Grand Tour of Rajasthan: Desert to Lakes

Welcome to India. Our representative meets you at Delhi airport or railway station with a traditional garland welcome and escorts you to your hotel in a private air-conditioned car. After a long journey, the rest of the day is yours to rest and adjust to the new time zone. If you arrive early and feel like stretching your legs, take a gentle evening walk around Connaught Place, the elegant colonnaded circle at the heart of New Delhi, with its cafes, bookshops and busy street life. Your tour manager will brief you on the days ahead.

Begin in Old Delhi at Jama Masjid, one of India's largest mosques, built by Shah Jahan in the 1650s, then take a cycle-rickshaw through the crowded lanes of Chandni Chowk, a 17th-century bazaar of spices, silver and sweets. Drive past the red sandstone walls of the Red Fort and pause at Raj Ghat, the simple memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. In the afternoon, explore New Delhi: Humayun's Tomb, the Mughal garden tomb that inspired the Taj Mahal, and the 73-metre Qutub Minar, begun around 1200. End with a drive past India Gate and the grand government buildings of Lutyens' Delhi.

Leave Delhi after breakfast and drive west to Mandawa, a small town in the Shekhawati region of northern Rajasthan. In the 18th and 19th centuries, wealthy Marwari merchant families built grand havelis here and covered them with frescoes of gods, legends, hunting scenes and even trains and motor cars. Check in to your heritage hotel, often a converted castle or haveli, and take an easy evening walk through lanes of painted walls, carved wooden doorways and quiet courtyards. Dinner is served in the hotel courtyard.

Take a morning walk with a local guide among Mandawa's painted havelis, where merchant families covered every wall with frescoes of gods, legends and early motor cars. Then drive west across the desert to Bikaner. In the afternoon, visit Junagarh Fort, built between 1589 and 1594 by Raja Rai Singh and never conquered. Inside its walls are richly decorated palace rooms, among them the gold-leaf Anup Mahal and the blue-painted Badal Mahal, and a museum of royal treasures. Spend the evening in the old city's bazaars.

After breakfast, drive west across the Thar Desert from Bikaner to Jaisalmer, a long and memorable journey through open sand country. Along the way you pass villages, herds of grazing camels, women in bright skirts carrying water, and wind farms on the horizon. Arrive in Jaisalmer, the Golden City, in the afternoon. Built of yellow sandstone, it grew rich on the camel caravans that once crossed the desert. In the evening, watch the sunset from Gadisar Lake, a peaceful reservoir lined with temples and carved pavilions.

Spend the morning in Jaisalmer Fort, one of the few living forts in the world, with homes, Jain temples and shops inside its golden walls. Then visit the carved merchant mansions of Patwon ki Haveli and Salim Singh ki Haveli in the old town. In the afternoon, drive about 45 km west to the Sam Sand Dunes. Ride a camel across the sand to watch the sun set over the desert. In the evening, enjoy Rajasthani folk music, dancing and dinner under the stars, then return to your hotel in Jaisalmer.

After breakfast, drive east from Jaisalmer across the desert to Jodhpur, the Blue City, about five hours away. In the afternoon, explore Mehrangarh Fort, one of India's largest and most impressive forts, rising on a sheer cliff above the city. Its palaces of carved sandstone hold fine museum galleries of palanquins, howdahs, paintings and arms, and the ramparts look over a sea of blue houses. Then visit Jaswant Thada, the white marble memorial to Maharaja Jaswant Singh II, beside a small lake.

Explore Mehrangarh Fort, rising some 120 metres above the city on a sheer rock. Climb through its seven gates to palaces of carved sandstone, museum galleries of palanquins, howdahs and miniature paintings, and ramparts that look over a sea of blue houses. Visit Jaswant Thada, the white marble royal memorial beside a small lake, and the museum in Umaid Bhawan Palace, one of the world's largest private homes, completed in 1943. End the day in the old city around the Clock Tower and Sardar Market, with spices, textiles and street snacks.

Drive south from Jodhpur into the green Aravalli hills to Ranakpur, home to one of the most beautiful Jain temples in India. Built in the 15th century from pale marble, the Chaumukha temple has more than a thousand carved pillars, no two alike, and domes of lace-like carving. After lunch, continue through the hills and forests past villages and farms to Udaipur, the City of Lakes. Arrive in the late afternoon and check in. The evening is free to enjoy the lake views, perhaps from a rooftop restaurant.

Visit the City Palace, a vast complex of courtyards, balconies and mirrored rooms built over four centuries and rising above Lake Pichola, then the carved Jagdish Temple nearby, dedicated to Vishnu. Stroll through Saheliyon-ki-Bari, the Garden of the Maidens, with its fountains, lotus pools and marble elephants. In the late afternoon, take a boat ride on Lake Pichola past the bathing ghats and the island palace of Jag Mandir, as the light turns gold over the white palaces. The evening is free for the old city's cafes.

After breakfast, drive north-east from Udaipur to Chittorgarh, about two and a half hours away, the capital of Mewar for some 800 years. Explore its vast hilltop fort, the largest in India and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a symbol of Rajput courage, where warriors fought to the last. See the nine-storey Vijay Stambha, the Tower of Victory built by Rana Kumbha in the 15th century, the Jain Kirti Stambha, the ruined palace of Rana Kumbha, and the water palace linked to the legend of Rani Padmini.

After breakfast, drive north from Chittorgarh to Pushkar, about four hours away, through farmland and small market towns. Pushkar is one of the holiest towns in India, built around a sacred lake ringed by 52 ghats and hundreds of temples. Visit the Brahma Temple, one of very few in the world dedicated to the creator god. In the evening, walk the ghats of the sacred lake and join the aarti as bells ring out across the water and lamps are set afloat. Then explore the lively bazaar.

Enjoy a quiet morning by the lake, when Pushkar is at its most peaceful and pilgrims gather on the ghats. Then drive to Jaipur via Ajmer, stopping at the Dargah Sharif, the shrine of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, where pilgrims of all faiths offer flowers and chadars, embroidered cloths. Continue to Jaipur, about two and a half hours away, and check in. In the evening, enjoy a Rajasthani dinner, or visit Chokhi Dhani, a recreated village with folk dancers, puppeteers and traditional food served on leaf plates.

Start early at Amber Fort, the hilltop palace of the Kachwaha rulers above Maota Lake, riding up to the ramparts by jeep. Explore its courtyards and the Sheesh Mahal, a hall lined with thousands of tiny mirrors. Pause for photos at Jal Mahal, the palace in the lake. In the afternoon, visit the City Palace, still home to the former royal family, and Jantar Mantar, the 18th-century observatory of giant stone instruments and a UNESCO site. See the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal, then browse the bazaars for block prints, gems and blue pottery.

After breakfast, drive east towards Agra. On the way, stop at Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone city Emperor Akbar built as his capital in the 16th century and abandoned soon after. Walk through the Buland Darwaza, the towering Gate of Victory, see the Panch Mahal and the courts where Akbar met his nobles, and visit the white marble shrine of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti. Arrive in Agra in the afternoon. In the evening, watch the sun set over the Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh, the Moonlight Garden across the Yamuna.

See the Taj Mahal at sunrise, the quietest and most beautiful time of day, when the marble changes colour with the light. Return to the hotel for breakfast. Then visit Agra Fort, the red sandstone citadel where Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his son and looked out at the Taj in his last years, and Itmad-ud-Daulah, the jewel-like marble tomb known as the Baby Taj. In the afternoon, drive back to Delhi on the Yamuna Expressway. You are dropped at the airport for your flight or at your hotel.