Keoladeo Birding Extension: Bharatpur (2N/3D)
From $250£190€220A$350C$350
Prices are per person, twin share, private departure, and are rounded. They are estimates and vary with the accommodation you choose and the season. Contact us for a final price.
This extension can be added before or after any of our journeys through northern India, and every element can be tailored. Speak to our safari specialists and they will design a fully bespoke stay around a family adventure, a keen birder's target list or a serious wildlife photography expedition.
About This Keoladeo Birding Tour
This Keoladeo bird sanctuary tour adds two days at one of the world's great wetlands to your journey through northern India. Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was once the duck-shooting reserve of the Maharajas of Bharatpur. Today its shallow lakes, marshes and woodland are a haven for more than 350 species of birds, from towering sarus cranes and nesting painted storks to great flocks of ducks and geese that arrive each winter from Central Asia and beyond.
You choose between two stays in Bharatpur: Laxmi Vilas Palace, a former royal residence of the Jat rulers of Bharatpur, still home to the family, with gilded halls, courtyards and a pool set in wide lawns, just 2 km from the sanctuary, or Amritara Chandra Mahal Haveli, a restored nineteenth-century haveli in the village of Peharsar, about 25 km from Bharatpur town. With an expert birding naturalist, you explore the park's raised paths on foot, by bicycle or in a cycle rickshaw driven by a local guide trained in birdwatching. Bharatpur lies only an hour from Agra, so the extension fits easily before or after the Taj Mahal, Jaipur or Ranthambore, with chauffeur-driven private SUVs making every transfer effortless.
This is travel that gives back. Keoladeo's licensed rickshaw guides earn their living from the park's birds, and your park fees help protect this fragile wetland. Each journey contributes to TOFTigers, winner of a Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award in 2025. The best time to travel is October to March, and every departure is private and bespoke, curated around your dates and interests.
Destinations Covered
Bharatpur and Keoladeo National Park (2 nights), reached from Agra in about an hour, or from Jaipur or Delhi in about four hours.
What You Will Experience
- Keoladeo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's finest bird sanctuaries.
- Sarus cranes, painted storks and pelicans on the wetlands, with thousands of migrant ducks and geese in winter.
- Owls, raptors and the Indian rock python along the park's quieter woodland trails.
- Cycle rickshaw rides with local guides who know every roost and nest in the park.
- Laxmi Vilas Palace, a former royal residence of the Bharatpur family, just 2 km from the sanctuary, or Amritara Chandra Mahal Haveli, a restored haveli in the village of Peharsar, if you prefer.
- An easy addition to the Taj Mahal, Jaipur or Ranthambore.
Design your journey with a safari specialist
Every journey is private, bespoke and curated around you: share a few details and one of our safari specialists will be in touch within 24 hours.
Thank you
Your enquiry is with our safari specialists, who will be in touch within 24 hours to begin shaping your bespoke, curated journey.
Keoladeo Birding Itinerary: Day by Day
Safaris included: three guided birding safaris in Keoladeo with an expert naturalist, one a day: Day 1 in the late afternoon, Day 2 at dawn and Day 3 for an early walk, on foot, by bicycle or by cycle rickshaw. If time allows during the day and park tickets are available, we can add further outings at an additional cost.
Day 1: Arrival in Bharatpur
Drive: about 1 hour from Agra (55 km), or about 4 hours from Jaipur or Delhi
Drive: about 1 hour from Agra (55 km), or about 4 hours from Jaipur or Delhi. Your chauffeur collects you in Agra, Jaipur or Delhi and drives you to Bharatpur. In the late afternoon, your birding naturalist takes you into Keoladeo for a first look at the wetlands as the light turns gold and the cranes call across the water.
Day 2: Keoladeo National Park
A full day in the park. Set out at dawn along the raised paths that divide the wetlands, on foot, by bicycle or in a cycle rickshaw with a local guide. Sarus cranes stride through the shallows, painted storks and spoonbills feed in the marshes, and in winter bar-headed geese, pelicans and many kinds of duck crowd the open water. In the woodland, look for dusky eagle-owls, spotted owlets and the Indian rock python at Python Point. Return to your hotel for a quiet afternoon by the pool.
Day 3: Departure from Bharatpur
Drive: about 1 hour to Agra, or about 4 hours to Jaipur or Delhi
Drive: about 1 hour to Agra, or about 4 hours to Jaipur or Delhi. Enjoy a last early walk in the park for any species still on your list, then continue to Agra, Jaipur, Ranthambore or Delhi.
A note from our planners: Keoladeo's wetlands depend on the monsoon, and water levels vary from year to year. Bicycles and cycle rickshaws are the main way to explore, as motor vehicles are not allowed beyond the entrance, and we arrange the best guides in advance.
Where You Stay
Both hotels for this extension are listed below, each with a label that describes its style. You may choose either, and our safari specialists will gladly arrange a stay that is not on this list. Both properties are handpicked and have been used by us over many years.
Bharatpur (Days 1 and 2)
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Laxmi Vilas Palace (Heritage).
A palace that was for almost a century the focus of the princely state of Bharatpur, and has been a hotel since 1994. Its 30 rooms keep a Raj-era character, and it has a courtyard, a pool and an organic farm that supplies the kitchen. It stands just 2 km from the sanctuary.
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Amritara Chandra Mahal Haveli (Heritage).
A haveli with origins in the 1840s, in the village of Peharsar, about 25 km from Bharatpur town. It has eleven rooms around a courtyard with a blue pool, with suites that have private terraces, and a quiet, rural setting.
