Spend ten minutes searching for a group van in Jaipur and you’ll run into a pile of names that seem to mean the same thing and somehow don’t. Tempo traveller, Traveller, Urbania, Urbania tempo traveller, mini coach. One person will tell you they’re all the same vehicle, another will insist they’re completely different, and if it’s your first booking you end up not knowing whom to believe.
That’s why I’d like to clear up the names first, since the choice itself gets so much easier once the words stop being slippery.
Is an Urbania a tempo traveller or isn’t it?
Both answers are partly true, which is why the confusion never goes away. “Tempo traveller” has turned into the everyday name in India for any group van of that general size, a bit like how people say “Xerox” for a photocopy. As I understand it, the name goes back to the older Force Traveller and the company behind it, which used to be called Tempo, and over the years the phrase simply stuck to the whole category.
Urbania is a different story, because it’s a single model from Force Motors and a fairly newer design, which means that when a listing says “Urbania tempo traveller” it’s borrowing the well known category name for one particular van, and that’s exactly why you see the two words side by side and why the people arguing about it are each a little bit right.
Will you notice the difference in person?
Most of the time you will, and shape is the giveaway. The older tempo traveller has that classic boxy look with a ladder-type frame underneath, whereas the Urbania looks a lot more like a modern van, with a taller roof, a front end that feels closer to a car and a ride that’s smoother on the highway. Step inside and you can usually walk down the aisle without ducking much, a thing older passengers tend to mention before they say anything else about the vehicle.
I’d be careful about promising too much beyond that, because fittings vary from one vehicle to the next, so the seats, the AC and the interior you actually get can differ from what a listing shows.
What sizes does the Urbania come in?
On our side the Urbania is offered in three sizes, and it helps to know them by group rather than by number. The 9 seater Urbania with Maharaja seats is for small, comfort focused parties with wide individual chairs. The 12 seater Urbania sits in the middle and suits most families and small offices, and the 16 seater Urbania is the one for big groups who want the smoother ride at that size.
Beyond sixteen, you’re no longer looking at an Urbania, and that’s the point where the older body takes over with its larger seat counts.
Why does anyone pick the older one, then?
This is the part that surprises people, because the newer-looking van isn’t automatically the better choice. The older body tends to be easier on the budget, it comes in more sizes, and it usually has more flexibility with luggage, since bags can often go on a roof carrier, though I’d always ask about the exact vehicle before relying on that.
The Urbania usually keeps bags inside the cabin with you, so a group travelling light does well in it, while a group turning up with a suitcase each may feel the squeeze. For a direct comparison with the standard version at a size you probably know already, look at the tempo traveller 12 seater or the 16 seater tempo traveller.
And where does “luxury” fit into all this?
Luxury isn’t a third kind of vehicle, it’s a trim level that can sit on either body. On the older shape you’d look at a luxury tempo traveller, and on the newer one at the luxury Urbania tempo traveller, which is usually the more premium of the two. If you’d like to see what’s on offer right now, the luxury Urbania in Jaipur page is where I’d start.
Maharaja seating works the same way, since it’s a layout rather than a model, and a Maharaja seat tempo traveller can be built on the older body as well as the newer one.
So how do you decide?
How I’d think about it is fairly simple. A trip that’s mostly highway, with passengers who’d rather have a quiet, steady ride, makes the extra cost of an Urbania feel reasonable, and a trip with piles of luggage, a tight budget or more than sixteen people points to the older tempo traveller, which is simply the more practical van in those cases.
Neither is a wrong answer. If there’s a mistake to make here, it’s choosing purely by the name, because a single word can describe two quite different vans.
What’s worth asking on the phone?
Because the names are so loose, it pays to ask about the vehicle in plain words, like which exact van is being sent, how many seats it truly has and how the bags will be carried, and I’d also request a recent photo of that van along with the year it was registered, plus a quick check on whether the AC reaches the last row.
If you’d like to see the whole range side by side, the tempo traveller on rent page lists it, and when you’re ready to find out if an Urbania tempo traveller in Jaipur is free on your dates, you can call or WhatsApp the Rajasthan Travel Operator team on +91 9251041418.
