July"
Eight nights with the craftspeople of Rajasthan: block printers in Bagru and Sanganer, blue pottery and gem cutters in Jaipur, dhurrie weavers and potters near Jodhpur, and miniature and pichhwai painters in Udaipur and Nathdwara. Workshops, not showrooms.
Rajasthan's crafts are alive because families still practise them. This journey visits them in their workshops, with guides who know the makers and avoid commission-driven showrooms. In Jaipur, you print cloth by hand in Bagru, see blue pottery fired, and visit the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing.
Around Jodhpur, dhurrie weavers in Salawas and potters in Kakani work at home. In Udaipur, you paint with a miniature artist and visit Nathdwara, where painters make pichhwai for the Shrinathji temple. Each stop leaves time for the forts and palaces too.
Highlights
Day by day
Your driver meets you at Jaipur airport for the drive to Rambagh Palace. In the late afternoon, walk the old city bazaars with a guide who knows the textile and craft families, from Bapu Bazaar's printed cottons to Tripolia's lac bangle makers.
Drive to Bagru to spend the morning with a Chhipa family who print with wooden blocks and natural dyes, including the dabu mud-resist technique. Print your own piece. After lunch, visit Sanganer for its finer prints and handmade paper workshops.
Amber Fort at opening, then the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing in a restored haveli nearby. After lunch, visit a blue pottery workshop to see the quartz-based clay shaped, painted and fired, and a gem-cutting workshop in the old city.
Drive west with a stop in Pushkar for lunch and the ghats. Arrive in Jodhpur and check in at RAAS in the old city. Dinner on the terrace below Mehrangarh.
An early drive to the Bishnoi villages and Salawas, where families weave dhurries on pit looms, and to Kakani's potters. Return for lunch. In the afternoon, visit Mehrangarh, whose museum holds outstanding textiles, then walk to the clock tower spice market.
Drive through the Aravalli to the Ranakpur Jain temple, with its carved marble pillars. Continue to Udaipur and check in at The Oberoi Udaivilas. Evening at leisure.
Visit the City Palace at opening to see its painting galleries. In the afternoon, a private session with a miniature painter in his studio, grinding pigments and painting a small motif. Sunset boat on Lake Pichola.
Drive to Nathdwara, home of the Shrinathji temple, to visit painters who make pichhwai, large cloth paintings of Krishna's festivals. Return for lunch and a free afternoon. Farewell dinner by the lake.
Transfer to Udaipur airport for your onward flight. We can arrange shipping of anything you buy during the journey.
Included
Not included
Where you sleep
The former home of the Maharajas of Jaipur, run by Taj, set in large Mughal-style gardens about 15 minutes from the old city. It is the …
A boutique hotel inside the walled old city of Jodhpur, built around a restored 18th-century haveli directly below Mehrangarh Fort. Clean contemporary rooms, a courtyard pool …
A palace-style resort on the eastern shore of Lake Pichola, with domed pavilions, courtyards, gardens and rooms opening onto shared or semi-private pools. It faces the …
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Questions travellers ask
No. Our guides take you to family workshops and makers we know, and they tell you if a place is a showroom. You buy only if you want to, directly from the maker. Our craft-specialist guides in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur are chosen for their links with the makers, not for sales, and there is no pressure to buy at any stop.
Yes. You print fabric in Bagru, paint with a miniature artist in Udaipur, and can often try the loom in Salawas or the potter's wheel. Sessions are relaxed and suited to beginners. In Bagru you work with a Chhipa family using wooden blocks and natural dyes, and in Udaipur you grind pigments and paint a small motif. The printing and painting sessions are included.
A museum of hand block printing in a restored haveli near Amber Fort, showing the history and technique of the craft, with live demonstrations. It is the best introduction to Jaipur's textiles. We visit on day 3, straight after Amber Fort at opening, the day after you print your own piece in Bagru. It closes on some days, so check current status before you travel.
Yes. Most established workshops ship internationally. We confirm costs, timelines and insurance before you buy, and keep records of every shipment. We work through established makers in Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur whose shipping has proved reliable, and on your last day we can arrange the shipping of anything you bought along the way. Purchases and shipping costs are not included in the journey price.
A large painting on cloth made to hang behind the image of Shrinathji, a form of Krishna, at Nathdwara. Pichhwais show festivals, cows and lotus ponds and are made by families of painters in the town. On day 8 we drive about an hour from Udaipur to visit their studios. The temple has strict timings and crowds, so we visit the painters, not necessarily the shrine.
No. It suits anyone interested in how things are made, and it includes the main forts and palaces. Specialists can extend workshop time and add Shekhawati or Kutch in Gujarat. Amber Fort, Mehrangarh, the Ranakpur temple and the City Palace in Udaipur all sit between the workshop visits, and Mehrangarh's museum holds outstanding textiles, so a mixed group sees both the makers and the monuments.
October to March. Workshops work year round, but the cool months make village visits comfortable. Avoid major festivals if you want workshops to be working normally. Around Diwali and Holi, workshops often close for some days, so we plan around the dates. Winter days in Jaipur and Jodhpur are usually in the 20s °C, and from April the heat makes village visits hard work.
Yes. Add two nights in Shekhawati for its painted havelis before Jaipur, starting from Delhi. See our Shekhawati journey for the details. Shekhawati is about five hours by road from Delhi, and we base you in Mandawa or Nawalgarh for walking the painted lanes with a specialist guide. From there the road continues to Jaipur, and the rest of the journey runs as planned.
Yes, per person, twin sharing, from the figure shown. It excludes purchases and shipping. Single travellers pay a supplement. The price varies with your dates and the room categories at Rambagh Palace, RAAS and The Oberoi Udaivilas, and rises over Christmas, New Year and Diwali. Flights are not included either. We confirm a firm quote once your dates are fixed.
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