Tempo Traveller on rent in Lucknow

Twenty relatives, one Ayodhya darshan slot and a 6 am start from Gomti Nagar: that is the typical brief behind a Tempo Traveller in Lucknow. RutzIndia.com rents Force Travellers with 12, 17, 20 and 26 seats, driven by chauffeurs who know the old city lanes, the expressway toll plazas and the temple parking rules. You can book online in a few minutes for a local day, a single airport run or a multi-day pilgrim circuit across Uttar Pradesh.

Tempo Traveller fare in Lucknow for 2026

Lucknow carries a 0.92 multiplier on local and airport packages, so the same Traveller costs less here than in Delhi or Mumbai for city work. The outstation rate per kilometre stays national.

Tolls, state permits and parking are paid at actual cost, and a driver night allowance of Rs 1,500 applies to every night the trip keeps the chauffeur away from Lucknow. Round trips outside the city are charged on the higher of the actual distance or 250 km for each calendar day. See how our fares work for the small print.

Rate per km, daily minimum and bata by seat size

Group organisers in Lucknow usually need four numbers before they can collect money from relatives: the per-km rate, the minimum billed per day, the driver's bata and what a typical trip adds up to. The table puts all four side by side for every van size, using the most common Lucknow outing, a same-day Ayodhya return of about 270 km, as the worked example.

A same-day Ayodhya run carries no bata because the chauffeur sleeps at home; the allowance appears only when the trip includes a night away. Every figure is before 5% GST, and FASTag tolls on the Ayodhya highway and parking at the temple lots are added at actual cost.

Wedding and function days in Lucknow often run long, from a morning haldi to a late-night reception. For those, a 12-hour, 120 km package is calculated as one and a half times the 8-hour fare plus 40 km at the per-km rate: about Rs 30,030 Pay Now to Reserve for a Traveller (Rs 17,940 Pay Now to Reserve x 1.5 + 40 x Rs 78), about Rs 41,340 Pay Now to Reserve for an Urbania and about Rs 63,360 Pay Now to Reserve for a mini bus.

Van sizes explained for Lucknow groups

All our Lucknow Travellers are high-roof Force bodies with roof-duct air-conditioning, push-back seats, a music system and a boot or roof carrier. The seat count decides the length, and the length decides where the van can go in the old city.

9 seats: comfortable recliners for elders

For a family taking grandparents to Ayodhya or Kashi, nine wide 2x1 seats in a 12-seat body leave room to stretch legs on a long highway day and to keep a bag of medicines and snacks within reach. The fare is the ordinary Traveller rate. If anyone has trouble with the high step, the 10-seat Force Urbania has a lower floor and a wider door.

12 seats: the airport and luggage van

The 12-seater is what most NRI families and wedding guests arriving at Amausi need: ten to twelve people with a suitcase each. It is short enough to reach most hotel porches in Hazratganj and Gomti Nagar and to turn in the Charbagh station forecourt. The national 12-seater Tempo Traveller page compares layouts in more detail.

17 seats: pilgrim parties and office teams

Seventeen seats suit a mohalla group going to Naimisharanya or a department on a team day at a resort on the Kanpur Road. Split a Rs 21,060 Ayodhya return seventeen ways and it comes to about Rs 1,240 a head before GST and tolls. Keep luggage light; the boot is no bigger than the 12-seater's.

20 seats: baraat and wedding guest loops

This is the size wedding hosts on Faizabad Road and Sultanpur Road ask for most. Twenty guests can move from a Gomti Nagar hotel to a marriage lawn in one loop, and the van still fits most lawn gates. On the wedding night two 20-seaters running staggered loops usually beat one bigger vehicle.

26 seats: schools, colleges and large sangats

The longest Traveller is ideal on the expressways and the ring road but slow in Chowk and Aminabad. For educational tours to the Residency and the Imambaras it works well with a drop on the main road. Above 26 people, look at the mini bus on rent or a 45-seat Volvo bus.

Standard, deluxe and Urbania compared

• Standard Traveller: fabric push-back seats, AC ducts over every row, a roof carrier. Right for most trips.
• Deluxe or maharaja fit-out: fewer and wider seats, better upholstery, sometimes ambient lighting; offered at the normal per-km rate when available on your date.
• Force Urbania: smoother independent suspension, flat floor and quieter cabin. Best for elders and long expressway days; Rs 102 per km and Rs 24,840 for a Lucknow local day.
• Mini bus and coach: 27 to 45 seats with a luggage hold; see bus on rent.

Seven trips from Lucknow and what they cost in total

Use this table to estimate the whole bill before anyone commits. Totals include 5% GST and the chauffeur's night allowance; tolls, parking and entry tickets are extra.

