Royal Rajasthan with the Taj Mahal

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, drive south to Agra, the great Mughal capital on the Yamuna. On the way, stop at Sikandra to see the tomb of Emperor Akbar, set in a walled garden where deer graze. In the afternoon, visit Agra Fort, a red sandstone citadel of palaces, mosques and audience halls, where Shah Jahan spent his last years looking out at the Taj. Then see the Taj Mahal itself in the soft late light: the white marble mausoleum he built for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, completed in 1653, with inlay of precious stones and perfect symmetry.

After breakfast, visit Itmad-ud-Daulah, a delicate marble tomb on the Yamuna, often called the Baby Taj for its fine inlay work, which came before the Taj Mahal itself. Then drive west to Fatehpur Sikri, the red sandstone capital Emperor Akbar built in the 16th century and abandoned soon afterwards. Walk through the Buland Darwaza, one of the largest gateways in the world, the five-storey Panch Mahal and the white marble shrine of the Sufi saint Sheikh Salim Chishti. Continue to Jaipur, arriving in the late afternoon, and check in.

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.

Leave Jaipur early for Ajmer and the Dargah Sharif, the revered shrine of the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, which draws pilgrims of all faiths. Continue to Pushkar, a holy town built around a sacred lake. Visit the Brahma Temple, one of very few in the world dedicated to Lord Brahma, and walk along the whitewashed ghats where pilgrims bathe. In the afternoon, drive west across open countryside dotted with villages and fields to Jodhpur, the Blue City, arriving in the evening beneath the walls of Mehrangarh Fort.

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.

After breakfast, drive north across the Thar Desert to Bikaner, past sand dunes, khejri trees and villages of round mud huts. Shortly before the city, stop at the Karni Mata Temple in Deshnok, famous for the thousands of rats that live there and are revered as the reincarnated descendants of the goddess. Spotting a rare white rat is considered lucky. Arrive in Bikaner, a desert city founded by Rao Bika in 1488, check in and spend the evening at leisure, or explore the old city's bazaars.

Visit Junagarh Fort, built between 1589 and 1594 by Raja Rai Singh and never conquered. Inside are richly decorated palace rooms, including the gold-leaf Anup Mahal, and a museum of royal treasures. Then visit the National Research Centre on Camel on the edge of town, where you can see different camel breeds and taste camel-milk ice cream. In the afternoon, drive east to Mandawa in the Shekhawati region and check in to your heritage hotel. In the evening, take a short walk through the town's painted lanes.

Spend the morning on a guided walk through Mandawa's frescoed havelis, built by the merchant families of Shekhawati. Look for paintings of gods and legends alongside scenes of trains, motor cars and early aeroplanes, and visit the old stepwell and the castle at the heart of the town. After lunch, drive back to Delhi, about six hours away. You are dropped at the airport for your onward flight or at your hotel. It is a fitting end to a journey through Rajasthan's royal and merchant past.