What's on in Ranthambore (Sawai Madhopur), India through the year

Peak crowds — Winter safari season, Winter break in India

• Rule

  Safari permits and zone lottery

  1 Jan – 31 DecBook early

  Every drive is a permit, sold online by the forest department, and the zone is allotted rather than chosen — you cannot buy your way into the good ones. Book the moment the window opens. Source ↗

Still on: Winter safari season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)

Busy — Winter safari season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter safari season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Summer waterhole season

  1 Apr – 30 JunDry seasonRisk

  The cover thins, the smaller pools dry, and everything in the park comes to the same few lakes — far and away the best odds on a tiger. It is also the hardest three months to sit through in an open jeep.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

• Hazard

  Pre-monsoon heat

  1 May – 25 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  Afternoon drives in May and June are genuinely punishing in an open canter, and the park runs them anyway because that is when the animals show. Take more water than you think and cover your head. Source ↗

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer waterhole season (1 Apr – 30 Jun)

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Summer waterhole season (1 Apr – 30 Jun), Pre-monsoon heat (1 May – 25 Jun (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Closure

  Core zones closed for the monsoon

  1 Jul – 30 Sep

  Zones 1 to 5, the core of the park, shut on 1 July for the breeding season and the rain. Buffer zones 6 to 10 keep running, so a trip in these months is possible but a long way from the same thing. Source ↗

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Ganesh mela at the fort, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Ganesh mela at the fort

  15 Aug – 20 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  The Trinetra Ganesh temple inside the hill fort draws a fair of several hundred thousand over a few days at Ganesh Chaturthi. The fort road is walkable in the monsoon even while the core zones are shut. Source ↗

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Core zones closed for the monsoon (1 Jul – 30 Sep)

Busy — Ganesh mela at the fort, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Core zones closed for the monsoon (1 Jul – 30 Sep), Ganesh mela at the fort (15 Aug – 20 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Opening

  All ten zones reopen

  1–20 OctDry seasonBook early

  The core reopens on 1 October into grass shoulder-high from the rain, which is beautiful and terrible for sightings. Permits for the first fortnight go the day they are released. Source ↗

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Busy — Winter safari season

• Season

  Winter safari season

  1 Nov – 28 FebDry seasonCrowded

  The comfortable months and therefore the full ones: lodges booked out, permits gone weeks ahead. Morning drives leave in the dark and the open jeep at six is colder than anyone packs for.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec)

Peak crowds — Winter safari season, Winter break in India

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Safari permits and zone lottery (1 Jan – 31 Dec), Winter safari season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)