Private Jaipur Tour: City Palace, Jantar, Hawa & Jal Mahal

The walled city's four, done in order and without a rush.

These four sit close together and are usually covered in a fast half day. Eight hours lets you go inside all of them rather than photographing two from the road.

City Palace

Still partly lived in by the royal family, which is why the Chandra Mahal apartments are closed and the rest is not. The Mubarak Mahal textile and costume collection, the Diwan-i-Khas with two sterling silver urns that remain the largest single silver objects ever made — built so Sawai Madho Singh II could carry Ganges water to England in 1901 — and Pritam Niwas Chowk with its four painted doorways for the four seasons.

Jantar Mantar

Built by Jai Singh II in the 1730s and far more interesting than a stone yard sounds. Nineteen instruments, all working. The Samrat Yantra is a 27-metre sundial accurate to two seconds, and your guide can show you it reading the correct time.

Hawa Mahal

The five-storey pink facade with 953 windows, built in 1799 so the women of the household could watch the street unseen. Most visitors photograph it from across the road; going inside gives you the view out through those windows and the breeze the name refers to.

Jal Mahal

In the middle of Man Sagar Lake, four of its five storeys underwater when the lake is full. Closed to visitors — this is a view stop, and at the right hour it earns the ten minutes.

Included

Hotel or airport pickup and drop-off, private AC car with driver for the whole day, and a government-approved guide.

Worth knowing

Who it suits

Travellers who have already done Amer, and anyone who would rather see four things properly than seven at pace.