Rajasthan and the Thar desert

Your driver meets you at the airport and takes you to your hotel.

• The first day is kept free, since flights often land late or early and a long route lies ahead.
• If you arrive in good time, the guide can take you for a short drive past India Gate and the government buildings, or for an hour in Lodhi Garden, where old tombs stand among lawns and joggers.
• Otherwise rest, eat a simple dinner and sleep.
• Over the next fourteen days you will cover a great deal of ground, so use this first evening to unpack, sort your bags into a small day pack and a larger case, and ask the guide anything about the route.
• The pace is easier in the first few days than in the middle.

Today you see Delhi with your guide, beginning in the cool of the morning at Humayun's Tomb, a red sandstone and marble garden tomb that inspired the Taj.

• From there the car goes to the Qutub Minar complex, where a tall tower of the early sultans rises beside an ancient iron pillar.
• Lunch is in a quiet restaurant.
• Early in the afternoon visit the Bangla Sahib gurdwara, a Sikh temple where volunteers cook for thousands and visitors cover their heads and remove shoes, then continue to the Jama Masjid and the lanes of Old Delhi if you still have energy.
• Traffic is heavy toward evening, so the guide plans the loop to return you before the worst of it.
• Dinner is free, and an early night is sensible.

Leave after breakfast on the expressway south-east, and arrive in Agra in roughly four hours.

• Your driver stops once for tea.
• After you check in and lunch, the guide takes you to Agra Fort, an enormous red sandstone fortress on the river with marble halls and long views toward the Taj.
• Afterwards, visit Itimad-ud-Daulah, a small riverside tomb with delicate inlay, and end the day at Mehtab Bagh, the garden across the river, to see the Taj from a distance as the light softens.
• The Taj Mahal is saved for the morning, when it opens.
• It is closed on Fridays, so we plan the dates around that.
• Have dinner at the hotel and go to bed early, since the day begins at dawn.

The Taj Mahal is at its best soon after opening, when the marble is cool and the light is soft.

• Your guide leads you through the gateway, down the water channel to the platform and into the tomb chamber, explaining the symmetry and the inlay.
• Take your time.
• After breakfast the drive to Jaipur begins, roughly five hours with stops.
• Fatehpur Sikri, about forty kilometres from Agra, is the natural break: an abandoned red sandstone capital with a great mosque and a tall gateway.
• A short detour to Abhaneri's deep stepwell is possible on the way if you have the energy.
• Lunch is on the highway.
• You arrive in Jaipur in the evening.
• In winter fog can slow the morning, so the driver keeps a margin.

Visit Amber Fort first, while the courtyards are cool and the tour groups have not arrived.

• The guide leads you through the Ganesh Gate, the audience hall and the Sheesh Mahal, with views over Maota Lake.
• Then the City Palace, whose rooms still belong in part to the royal family, and the Jantar Mantar, where enormous stone instruments measure time by shadow.
• Lunch is in the old city.
• In the afternoon you can walk the bazaars, see the Hawa Mahal from the street, or visit a family workshop where cloth is printed by hand with carved wooden blocks.
• Dinner is relaxed.
• Because the next day is a long drive, go to bed at a reasonable hour and keep a bottle of water by your bed.

Today you leave the Golden Triangle behind and drive south-west for roughly five to six hours into Marwar.

• The landscape turns drier and more open, with scrub, goats and sudden hills.
• Your driver stops for tea and lunch, and you can break the journey at Ajmer if you want to see the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, though most guests prefer to keep going.
• You reach Jodhpur in the afternoon.
• Mehrangarh Fort stands high on a cliff and is lit after dark.
• From the hotel the guide points out the blue houses spread below it.
• Take a short walk before dinner near the clock tower market, then rest.
• Tomorrow is a full day in the city.

Visit Mehrangarh Fort in the cooler part of the morning.

• The guide leads you through its palaces, carved windows and gun terraces, and the view from the ramparts shows the blue-washed old city and the plain beyond.
• Next is Jaswant Thada, a white marble memorial peaceful in the midday sun.
• After lunch, wander the old lanes with the guide to the Sardar Market and the Toorji Ka Jhalra stepwell, where the sandstone steps are steep and geometric.
• Umaid Bhawan Palace can be seen from outside, and a small museum is open to visitors.
• Late afternoon is free.
• Tomorrow is a long drive into the desert, so pack a day bag with a hat, sunscreen and a scarf for the wind.

