The official Forest Department route explained honestly, every quota and release time, the mistakes that cost people their seat, and how booking through us works.
Ranthambore Tiger books safari permits in your name — we are not the Rajasthan Forest Department and not the official park booking website.
Reply in 2 min · 7am–10pm · pay only after we confirm
Phone optional here · we reply by email, usually within the hour (7am–10pm)
Short answer: to book a Ranthambore safari online, use the Rajasthan Forest Department’s official portal, booking.forestrajasthan.com. Pick the date, the shift (morning or afternoon) and the vehicle (a seat in a 6-seat gypsy or a 20-seat canter), enter every guest’s name, age, gender and photo ID exactly as printed on the ID, pay online, and save the permit. Advance seats for January to March opened at 12 noon on 1 November; when a date shows sold out, seats are still released daily at 10:00 am (current quota) and 11:00 am (tatkal). If you would rather not do it yourself, send us the date and we book the permit in your name.
Last checked 2 November 2026 against the Forest Department’s booking calendar and our own bookings. Portal screens and fees change; what the portal shows at checkout is what counts.
Our guests in a zone 5 gypsy this season. The zone number is painted on the vehicle and printed on the permit.
There are only two real ways to get a Ranthambore safari permit, and both end with the same document: a Forest Department permit for one seat, in one zone, on one shift, with your name and ID number on it. No one sells tickets at the gate, and no private website can issue a permit by itself.
| Official portal, yourself | Through a booking service such as us | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | booking.forestrajasthan.com | WhatsApp, phone or our Ranthambore safari booking form |
| Cost | Department fee only: about ₹990 for an Indian canter seat, about ₹1,610 for an Indian gypsy seat (advance quota) | All-in price: canter seats from ₹2,200, gypsy seats from ₹5,500 at short notice |
| Best when | Your date shows seats, it is more than a week away, and you are comfortable entering every guest’s ID yourself | The date shows sold out, it is close, you need a whole gypsy, or you want someone to call in English or Hindi |
| Payment | Online on the portal at the moment of booking | We confirm availability before you pay |
| If it fails | Follow the portal’s own support and retrieval route | Full refund if the permit cannot be issued (tatkal is non-refundable once issued) |
We say this plainly on every page: booking direct is cheaper. If your date is open and you are happy with the portal, book it yourself with the steps below. Our honest comparison of the official site and booking with us has the full fee breakdown.
Most failed bookings fail before the payment screen, because one guest’s details are missing or wrong. Have all of this ready before you open the portal, because popular seats go in minutes at release time.
Got a date in mind? Send it on WhatsApp. We check live seats and reply in minutes, 7am–10pm.
Check my date on WhatsAppThese are the steps on the official portal as they work this season. The screens change from time to time, so read the labels on your screen rather than looking for an exact button.
A canter on a forest track. Canter seats are the ones most often still available when gypsy seats are gone.
Every Ranthambore permit belongs to one of four quotas, each released at a fixed time. Knowing which one your date falls into is the single most useful thing in this guide. All times are Indian Standard Time.
| Quota | Visit dates it sells | Opens | Vehicles |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advance | October–December January–March April–June | 12 noon on 1 August 12 noon on 1 November 12 noon on 1 February then daily while seats last | Gypsy seats, canter seats, whole gypsies |
| Current | Today’s afternoon drive and tomorrow’s morning drive | Daily at 10:00 am | Mostly canter seats |
| Tatkal | The date 7 days ahead | Daily at 11:00 am | Whole gypsy only, minimum 6 guests |
| Premium tatkal | The date 3 days ahead | Daily at 10:00 am and 6:00 pm | Cancelled seats only |
Source: the Forest Department’s booking calendar. One-screen version on our Ranthambore safari booking times page. The portal pauses sales for a few minutes before each release.
Two calendar facts change your odds. Zones 1 to 5 do not run on Wednesdays and zones 6 to 10 do not run on Tuesdays, so a Tuesday or Wednesday date has roughly half the seats. And zones 1 to 5 close for the monsoon from 1 July to 30 September; only zones 6 to 10 run then.
“Sold out” on the portal almost always means the advance quota for that date is gone. For November to February weekends, Diwali and Christmas to New Year, that happens within days of the block opening. It does not mean the date is closed: current, tatkal and premium tatkal seats are still released in the days before. That is exactly the gap a booking service works in. Our guide Ranthambore safari sold out? What to do goes through each route by how far away your date is.
| Mistake | What happens | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Name or ID number typed differently from the ID | The guest can be refused at the gate | Copy names and numbers from the ID itself, not from memory |
| Carrying a photo of the ID, or a different ID | Not accepted at the gate | Carry the original of the exact ID used on the permit |
| Booking on a look-alike site | You pay a reseller, sometimes with no permit behind it | Type booking.forestrajasthan.com yourself, or use a registered service you can verify |
| Starting the form at 10:00 am | Seats in popular zones go in the first minutes | Log in early with all guest details ready |
| Booking a Wednesday for zones 1–5, or a Tuesday for zones 6–10 | Those zones do not run that day | Check the weekday before you pick a zone |
| Paying twice after a failed payment | Two charges, one permit, a slow refund | Use the portal’s retrieval or support route first |
| Arriving by the morning train for a morning safari | The gypsy leaves before the train arrives | Arrive the evening before; see how to reach Ranthambore |
Stuck on the portal, or your date shows sold out? Send it to us on WhatsApp and we check live seats for you, or use the online Ranthambore safari booking form.
