Jaipur: Sunrise & Sunset City Tour by Tuk-Tuk or Car

Jaipur looks completely different at either end of the day, and both of those hours are the ones package tours skip. This lets you pick one — or, on the full-day version, both.

Sunrise at Jaigarh

Jaigarh sits on the ridge above Amber, connected to it by a tunnel the royal family could use to escape. It was the arsenal, not the residence — which is why Jaivana, the largest wheeled cannon ever cast, is still standing on its bastion up there. It was fired once, in a test.

At six in the morning the valley below holds mist, the fort is empty, and you will hear parakeets and nothing else.

Sunset at Nahargarh

The other hill fort, on the north-west ridge, built by Jai Singh II in 1734 to watch the approach to his new city. The whole of Jaipur lies out flat below it, and as the light drops the pink stone of the old city goes deep orange and the streetlights come on in a grid you can read.

The walk to the ramparts is short. Come early enough to get a spot on the wall.

The old city on the way

Either direction, the route runs through the walled city as it wakes or as it closes — Chhoti Chopad and Badi Chopad, the great crossroads of Jai Singh's grid; Jalebi Chowk; and the flower market, which is at its best before seven, banked with marigold and rose for the day's temple offerings.

Tuk-tuk or car

A tuk-tuk is open, cheap and the more enjoyable ride from October to March. A car is the right call in high summer and on the full-day version, which covers a lot of ground.

Six options in all: sunrise or sunset, by tuk-tuk or car, and two full-day versions that take in the heritage circuit as well.

Entrance fees are separate; Nahargarh and Jaigarh are both modest.