Leave early for the desert.

• The road runs north-west and then west, roughly five to six hours, across plain and scrub with only small villages.
• Your driver stops at a roadside restaurant for lunch, and you pass wind turbines, camels and an occasional shepherd.
• The air gets drier as you go.
• You arrive in Jaisalmer in the late afternoon, and the fort appears like a golden sandcastle on its hill.
• Check in, rest and then walk with the guide to a viewpoint at Gadisar Lake, where small temples and chhatris edge the water at sunset.
• Dinner is simple.
• Jaisalmer's sandstone glows at dusk, so a camera ready for the light is worthwhile.
• Cool evenings in winter call for a warm layer.

Jaisalmer Fort is a living fort, with homes, shops and guesthouses inside its walls.

• Walk in with your guide at a gentle pace through the lanes, past the Jain temples carved in yellow sandstone, and up to the ramparts for a view across the rooftops.
• Then visit the Patwon Ki Haveli, a cluster of merchant mansions with elaborate stone balconies, and the Nathmal Ki Haveli nearby.
• Lunch is in the old town.
• The hot hours are for rest.
• In the late afternoon, take a short drive to the Bada Bagh cenotaphs, where royal memorial domes stand on a ridge, and watch the sun lower across the desert.
• It is a walking-heavy day, so wear comfortable shoes and carry water.

Today you go out to the dunes.

• After a late breakfast, drive to the abandoned village of Kuldhara, whose empty stone houses stand in rows on the plain, and the guide explains the legend of its people.
• Continue to the sand dunes near Sam or Khuri, depending on conditions.
• Afternoon is for a jeep ride across the sand and, if you wish, a gentle camel ride as the heat falls.
• The sun sets over the dunes in a long, quiet glow, and a simple desert dinner with folk music can be discussed when we plan.
• Return to Jaisalmer by car.
• Nights can be cold in winter and very hot in summer, and dunes are best in the cooler months, so wear closed shoes and take a scarf for the sand.

Leave Jaisalmer after breakfast and retrace your route across the desert, roughly five to six hours back to Jodhpur.

• The way feels shorter in reverse because you know the landscape.
• Stop for tea in a roadside village, and lunch at a restaurant on the highway.
• You arrive at Jodhpur in the afternoon and have the rest of the day free.
• If you have energy, the guide can take you through the old town, where turmeric, cumin and chilli are sold in the market, or to Mandore Gardens, a quiet park of royal memorials just north of the city.
• Otherwise rest at the hotel.
• Dinner can be on a roof terrace under the fort.
• Tomorrow brings another long drive, so go to bed early.

This is the longest and most scenic day.

• Drive south-east from Jodhpur toward the Aravalli hills, and after roughly three to four hours reach Ranakpur, a marble Jain temple with over a thousand carved pillars in a wooded valley.
• The guide explains the carvings and the sect that built it.
• Visitors remove shoes and leather and cover shoulders and knees.
• Lunch is nearby.
• The final stretch to Udaipur is roughly two and a half hours through forested hills, and you arrive in the evening.
• In total, expect a six to seven hour day on the road, with the lush hills a welcome change after the desert.
• Dinner is a quiet one near the lake.

Udaipur is the softest city of the journey, with white palaces on the edge of Lake Pichola.

• Begin at the City Palace in the morning, a complex of courtyards, balconies and painted rooms overlooking the water, and let the guide explain the Mewar dynasty.
• Walk down to the Jagdish Temple and the lanes around it, where silver shops and miniature painters work.
• After lunch, visit Saheliyon ki Bari, a garden of fountains, then in the late afternoon take a boat on the lake, timed to the light before sunset.
• A visit to a miniature painting studio can be arranged if you wish.
• Dinner on a rooftop gives a last view of the lit palaces.
• A shawl helps against the evening breeze.

Your last morning is yours.

• If your flight is later you can walk by the lake or browse the City Palace shops.
• The driver takes you to Udaipur airport, roughly forty minutes away, or to the station if you travel by train, and helps with the bags.
• Flights are not included in our journeys, so book your onward flight when the plan is confirmed and allow a comfortable margin for security.
• If you continue to Mumbai or Delhi, we can plan checkout around your schedule.
• After fourteen days on the road, you will have crossed from the Yamuna plain to the sands of the Thar.
• Safe travels, and thank you for choosing a private journey with us.