Kushinagar, where the Buddha attained parinirvana, and the Sarnath stop on the Kashi loop make these circuits popular with Buddhist pilgrim groups from Sri Lanka, Thailand and Japan as well. For a Kashi-based start, our Varanasi taxi service and the Agra taxi service teams handle the local legs at the far end.

Permits and tolls on Lucknow trips

Most Lucknow trips stay inside Uttar Pradesh, so there is no interstate permit to pay; the extra costs are FASTag tolls on the Agra-Lucknow and Purvanchal Expressways and the national highways, plus parking. Trips into Uttarakhand for Nainital or Jim Corbett, into Bihar for Bodh Gaya, or across to Madhya Pradesh for Khajuraho and Chitrakoot's MP side do pay a state entry tax for a tourist vehicle at the border. It is paid by the chauffeur and billed at actual cost with the receipt. The rules are set by each state and published on the national transport portal Parivahan.

Where we pick up in Lucknow

Chauffeurs collect groups from homes, hotels, marriage lawns, offices and stations across the city. Common pickup areas include:

• Central and old city: Hazratganj, Lalbagh, Kaiserbagh, Aminabad, Chowk, Daliganj, Charbagh, Husainganj
• East and north: Gomti Nagar, Gomti Nagar Extension, Indira Nagar, Mahanagar, Kapoorthala, Aliganj, Jankipuram, Vikas Nagar, Chinhat, Faizabad Road
• South and west: Alambagh, Ashiyana, Sushant Golf City, Vrindavan Yojana, Telibagh, Rajajipuram, Transport Nagar, Amausi, Sultanpur Road

In gated societies in Gomti Nagar Extension and Sushant Golf City, security usually needs the vehicle number in advance; the desk shares it the evening before.

On board: amenities and house rules

Each van is cleaned before every duty and carries a first-aid kit, a fire extinguisher, seat belts on every seat and working charging points in most rows. On pilgrim trips families often carry prasad, flowers and puja items; the chauffeur keeps space for them in the front cabin so nothing is crushed. Food is fine on long drives, but please keep it to dry snacks; the AC recirculates and a spilled dal-chawal is hard to forget in May. Smoking and alcohol are not allowed in the vehicle at any time.

Monthly vans and corporate accounts

Coaching institutes, hospitals and IT offices in Lucknow sometimes need a van every day for staff or students. Rather than booking day by day, the monthly car rental with driver plan fixes a chauffeur and a monthly kilometre allowance. Companies that book vans for events and visitors through the year can open a corporate car rental account with monthly GST invoicing. For a single one-way drop anywhere in the state, compare our one-way taxi fares in sedans and Innovas.

Who books a group van in Lucknow

Four kinds of group make up most of our Lucknow Traveller bookings, and each needs a slightly different plan.

• Pilgrim families heading to Ayodhya, Naimisharanya or further to Kashi and Prayagraj. They want early starts, space for elders and a driver who waits patiently through long queues.
• Wedding hosts moving guests between hotels in Gomti Nagar or Hazratganj and marriage lawns on Faizabad Road, Sultanpur Road and Kanpur Road. For the couple's own car, see wedding car rental in Lucknow.
• Corporate and college groups on visits to the IT offices along Shaheed Path, training sessions, or educational tours to the Residency and Kukrail.
• Visitors from abroad and NRIs arriving at Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport who want the whole family collected together, with bags, in one vehicle.

Ayodhya, Naimisharanya and the pilgrim circuits

Lucknow is the natural base for Awadh's pilgrim roads, and a Traveller keeps an extended family together through security checks and parking walks.

Ayodhya day trip (about 270 km round trip)

Ayodhya is about 135 km east along the Lucknow-Ayodhya highway, typically two and a half to three hours each way. Billed as a one-day round trip, 270 km x Rs 78 comes to Rs 21,060 Pay Now to Reserve before GST, plus tolls. Vehicles park at the designated lots and the group walks or takes the local e-rickshaws to the temple complex; plan for the queue on weekends and during Ram Navami and Deepotsav in October or November, when the city fills beyond capacity.

Naimisharanya (about 190 km round trip)

The forest shrine near Sitapur is about 95 km north. Because the round trip is under 250 km, the one-day minimum applies: 250 km x Rs 78 = Rs 19,500 Pay Now to Reserve. Many families combine it with a stop at Mishrikh.

