Ranthambore Travel Guide: Tiger Reserve, Fort and Safari Planning

The forest is seen on safari, in vehicles booked through the Forest Department, while the fort, its temple and the sights around Sawai Madhopur can be reached by road. Every trip we run here is on our Ranthambore tours and experiences page.

The park's safari zones

The park lies where the Aravalli and Vindhya ranges meet: dry deciduous forest of dhok, fig and banyan, broken by crags, meadows, lakes and the ruins of abandoned settlements. Rajasthan Tourism's list of its animals runs from tigers, leopards, sloth bears, caracals, hyenas and jackals to chital, sambar deer and nilgai, with basking crocodiles and more than 300 kinds of birds. The reserve's official booking site divides the forest into ten safari zones, each covering its own stretch, from Singhdwar and Jogi Mahal to Kachida and Kundal; you choose from the zones still available when you book.

Ranthambore Fort

The Chauhan rulers built this fort in the 10th century on a hill that now stands inside the reserve, and the park is named after it. Its massive gates, walls, temples and water tanks are part of the Hill Forts of Rajasthan, inscribed together as a World Heritage Site in 2013. Rajasthan Tourism recalls the jauhar of the fort's royal women when Alauddin Khilji laid siege to it. Visitors and pilgrims reach the fort by jeep, taxi or auto-rickshaw from Sawai Madhopur railway station; the temple inside is about 15 km from the town.

Trinetra Ganesh Temple

The temple of Trinetra Ganesh, inside the fort walls, is a pilgrimage in its own right. Rajasthan Tourism describes its Ganesh Chaturthi fair in August or September: thousands gather at the fort over three days, and on the last a replica of the Ganesh image is carried out and immersed in a pond nearby. That fair falls outside the park's October to June season, so plan it as a fort visit rather than a wildlife trip.

Padam Talab, Rajbagh and Jogi Mahal

The lakes inside the park lie on zone 3, which the reserve's booking site lists as covering Jogi Mahal, Padam Talab and Rajbagh; zone 2 also passes Jogi Mahal. The same site notes that animals gather at water, above all in summer, which is what makes the lakes worth asking for. Zones depend on what is still free when the permit is booked, so request these early rather than expect them.

Around Sawai Madhopur

Sawai Madhopur, the town 14 km from the park, has quieter stops for a spare half-day. Rajasthan Tourism lists Shilpgram, a craft village near Ramsinghpura about 9 km out; the Rajiv Gandhi Regional Museum of Natural History, also at Ramsinghpura; Soorwal Lake, about 15 km away, where migratory birds gather in winter; and the Chauth Mata temple at Chauth ka Barwara, about 25 km away. Khandar Fort, about 45 km from the town, was held by the Sisodia rulers of Mewar before the Mughals took it.

Take a safari. Drives run twice a day, in the morning and the afternoon, in open Gypsies that seat up to six visitors or in 20-seat canters, according to the reserve's booking site. Permits are sold online through the portal that the Rajasthan Forest Department links from its own website: advance bookings open months ahead, smaller releases follow closer to the date, and each visitor's details and ID are needed to book.

Our Ranthambore tiger safari adds a private naturalist and a private vehicle and driver to and from the gate, with the Gypsy permit for your zone and slot; we book Gypsies wherever they are available. Other wildlife trips here are on our wildlife safaris in Ranthambore page.

Away from the forest, give a morning to the fort and its temple, look for winter birds at Soorwal Lake and see the crafts at Shilpgram. Rajasthan Tourism counts more than 300 bird species in the park, so birdwatchers get plenty from the safaris too.

Rajasthan Tourism gives the park's season as October to June, and the reserve's booking site sells safaris for those months.

• October to February: the booking site calls winter the most popular season, with pleasant weather and misty mornings. Dawn in an open vehicle is cold: IMD's averages for Kota, 134–145 km away, and for Jaipur put January nights at about 11°C and 8°C.
• March to June: the booking site calls summer the best window for tiger sightings, as animals gather at the waterholes. It is also hot, with May days averaging about 43°C at Kota and 41°C at Jaipur.
• July to September: these monsoon months fall outside the season Rajasthan Tourism gives, and Kota averages nearly 300 mm of rain in July alone. Do not plan a trip around a safari in these months without checking with us first.

Winter also brings migratory birds to Soorwal Lake. To plan the rest of the state around the park, see our Rajasthan travel guide.