Luxury Royal Trains to Experience Incredible India

5. Royal Orient

Royal Orient
Royal Orient

Royal Orient is one of the most lavish, luxurious, prestigious, fascinating, enchanting, exotic and opulent trains in the world. The highlight of the train is its royal richness, providing an opportunity to feel and taste the era of royal culture. It is an Indian luxury tourism train that runs between India’s most bewitching, culturally fascinating and vibrant states of Gujarat and Rajasthan which offers you an opportunity to catch the glimpses of the life, traditions, customs, arts, cuisines, festivals and architectures of these places. Started as a joint venture by the Indian Railways and Tourism Corporation of Gujarat in 1994-1995, it is modelled on the Palace on Wheels and is functional from September to April on every Wednesday.

It embarks from Delhi Cantonment and travels through Chittorgarh, Udaipur, Junagarh, Veraval, Sesangir, Dilwara, Ahmedpur Mandovi, Diu, Mehsana, Palitana, Ranakpur, Sarkhej, Ahmedabad, Somnath, Sasan Gir National Park, Jaipur and then back to Delhi. The journey also offers a melange of sightseeing and desert safaris with music and dance programmes (Dandiya and Garba) to make the experience truly memorable. There is a multicuisine restaurant, bar and a library on board to keep busy in between its stops. The tour package is of 7nights/ 8 days.

There are other Royal Trains too, such as:

Royal Rajasthan on Wheels: It is a luxury tourist train run by Indian Railways. It is modelled on the Palace on Wheels, was launched in January 2009, and follows a similar route through Rajasthan. The train takes tourists on a 7-day/8-night tour through Rajasthan. It covers places like Delhi, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Chittorgarh, Ranthambore, Jaipur, Khujaraho, Varanasi, and Agra.

Fairy Queen: Also known as the East Indian Railway Nr. 22, it is an 1855-built steam locomotive, which was restored by Loco Works Perambur, Chennai in 1997 and has been housed at the Rewari Railway Heritage Museum. It occasionally runs between New Delhi and Alwar in Rajasthan and the passengers have an overnight stay at the Sariska Tiger Reserve. In 1998, it was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest steam locomotive in regular service. The tourist train launched in 1982, and in 1999 was awarded a National Tourism Award.

Go ahead and take the journey of a lifetime. As famous Moroccan traveller – Ibn Battuta said, “Travelling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.” Bon voyage!

Related Links:

Longest Train Journeys in India

The Maharajas’ Express