Kashi and Prayagraj (2 to 4 days)

Varanasi is about 320 km away. A two-day return is billed at 640 km, which is Rs 49,920 Pay Now to Reserve, plus one night allowance. Prayagraj, about 200 km, fits a two-day circuit comfortably, and a Lucknow-Prayagraj-Varanasi-Lucknow loop of about 650 to 700 km works well over three days. If your group prefers to start in Kashi itself, our Tempo Traveller in Varanasi page covers local ghats and Sarnath runs, and the pilgrimage taxi page lists smaller cars for the same shrines.

A same-day Ayodhya plan that works for families

Ayodhya is the trip Lucknow families book most, and the difference between a calm day and an exhausting one is mostly timing. This is the plan our chauffeurs suggest for a group with elders and children.

1. 5:00 am, depart Lucknow. Early starts beat both the Ayodhya highway traffic and the midday heat. The chauffeur collects from up to three addresses in the same part of the city; more than that and the start slips.
2. 7:30 am, tea stop. Dhabas along the highway near Barabanki and Rudauli open early. A fifteen-minute break keeps elders comfortable.
3. 8:15 am, arrive and park. The van uses the designated parking; the group continues on foot or by the local e-rickshaws. Phones, bags and footwear rules at the temple change from time to time, so leave non-essentials in the locked van.
4. 8:30 am to 1 pm, darshan. Ram Janmabhoomi temple, then Hanuman Garhi, Kanak Bhawan and the ghats of the Saryu. Evening aarti at Ram ki Paidi is lovely but makes the day very long.
5. 1:30 pm, lunch in town, then the drive back, reaching Lucknow by about 5 pm.

Billed as one outstation day on the actual distance, about 270 km, the Traveller costs Rs 21,060 Pay Now to Reserve before GST, tolls and parking. The Ayodhya district administration posts crowd and traffic advisories on its official website, worth checking before festival dates.

Our chauffeurs and how we choose them

The chauffeurs who drive our Lucknow Travellers hold commercial licences for passenger vehicles, are police-verified and are briefed on each trip the evening before. They dress neatly, speak Hindi and working English, do not drink on duty and keep to the posted limits for passenger vans on the expressways, which are lower than for cars. On multi-day pilgrim trips the same chauffeur stays with the group throughout, so he learns who needs the front seat and who needs an extra stop.

Pickup points and Lucknow traffic windows

Most groups start from one of these points, and the chauffeur needs the exact gate or tower number the night before.

• Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport (LKO), Amausi: typically 30 to 45 minutes to Hazratganj depending on the time of day. Flights are tracked; 60 minutes free waiting after international landings, 30 after domestic.
• Charbagh and Lucknow Junction railway stations: the approach roads are congested and parking is regulated, so we fix a meeting point outside the station exit.
• Gomti Nagar, Hazratganj, Aliganj and Indira Nagar: hotel belts where most wedding and corporate guests stay.
• Old Lucknow: the Bara Imambara, Chota Imambara, Rumi Darwaza and Chowk. Long vehicles cannot enter many inner lanes, so heritage walks start from the nearest wide road.

Morning office traffic peaks from about 9 to 11 am on Shaheed Path and the Kanpur Road corridor, and evenings are slow around Hazratganj and Aminabad. During Muharram processions and big rallies the police divert traffic around the old city; our desk plans routes around announced closures. The Lucknow district portal is a useful place to check public notices.

Expressways, tolls and long runs to Agra and Delhi

Lucknow is wired into three fast corridors. The Agra-Lucknow Expressway, about 300 km, turns Agra into a comfortable day's drive; the Purvanchal Expressway heads east toward Ghazipur; and the Lucknow-Kanpur road continues toward Kanpur, about 90 km away.

A one-way Traveller from Lucknow to Agra, about 335 km door to door, costs roughly 335 x Rs 78 = Rs 26,130 plus expressway tolls, which are paid by FASTag and billed at actual cost. Groups doing the Taj on the way to Delhi often switch to our Agra Tempo Traveller team for the local sightseeing day. Highway tolls follow the national fee rules published by NHAI.

Choosing between 12, 17, 20 and 26 seats

Count people, then count bags. A 12-seat Traveller carries twelve passengers and about ten medium cases; the 17-seater carries more people but the same boot, so luggage goes on the roof carrier with a tarpaulin. For airport runs with heavy luggage, pick one size up. If every member of the group is over sixty, the Force Urbania offers a lower step, a flat floor and more legroom. Big parties of 25 or more should compare the mini bus on rent and the wider bus rental options, which usually work out cheaper per head than two Travellers.

A Lucknow heritage and food day for a group

Visitors who have one free day in the city usually want the Nawabi monuments in the morning and the kebab trail in the evening. A workable plan for a Traveller runs like this, and it fits inside the 8 hr / 80 km package at Rs 17,940 Pay Now to Reserve.

