Jaipur: Private Car Tour with Hawa Mahal & Amber palace

A civilised departure time and a route that includes Panna Meena ka Kund, which is the reason to pick this one over the identical-looking alternatives.

Hawa Mahal

First stop, at the hour the light hits it straight on. Over 220 years old, five storeys, 953 windows — and less than a metre deep for most of its height, because it is a screen rather than a palace. It was built in 1799 as an extension of the City Palace zenana so that royal women could watch street processions without being seen from the road.

Most people photograph it from the pavement opposite, which is exactly the angle it was designed for.

Panna Meena ka Kund

A 16th-century stepwell below Amber, with symmetrical criss-crossing staircases dropping eight storeys to the water. It was built so the village could reach water in any season, and the temperature at the bottom runs several degrees below the surface.

It photographs like an optical illusion and it is nearly always empty, because the coaches do not stop. You cannot descend to the water and you should not try.

Amber Palace

The hilltop complex above Maota Lake, begun 1592. The Ganesh Pol gateway, the Sheesh Mahal with its mirrored ceiling, the Sukh Niwas cooled by water running in its walls, and the zenana courtyard with its twelve separate apartments.

And the rest

Jal Mahal from the causeway, the City Palace and Jantar Mantar in the old city, and the bazaars if the day still has room.

Practical

Eight hours, private car with driver, hotel pickup and drop-off.

Entrance fees are paid at each site — roughly ₹1,500 a head for a foreign adult across the major monuments. Panna Meena is free or a nominal fee.

Comfortable shoes: Amber involves a climb, and the stepwell is uneven stone.