From Delhi : Jaipur Same Day Tour By Train or Private Car

Six options, and the real choice is rail or road

By train: pickup at 5am, dropped at New Delhi station, and the express to Jaipur. No traffic, no tolls, and you arrive able to walk rather than unfold. Coming back in the evening, the train also skips the crawl into Delhi that ruins the road version.

By car: 270 km each way on the NH-48, four to five hours with a break. More flexible — the car is yours all day and you can stop where you like — and the right call if you want the bazaars at the end without watching a departure time.

First class on the train is a wider seat and a quieter coach; on a four-hour run it is worth the difference if you intend to sleep.

In Jaipur

A private car and a licensed guide for the day, whichever way you arrive.

Amber Fort, the hilltop complex above Maota Lake begun in 1592 — the Ganesh Pol gateway, the Sheesh Mahal with its ceiling of mirror fragments, and the Sukh Niwas cooled by water running in the walls.

Jal Mahal from the causeway, four of five storeys underwater.

City Palace, part of it still the royal residence, with the armoury and the two silver urns cast to carry Ganges water to England.

Jantar Mantar, nineteen masonry astronomical instruments from the 1730s, UNESCO-listed, with a sundial still accurate to about two seconds.

Hawa Mahal, the 953-window screen, from the street opposite.

Six options

Car with guide; car with guide and entrances; second or first class train with car and driver; or second or first class with car, guide and entrances.

Practical

Train seats are limited and release on a fixed schedule — book early, and carry the passport you booked with.

Entrance fees run about ₹1,500 a head for a foreign adult where not included.