1. 8:30 am, Bara Imambara and the Bhool Bhulaiya. Start early before the tour buses; the chauffeur parks at the authorised lot near the Asafi gate. The labyrinth is best explored with the licensed guides available at the gate.
2. 10:30 am, Rumi Darwaza, Chota Imambara and the Clock Tower. All three sit within a short walk, so the van repositions only once.
3. 12:30 pm, the Residency. The ruins of the 1857 siege are about 3 km away, with a shaded garden where elders can rest.
4. 2 pm, lunch in Hazratganj, followed by a stroll along the restored heritage façades and a little chikankari shopping.
5. 4:30 pm, Ambedkar Memorial Park or the Gomti riverfront for the late light, then back toward Aminabad or Chowk for Tunday kebabs and Awadhi biryani, with the van waiting on the nearest main road.

If the day overruns, the extra time is billed at the hourly rate and any extra kilometres at Rs 78 each. Groups that want the monuments without the evening can book the 4 hr / 40 km package for Rs 10,770 Pay Now to Reserve instead.

What is included and what is not

Included in every Lucknow Traveller fare: the vehicle, a verified chauffeur, fuel for the package distance, air-conditioning throughout, and the chauffeur's own meals on single-day duties. Not included: GST at 5%, FASTag tolls, interstate or state permits where applicable, monument entry tickets, parking at actual cost, and the Rs 1,500 Pay Now to Reserve night allowance on multi-day trips. Guides, flowers for a temple visit and bottled water can be arranged by the travel desk on request and are billed separately, so the vehicle fare you see online never changes after booking.

Airport and station transfer fares across Lucknow

Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport sits on the southern edge of the city at Amausi, which puts almost every Lucknow address inside the 40 km transfer. The table shows typical distances and the Traveller fare for the common drops; places beyond 40 km pay Rs 78 for each extra kilometre.

The airport operator publishes terminal and parking information on the Lucknow airport website. Our chauffeur waits at the arrivals exit with a name board; the free waiting window is 60 minutes after an international flight, commonly from the Gulf, and 30 minutes after a domestic one.

Planning wedding guest vans on a Lucknow shaadi day

A typical Awadhi wedding day on Faizabad Road or Sultanpur Road, with guests at two hotels in Gomti Nagar, runs roughly like this. Timings shift with the muhurat, but the shape rarely changes.

Booked as 12-hour days from 2 pm, two 20-seaters cost about Rs 60,060 Pay Now to Reserve before GST. Many hosts also keep one 12-seater on the 8-hour package for the airport and station arrivals earlier in the day. The couple's own car is covered by our Lucknow wedding car team.

Summer heat, winter fog and Lucknow road conditions

Lucknow's summer, from April to June, pushes afternoon temperatures well past forty degrees; plan temple visits and heritage walks for the early morning and let the van's AC carry the group through the afternoon. The Gomti riverfront and Hazratganj are pleasant after sunset. From late December to January, dense fog settles over the expressways and the Ayodhya highway in the early hours. On fog days the chauffeur will delay a pre-dawn departure rather than drive blind at speed, which can push a darshan slot back by an hour; allow for it when booking. The monsoon from July to September brings heavy but short downpours that briefly flood underpasses near Charbagh and Alambagh.

Festival weeks when Lucknow vans sell out

Four stretches of the year fill our Lucknow calendar weeks in advance. Deepotsav and Diwali in October or November send thousands of families to Ayodhya on the same evenings. The wedding season from late November to February commits most 17 and 20-seaters on Saturdays and auspicious weekdays. Magh Mela and Kumbh years at Prayagraj draw huge pilgrim groups in January and February, when the city restricts vehicles near the Sangam and parking moves far out. And summer holidays in May and June bring family trips to Nainital and the hills. For these dates, book as soon as you know the headcount; for the rest of the year a few days' notice is usually enough, and same-day bookings are often possible for local packages.

Booking, payment and cancellation

Book on the RutzIndia.com booker, choose the seat count and package, and pay by card or UPI. A GST invoice in your company's name is available for corporate groups. The chauffeur's details arrive the evening before; you can call us or WhatsApp the desk for itinerary changes.

Vehicles are within four model years, air-conditioned and cleaned before each duty. Cancel more than 72 hours ahead and you pay nothing; within 72 hours 10% is charged, within 48 hours 50%, and within 24 hours or on a no-show the full fare. The cancellation policy explains date changes. For smaller groups, the Lucknow taxi service covers sedans and Innovas at lower rates, and outstation cabs handle one-way drops anywhere in the state.