10-Day Royal Rajasthan & Golden Triangle Experience in Delhi

The full Rajasthan circuit

Ten days is what it takes to do Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur without spending every second day in a car. The distances are the constraint: Jaipur to Jodhpur is 330 km, Jodhpur to Udaipur another 250, and both of those roads have things worth stopping for.

Delhi and Agra

Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk in the capital. Then the Taj Mahal at sunrise and Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son with a view of his wife's tomb along the river. Fatehpur Sikri on the road out.

Jaipur

Amber Fort on its ridge above Maota Lake, the City Palace, Jantar Mantar and the Hawa Mahal — plus the bazaars around Johari and Tripolia, where the city's gem cutters, block printers and bangle makers actually work.

Jodhpur

Mehrangarh is the fort that changes minds about Indian forts: 120 metres straight off the rock, never taken, and with the best-run museum in Rajasthan inside it. The cannonball scars on the second gate are from a Jaipur siege.

Below it, Jaswant Thada in white marble so thin the sun comes through it, and the blue lanes of the old city around the clock tower. The blue was originally a lime-and-copper wash that kept termites out.

Udaipur

City Palace along Lake Pichola, built up by twenty-two rulers over four centuries. Jagdish Temple from 1651. Saheliyon ki Bari, the fountain garden built for a queen's attendants. And a boat at sunset, which is the evening people describe when they get home.

How it runs

Private air-conditioned vehicle with a driver for all ten days, including every intercity leg, and local licensed guides for the sightseeing in each city.

Entrance fees and meals are paid separately. The Taj is closed on Fridays, which sets the ordering of the first days.