A lot of us pick a vehicle by its number. Seventeen people, seventeen seats, sorted. But once the van is actually moving, nobody experiences “seventeen seats”. They experience one seat, the one they ended up in, for six or seven hours.
So rather than going through a features list, I thought I’d walk down the cabin, front to back, and say what each spot is actually like. It might save you a few arguments if you’re organising a tempo traveller 17 seater in Jaipur for a family, a wedding party or colleagues, since you can sort out who sits where before anyone steps inside.
The front seat
Everyone wants it and almost nobody should have it for the whole trip. It has the best view and the most legroom, and it’s where the driver’s chat happens. It’s also where anyone who gets queasy on bends should sit, since looking at the road helps.
A fair way to handle it is to give it to whoever needs it most on a given day and rotate after that. The uncle who has “always sat in front” will complain, but he’ll survive.
The row behind the door
This one is for the grandparents, the person with a sore back, or anyone who’s going to be getting in and out often. A tempo traveller has a step up, and that step is harder than it looks when you’re carrying a bag and a water bottle and you’re seventy-two.
The seats close to the entrance also save the rest of the group time, because slower walkers aren’t squeezing past everyone else.
The middle rows
Middle rows are the honest heart of the van. It’s where most people sit, the ride is steadiest, and the AC usually reaches properly. Couples, friends and kids with a parent do well here.
One small thing I’d watch is the seat in the middle of a row if your layout has one, since it has no window and no aisle. It’s perfectly fine for a short trip. On a long one, it’s the seat people trade away within an hour.
The back rows
The back of any van moves the most, because you feel every bump a bit more. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. Teenagers love it, and a group of friends tends to turn it into their own corner.
What matters is the air. A cabin can feel cool at the front and stuffy at the back, so when the vehicle arrives, go and sit in the last row for a minute yourself before the trip starts. If it’s warm, mention it at that point and not three hours later on the highway.
The seat that makes seventeen
Here’s the odd thing about this size. The seventeenth seat is usually the reason someone picked it over the 16 seater. One extra person, a late addition, or an aunt who just discovered the plan and now very much wants to come.
If that’s you, take a quick look at the 16 seater tempo traveller as well, just to see what the one seat difference costs you in practice. And if you’re leaning towards a smoother ride, the 16 seater Urbania is a different build altogether, though it has one fewer seat, so it won’t fit seventeen.
For a group that’s heading towards eighteen, nineteen or twenty, the 20 seater tempo traveller gives everyone breathing space instead of squeezing the last person into whatever’s left.
What about the bags?
Seats are only half of the cabin. Seventeen people bring a surprising amount, and it’s good to know early where it’s going. On a standard tempo traveller, luggage often goes on a carrier on the roof, but it’s worth asking about the exact vehicle you’re getting, because it varies. For anyone considering something different, the Urbania tempo traveller range is built another way, with most of the bags staying inside with you.
I’d say a good rule is simple: soft bags for everyone, one main bag each, and one small bag to keep in your lap for the day’s essentials.
If somebody needs a better seat
Some people are happy anywhere, and others have a real reason to want more room. Maybe it’s a bad hip, or a very long day, or a parent who’s getting on in years, and for people like that a luxury tempo traveller tends to come with softer seats and a cooler cabin, which takes some of the pain out of the long stretches.
Fully wide chairs are a different thing again. A Maharaja seat tempo traveller trades seats for space, so it suits a much smaller group and not seventeen. It’s something to keep in mind only if the headcount ends up shrinking.
When it turns out you’re smaller than you thought
It happens often enough that I’d mention it. You book for seventeen, three people drop out, and you’re left with fourteen in a van built for more. That’s not terrible, as extra empty seats are good for bags and for stretching out. But if the group clearly settles at twelve or less, the tempo traveller 12 seater or even the 10 seater tempo traveller may have been the better call.
Planning the seating before the day
What keeps things calm is a rough seating idea dropped into the group chat the night before, nothing as formal as a chart, only a note about who’d like the front, who needs the door row and who’s fine at the back.
The driver’s number should go in there too along with the pickup time, and it’s good to expect the first ten minutes to feel slow, since getting seventeen people and their bags aboard never happens quickly. If you’d like to look at every size side by side first, the tempo traveller on rent page has them all. Those who want a more premium van can have a look at luxury Urbania in Jaipur too.
To find out whether a tempo traveller 17 seater is free on your dates, call or WhatsApp the Rajasthan Travel Operator team on +91 9251041418.