Sold out online? Ask us. We book from the daily current and tatkal quotas, and you pay only after we confirm availability, with a full refund if the permit can’t be issued.
Check my date on WhatsAppA 20-seat open bus. Cheapest, easiest to get, and the seat most often still available a day or two before. Good for families and first visits. The view is higher but you share it with more people.
One seat in a 6-seat open jeep. Quieter, lower, more agile on narrow tracks. Advance gypsy seats go first; at short notice a gypsy seat comes from the premium quota.
All six seats for your group. On the advance quota it is the cheapest per person for six; at short notice it comes from tatkal (7 days ahead, non-refundable once issued) or the premium quota.
Both vehicles go to the same zones and see the same animals; what differs is comfort, noise and how many people share the sighting. Our jeep vs canter guide and canter safari page go deeper.
Ranthambore has ten safari zones. Zones 1 to 5 are the core zones around the lakes and the fort; zones 6 to 10 are larger, quieter and often good for sightings too. On the portal you choose from the zones still showing seats. Through any agent, you can request a zone, but the department’s system decides, and nobody can guarantee a zone or a tiger. Our zone-by-zone guide explains what each one is like.
A tiger on the track ahead of our guests’ gypsy this season. Sightings are never guaranteed, in any zone or vehicle.
| Seat (Indian nationals) | Our all-in price | When |
|---|---|---|
| Canter seat, current quota | from ₹2,200 per person | Released 10:00 am the day before |
| Premium canter seat | from ₹3,200 per person | Released 3 days before |
| Shared gypsy seat, premium quota | from ₹5,500 per person | Released 3 days before; full refund if not issued |
| Whole gypsy, tatkal (6 seats) | from ₹36,000 per vehicle | 11:00 am, 7 days before; non-refundable once issued |
| Advance canter / gypsy seat | ₹1,700 / ₹2,500 per person | Sold out on most dates to 31 January; February–March opened 1 November |
Prices are for zones 6–10; core zones 1–5 cost more. Foreign nationals pay the department’s higher fee: canter from ₹4,500, gypsy seat from ₹8,000. On festive dates (5–15 November, 20 December–2 January) a canter seat is a flat ₹3,500, a whole gypsy ₹2,000 more and gypsy seats 20–30% more. Every price is on our Ranthambore safari price table.
Refunds: if a permit cannot be issued after you have paid us, you get a full refund. A tatkal permit is non-refundable once issued, through any channel. Same-day safaris are booked by phone only: call +91 84400 22066.
Ranthambore Tiger is a private booking service, not the Forest Department. We are registered with Udyam and with the Ministry of Tourism (NIDHI ID ERJ000569); see who we are.
| Check | Done? |
|---|---|
| The site is booking.forestrajasthan.com, or a registered service you have verified | ☐ |
| Date, shift and weekday are right (no zones 1–5 on Wednesday, no zones 6–10 on Tuesday) | ☐ |
| Every guest, including children who take a seat, is entered | ☐ |
| Names, ages and ID numbers match the IDs exactly | ☐ |
| Each guest will carry that original ID | ☐ |
| You have read the cancellation terms | ☐ |
| You arrive in Sawai Madhopur the evening before a morning drive | ☐ |
| The permit is saved offline | ☐ |
Use the official Rajasthan Forest Department portal, booking.forestrajasthan.com: choose the date, shift and vehicle, enter every guest’s name, age, gender and photo ID exactly as on the ID, pay online and save the permit. If your date shows sold out or you would rather not do it yourself, a booking service such as Ranthambore Tiger can book the permit in your name.
booking.forestrajasthan.com, run for the Rajasthan Forest Department. Many private sites use words like official, forest or tiger reserve in their names; type the address yourself. Ranthambore Tiger is a private booking service, not the official site.
Advance seats are released in blocks: at 12 noon on 1 August for October to December, 1 November for January to March and 1 February for April to June. After that, current seats open at 10:00 am for the next day, tatkal whole gypsies at 11:00 am for the date seven days ahead, and premium tatkal at 10:00 am and 6:00 pm for the date three days ahead.
One original government photo ID per guest, the same one entered on the permit. Indian nationals can use Aadhaar, passport, voter ID, PAN card or driving licence; foreign nationals use their passport. Photocopies and phone photos are not accepted at the gate.
No. Permits are sold online by date, shift and zone. For today or tomorrow, the route is the current quota released at 10:00 am, mostly canter seats; same-day bookings through us are by phone only on +91 84400 22066.
On the portal you can pick from the zones still showing seats for your date and shift. Through an agent you can request a zone, but the Forest Department’s system allocates it, and nobody can guarantee a zone or a sighting.
Treat a confirmed permit as non-refundable and read the cancellation terms on the portal before paying. Through us, if a permit cannot be issued after you have paid, you get a full refund; a tatkal permit is non-refundable once issued.
If your date is open, the steps above are all you need. If it shows sold out, is less than a week away, or you simply want someone to handle it, send us the date: we check live seats and reply in minutes, 7 am to 10 pm.
Or use the Ranthambore safari booking form, with this week’s seat status.
RANTHAMBORE