Rajasthan Panorama: Jaipur, Jodhpur & Udaipur

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.

After breakfast, leave Delhi and drive south-west through the farmland of Haryana and into Rajasthan, with tea stops along the way. Arrive in Jaipur, Rajasthan's capital, founded in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II and laid out on a grid inspired by ancient Indian planning. The old city's buildings were painted pink to welcome the Prince of Wales in 1876, earning it the name Pink City. Check in and spend the evening at leisure, or visit Birla Mandir, a white marble temple to Vishnu and Lakshmi that glows beautifully after dark.

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 west from Jaipur through the heart of rural Rajasthan, past mustard fields, villages and herds of goats, with chai stops at roadside dhabas along the way. Arrive in Jodhpur, the Blue City, in the afternoon. Founded by Rao Jodha in 1459, it spreads out beneath the cliffs of Mehrangarh Fort, its old houses washed in indigo. In the evening, explore the old city around the Clock Tower and Sardar Market, alive with stalls of spices, textiles, bangles and snacks such as mirchi vada and makhaniya lassi.

Visit Mehrangarh Fort as it opens, before the crowds, climbing through its massive gates to the palaces, museum galleries and ramparts that look out over the blue houses of the old city. Then see Jaswant Thada, the white marble royal memorial with its delicate carved screens, set beside a small lake. After lunch, drive south through the Aravalli hills to Udaipur, the City of Lakes, founded by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559. Arrive in the evening, check in and enjoy the lights of the City Palace reflected on Lake Pichola.

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 from Udaipur through the Aravalli hills to Pushkar, about five to six hours away, with tea stops in small towns along the way. Pushkar is one of the holiest towns in India, built around a sacred lake ringed by 52 ghats and hundreds of temples. In the afternoon, visit the Brahma Temple, one of very few dedicated to the creator god. Spend the evening on the ghats as the aarti begins, with lamps, bells and chanting, then wander the lively bazaar.

A long but rewarding day's drive east across Rajasthan and into Uttar Pradesh, with tea and lunch stops along the way. In the afternoon, 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 giant Gate of Victory, the Panch Mahal and the courtyards of the royal palaces, and visit the marble shrine of Sheikh Salim Chishti. Continue to Agra, arriving in the evening, and check in to your hotel.

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.