Best Time to Visit Rajasthan: Month-by-Month Weather and Festivals

Short answer: The best time to visit Rajasthan is October to March, when Jaipur days average 22–34°C and nights are cool. November and February are the sweet spot: pleasant weather, the Pushkar Mela (17–25 November 2026) and the Jaisalmer Desert Festival (tentatively 18–20 February 2027), and fewer crowds than the Christmas–New Year rush. April to June is very hot (40°C+), and July to September is the monsoon, which is actually a good value season for Udaipur and Mount Abu.

What is the best time to visit Rajasthan overall?

October to March is the season, and within it we steer most of our guests to November or February. Both months give you dry, sunny days of 25–29°C in Jaipur, cool evenings that make the rooftop restaurants in Jodhpur and Udaipur pleasant, and desert nights in Jaisalmer that are cold enough for a bonfire but not so cold that a tented camp becomes a test of endurance.

December and January are also excellent, and they are when most Indian families travel because of school holidays. The trade-off is price and crowds. Between 20 December and 5 January, hotels in Jaipur, Udaipur and Jaisalmer run at their highest rates of the year, and the Sam dunes camps near Jaisalmer are often sold out on New Year’s Eve weeks in advance. If your dates are flexible, shift a week either side and you will pay noticeably less for the same rooms.

Rajasthan is a big state, so the answer also depends on where you are going: the desert belt (Jaisalmer, Bikaner, Jodhpur) has a shorter comfortable window than the Aravalli belt (Udaipur, Mount Abu, Kumbhalgarh), which stays bearable into April and is beautiful in the monsoon. We cover the city-wise picks in our Rajasthan tourist places guide.

Rajasthan weather month by month

The figures below are long-term monthly averages for Jaipur (Weather2Travel climate tables, checked 30 October 2026). Jaisalmer and Bikaner run about 2–3°C hotter by day and colder by night; Udaipur and Mount Abu run 2–5°C cooler. Treat them as a guide, not a forecast.

Which festivals and fairs should you plan around?

Rajasthan’s fairs follow the lunar calendar, so the dates move every year. These are the ones our guests most often ask about for the 2026-27 season. Where the state tourism department has not yet published a programme, we have marked the dates tentative.

Festival dates for Pushkar and the Desert Festival are from Rajasthan Tourism’s past programme pattern as compiled by festival listings and cab operators; the official day-by-day programme for 2026-27 had not been published when we checked on 30 October 2026, so confirm before booking a non-refundable camp. For a wider list of Indian festival dates next year, see our India festival calendar 2027.

When is Rajasthan most crowded and expensive?

Three windows push prices up. The first is the Diwali week in early November, when Jaipur fills with families from Delhi and Gujarat. The second, and by far the biggest, is 20 December to 5 January, when school holidays, Christmas and New Year coincide; our own Himachal pricing moves about 25% for the same reason, and Rajasthan hotels behave similarly or worse. The third is the Holi weekend in March, mainly in Jaipur and Pushkar.

Weekends matter too. Jaipur is a weekend city for Delhi (about 270–280 km away, 4–5 hours by road), and Udaipur is a weekend city for Ahmedabad and Mumbai flights, so Saturday nights are costlier than Tuesdays all season. If you are planning two days in Jaipur, try to make them weekdays.

In our experience the cheapest decent weeks in the cool season are the last week of November (after Pushkar) and the second half of January (after the school holidays end, before the Desert Festival). Hotels are open, the weather is good, and monuments are quieter.

Is Rajasthan worth visiting in summer (April to June)?

For most people, no. Jaipur averages 36°C in April and 40°C in May, and Jaisalmer and Bikaner go higher, with hot, dusty ‘loo’ winds in the afternoon. Many Sam dunes camps close from April to September, and camel safaris are unpleasant after 09:00.

There are two exceptions. Mount Abu, at about 1,200 m, is Rajasthan’s only hill station and stays around 30–33°C by day in May; it is busiest with Gujarati families at exactly this time. And if you are travelling anyway, a summer visit to Jaipur or Udaipur is workable if you sightsee from 07:00 to 10:30, rest through the afternoon, and go out again after 17:00. Hotels discount heavily, and heritage properties with pools make sense. We would still choose Udaipur over the desert cities; our Udaipur 3-day plan is built around morning and evening slots for this reason.

What is the monsoon like in Rajasthan (July to September)?

Rajasthan gets far less rain than the rest of India; Jaipur averages about 210 mm in July and 225 mm in August, which is a third of what Mumbai gets in a single month. The desert west gets even less. What you get instead is a transformation: the Aravalli hills around Udaipur and Kumbhalgarh turn green, Lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar fill up, and the waterfalls at Mount Abu and near Bundi run.