Prices
| Two guests sharing, per person | $250£190€220A$350C$350 |
|---|---|
| Two guests sharing, total for two | $500£380€440A$700C$700 |
| Solo traveller | $410£310€370A$580C$580 |
| Single supplement | $160£120€150A$230C$230 |
Estimated prices, per person, based on two guests sharing one room, one safari vehicle and one car. A solo traveller pays the per-person price plus the single supplement. Prices vary with the accommodation you choose and the season, and are rounded. Contact us for a final price. See what is included
Tailored Leisure & In-Lodge Experiences
- Cycling the Bunds: ride the quiet paths of Keoladeo at your own pace, stopping wherever the birds hold you.
- Palace Heritage Tour: explore the halls and courtyards of Laxmi Vilas Palace (for guests staying there) and hear the story of Bharatpur's Jat kings.
- Lohagarh Fort: visit the "iron fort" of Bharatpur, which famously withstood a long British siege.
Something Else in Mind? Our safari specialists can arrange any activity you would like, depending on the destination and your accommodation, such as an extra dawn session for owls and raptors, a morning photographing cranes from a quiet bund, or a session with your naturalist learning to identify birds by their calls.
Popular Fauna
- Mammals: nilgai, sambar, golden jackal and smooth-coated otter
- Reptiles: Indian rock python
- Birds: sarus crane, painted stork, black-necked stork, bar-headed goose, great white pelican, dusky eagle-owl and spotted owlet
Sightings vary by season and are never guaranteed.
Birds of Keoladeo National Park: Species Checklist
More than 350 bird species have been recorded at Keoladeo. These are among those our naturalists see most often, with the wetlands at their richest from October to March.
- Cranes, storks and ibises: Sarus Crane, Common Crane, Painted Stork, Black-necked Stork, Woolly-necked Stork, Asian Openbill, Eurasian Spoonbill, Black-headed Ibis, Glossy Ibis, Red-naped Ibis
- Pelicans, cormorants and herons: Great White Pelican, Oriental Darter, Great Cormorant, Indian Cormorant, Little Cormorant, Grey Heron, Purple Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Indian Pond Heron, Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Cattle Egret, Yellow Bittern
- Ducks and geese: Bar-headed Goose, Greylag Goose, Knob-billed Duck, Lesser Whistling Duck, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Ruddy Shelduck, Indian Spot-billed Duck, Gadwall, Eurasian Wigeon, Northern Shoveler, Northern Pintail, Common Teal, Garganey, Common Pochard, Ferruginous Duck, Tufted Duck
- Rails, jacanas and waders: Grey-headed Swamphen, Common Moorhen, White-breasted Waterhen, Bronze-winged Jacana, Pheasant-tailed Jacana, Black-winged Stilt, Red-wattled Lapwing, White-tailed Lapwing, Common Snipe, Wood Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper
- Raptors: Greater Spotted Eagle, Indian Spotted Eagle, Eastern Imperial Eagle, Booted Eagle, Western Marsh Harrier, Osprey, Black-winged Kite, Shikra, Crested Serpent Eagle
- Owls: Dusky Eagle-Owl, Spotted Owlet, Indian Scops Owl, Collared Scops Owl
- Kingfishers and bee-eaters: Pied Kingfisher, White-throated Kingfisher, Common Kingfisher, Green Bee-eater
- Woodland and scrub birds: Indian Peafowl, Black Francolin, Grey Francolin, Indian Grey Hornbill, Coppersmith Barbet, Brown-headed Barbet, Black-rumped Flameback, Rose-ringed Parakeet, Yellow-footed Green Pigeon, Greater Coucal, Asian Koel, Indian Roller
- Winter visitors among the reeds and trees: Bluethroat, Black Redstart, Siberian Stonechat, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Citrine Wagtail, Western Yellow Wagtail, Common Chiffchaff
National Parks & Wildlife Reserves
- Keoladeo National Park: a compact wetland of about 29 sq km at Bharatpur in eastern Rajasthan, once the duck-shooting reserve of the Maharajas of Bharatpur. More than 350 bird species have been recorded within its marshes, lakes and woodland.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites
- Keoladeo National Park: inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 1985, one of the world's great wetland bird sanctuaries.
Inclusions & Exclusions
Included
- Two nights at Laxmi Vilas Palace or Amritara Chandra Mahal Haveli, as you choose, with all meals included
- All transfers in comfortable, chauffeur-driven private SUVs from Agra, Jaipur or Delhi
- Three guided birding safaris in Keoladeo, one a day, with an expert birding naturalist, and licensed cycle rickshaw guides
- All park entry fees, permits and conservation levies
Not included: international flights, visa fees, travel insurance, personal gratuities, premium alcoholic beverages, camera fees, additional safaris beyond those listed (arranged on request, subject to park ticket availability), and experiences marked “on request”.
Keoladeo Birding Extension FAQs
When is the best time to visit Keoladeo National Park?
October to March is best, when migrant waterfowl, cranes and pelicans fill the wetlands. From July to September, the park's heronries come alive with nesting painted storks, egrets and herons.
What birds will I see at Keoladeo?
Sarus cranes, painted storks, spoonbills, pelicans, owls and many species of duck and geese are seen on most winter visits. More than 350 species have been recorded here, so even experienced birders find something new, though wild birds can never be guaranteed.
How do I get to Bharatpur?
Bharatpur is about an hour by road from Agra and around four hours from Jaipur or Delhi. It fits easily between the Taj Mahal and Jaipur or Ranthambore on any journey through northern India.
Is this birding extension suitable for families and beginners?
Yes. The paths are flat, the cycle rickshaw rides are gentle, and our naturalists tailor each outing to your interest, whether you are a keen birder or simply enjoy watching wildlife.
How do I book the Keoladeo Birding Extension?
Speak with our safari specialists, who will add this extension to your journey and curate it around your dates and interests. Every journey is private and bespoke.