Jaipur: 3 Days Jaisalmer & Jaipur Sightseeing Tour

Two cities that look nothing alike

Jaipur is pink sandstone in a valley. Jaisalmer is yellow sandstone rising out of the Thar desert 560 km west, and the only fort in India that people still live inside. Connecting them by flight or train rather than road is what makes three days enough.

Day 1: Jaipur

Amber Fort to start — the hilltop complex above Maota Lake with the Sheesh Mahal, where mirror fragments turn a single flame into a ceiling of light. A jeep runs the ramp if you would rather not walk it.

Panna Meena ka Kund just below: a 16th-century stepwell with criss-crossing symmetrical staircases descending eight storeys, almost always quiet because the coaches do not stop there.

Then the old city — City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal — and the bazaars in the evening.

Days 2–3: Jaisalmer

Sonar Quila, the golden fort, built in 1156 and one of the very few living forts in the world: around three thousand people still live within its walls, in houses their families have held for generations. The yellow sandstone turns honey-coloured at sunset, which is where the name comes from.

The Jain temples inside, from the 12th to 16th centuries, are carved so densely that the stone looks like lace.

Patwon ki Haveli, five merchant mansions built side by side in the 1800s, with jali screens cut so fine they move in the light.

Gadisar Lake, a reservoir dug in the 14th century, best at dawn with the migratory birds in.

The desert

Sam sand dunes, 40 km out, for a camel ride at sunset and a night under the sky. The camp is either simple or a luxury tent depending on the option you book.

Two options

Government-approved guide, transport and train or flight tickets; or the same with a five-star hotel and desert camp, lunches and monument tickets included.

Practical

October to March. April to June in the Thar regularly passes 45°C and the desert portion becomes genuinely unpleasant.

Desert nights in December and January drop close to freezing. Bring a jacket.