The downsides are humidity, occasional heavy downpours that flood low roads for a few hours, and a muddy camel-safari season that most camps simply skip. The upsides are hotel rates that can be a fraction of December’s, empty forts, and the Teej celebrations in Jaipur. Monsoon is a good time for the Udaipur–Kumbhalgarh–Ranakpur–Mount Abu circuit covered in our Udaipur Mount Abu tour package guide, and a poor time for Jaisalmer.

Which month suits which Rajasthan city?

• Jaisalmer and Bikaner (desert): mid-November to mid-February. Camps at Sam and Khuri operate roughly October to March. Late December nights can fall near 5°C, so carry a proper jacket. Our Jaisalmer in December guide covers what the peak month is really like, and our Jaisalmer 3-day plan covers the fort, dunes and border loop.
• Jodhpur: October to March. Mehrangarh is open 09:00–17:00 daily (fort website figures as quoted by travel listings, checked 30 Oct 2026); go at opening before the heat and the tour groups.
• Jaipur: October to March, with November and February the most pleasant. Amer Fort is best before 10:00 in any month.
• Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur: September to March, plus the monsoon for scenery. Udaipur is 2–4°C cooler than Jaipur in summer but still hot in May.
• Mount Abu: year-round; coolest November to February (nights can touch 5°C or lower), busiest in May–June and Diwali.
• Ranthambore: core zones open 1 October to 30 June; sightings are easiest in April–May. See our Golden Triangle with Ranthambore guide.
• Pushkar and Ajmer: November for the fair, otherwise October to March. Our Ajmer and Pushkar guide lists the places.

How does the season affect getting there?

From Delhi, the 12015 Ajmer Shatabdi (New Delhi 06:10 → Jaipur 10:35, daily) and the 26482 Vande Bharat (Delhi Cantt 15:10 → Jaipur 19:00 → Jodhpur 23:20, not Tuesdays) are the workhorses; both sell out a week or more ahead in December and around festivals (ConfirmTkt and RailYatri timetables, checked 30 October 2026). Overnight trains to Udaipur (12963 Mewar Express, Nizamuddin 18:25 → Udaipur 07:30) and Jaisalmer (14087 Runicha Express, Old Delhi 08:55 → Jaisalmer 01:30 next day) are comfortable in winter but hot in AC-less classes from April. Our guide to Indian train classes explains the difference between 3A, 2A and CC.

Fog is the one seasonal hazard on the Delhi side: from roughly 25 December to 15 January, early-morning trains and flights from Delhi can run an hour or more late, so build in slack or fly direct to Jaipur, Jodhpur or Udaipur from the metros. Our Rajasthan tour packages from Delhi guide compares the routes.

Frequently asked questions

Which is the best month to visit Rajasthan?

November and February are the best months. Jaipur averages 25–29°C by day and 10–13°C at night, the skies are dry, and the Pushkar Mela (17–25 November 2026) and the Jaisalmer Desert Festival (about 18–20 February 2027) fall in these months. December and January are equally pleasant but busier and costlier, especially 20 December to 5 January.

Is December a good time to visit Rajasthan?

Yes, December is one of the most popular months: sunny days of about 24°C in Jaipur and cold nights near 8°C, colder in Jaisalmer. The catch is price and crowds from 20 December to 5 January, when hotels and desert camps charge their highest rates. Travel in the first three weeks of December for the same weather at lower cost.

Can I visit Rajasthan in summer?

You can, but only Mount Abu is comfortable. Jaipur averages 36°C in April and 40°C in May, and the desert cities are hotter with dusty winds. If you must travel in summer, choose Udaipur or Mount Abu, sightsee before 10:30 and after 17:00, and pick a hotel with a pool. Many Sam dunes camps close between April and September.

What is Rajasthan like in the monsoon?

Rajasthan gets light monsoon rain compared with the rest of India, about 210–225 mm a month in Jaipur in July and August. The Aravalli hills around Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh and Mount Abu turn green and the lakes fill, hotel rates fall sharply, and the Teej festival is celebrated in Jaipur. It is humid, and a poor time for Jaisalmer camel safaris.

When is the Pushkar Mela in 2026?

The Pushkar Mela runs from 17 to 25 November 2026, with the holy dip on Kartik Purnima, 24 November 2026. Livestock trading peaks in the first few days and the cultural programme with camel races and competitions is in the last four. Book Pushkar or Ajmer hotels two to three months ahead, as the town is small and fills completely.

When does it get cold in Rajasthan?

Nights turn cold from the second week of December through January. Jaipur averages 7–8°C at night in December and January, and Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Mount Abu often fall to about 5°C or lower. Days remain warm and sunny at 22–24°C, so you need a jacket for mornings, evenings and desert camps, but light clothing for afternoon sightseeing.