16 nights from £1635
The Indian railway system contributed significantly to the romance of India during the British Raj. Evolving initially in the 1850s, its first line ran into Bombay, transporting as much in 16 hours as 2,500 camels could previously manage in a fortnight and lines quickly sprang up all over the country. However, the interest of the Maharajas had been ignited and many embarked upon grandiose railway projects of their own concept of what a train should look like was, to put it mildly, flamboyant. Rajasthan, in particular, was quickly endowed with a comprehensive web of royal railways and the number of railways in total in India swiftly rose to 175. In 1944, the state nationalised most of the rail network and today it is the largest in the world with 62,000 kilometres of track, 7,000 stations and 12,000 daily services.
This exciting itinerary takes in most of the major monuments of Rajasthan, utilising its impressive rail network to cover the vast distances between the capitals of its previous states. Its second unusual and charming feature is its use of some former royal residences as accommodations.
