Jaipur to Jaisalmer?
 

What is the best way to travel from Jaipur to Jaisalmer?

There are buses going from anywhere to everywhere in India, and they are unbelievably cheap, so that's always one option; however, we travelled from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, and then back from Jaisalmer to Jaipur, by train, and we couldn't have been happier. For Jaisalmer-Jaipur we got the overnight express, travelling in class 3AC, which is economical and comfortable (if there are two of you, ask, when you book, for "side upper" and "side lower", and you get, effectively, second-class conditions for third-class prices).

There's a good rail map of India on this site: http://www.indianrail.gov.in/testmap.html. Alkso, if you want to know anything at all about the Indian trains system, this site explains all:http://www.seat61.com/India.htm.

I guess you could also hire a car and driver, but we never found any fault with the trains. You can't (as I am sure you know) fly into Jaisalmer, as the airport has been taken over by the military.

We took the daytime trains--the trip took about 6 hours. We bought our tickets through the travel desk at the hotel and there was no problem getting them the day before traveling. Jaisalmer was one of my favorite stops in India.

Alan & Jane thanks for the information! There are 3 of us traveling. Me, my wife and our 7 year old son. Can we book a compartment for just the 3 of us on the longer distance trains?

I don't think so, Kenstee, but I wouldn't like to speak authoritatively about this; the Seat61 site I gave you will be more accurate than I will be! I know there are 1st class a/c cabins for two people, and 2nd class a/c cabins for four people, and 3rd class a/c cabins for six people, but I've never heard of a three-berther. You may well find that if you book three berths out of a 2nd-class four-berther that you had the cabin to yourself, anyway; My wife and I made one trip like this is a six-berther; no one else wanted to sleep with us! If you're starting in Delhi, you could go to the foreign tourist office at the railway station there and tell them your dilemma.... maybe he can recommend a "quiet" train where seats are often unused.

Thanks Alan!

There is a website called indiamike.com and it has loads of information on train travel in India. It's where I got most of my train information before going to India in Jan-Feb. We traveled on the train from Jodphur to Jaisalmer and back, from Jaipur to Agra, and from Agra to Varnasi. There were NO 1st class trains (where you could have a private compartment) available on any of these trips. All of our trips were daytime except for Agra to Varnasi. From J to J, it was a coach car. From Jaipur to Agra, we were in a compartment with 4 seats facing each other. The 2 persons sharing our compartment were a British doctor and his wife who had been working in Sri Lanka. From Agra to Varnasi on the night train, we were in a 4 person compartment with 2 uppers and 2 lowers--very dirty, and we had to "tip" for our sheets and blankets. But-- after all, it was an Indian "experience" and we survived!!
The hotels can manage to get a train ticket for you even when "sold out" at the train stations. You just pay a little extra. :)

Jane's recommendation to look at www.indiamike is absolutely wonderful; I couldn't have planned my trip without them, especially their train "guru", Steven Ber, who was extremely knowledgeable and untiring in his efforts to help. Another site worth looking at is http://www.indianrail.gov.in/, the official train site. If you hit "trains between important stations" and then (after you've chosen your two stations)"all classes", you will see a list of all major trains and what they offer. You can even find prices, and there's a link to book on-line! Remember, with cities like Agra, there is more than one station, and you must do a separate search for each one (I think, for instance, that trains between Agra and Jodhpur go from Agra Fort Station, yet trains from Agra to Delhi use Agra Cantt station).