Why the story does not stop at the border
A Rajasthan journey that reaches one of these neighbours does not change subject. It finishes the sentence.
Man Singh I: Raja Bharmal's grandson became one of Akbar's greatest generals and governed provinces from Kabul to Bengal.
Rajputs at court: the Kachwahas of Amer, the Hadas of Bundi and the Rathores of Jodhpur spent generations at Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi.
- A two-way exchange: they brought back Mughal gardens, painting and court manners, and left behind Rajput palaces, temples and soldiers.
- Read them together: you cannot fully understand Amber Fort without the Agra Fort, or Jaipur's City Palace without Delhi's Red Fort.
- Govind Dev ji: the god of the Jaipur royal family first stood in a temple at Vrindavan before he was carried to safety and installed in Jaipur.
- Shrinathji: the Krishna of Nathdwara came from the hill of Govardhan near Mathura.
- Pilgrims both ways: Rajasthanis still walk to Braj, and Braj's pilgrims still come to Rajasthan.
- West into Kutch: the Thar does not stop at the Gujarat line. It becomes the salt flats of Kutch, whose herders, embroiderers and printers share crafts with Barmer and Jaisalmer.
- South-east to Orchha: the Bundela kings were Rajputs who built palaces in the same spirit as ours.
- The practical reason: most international guests fly into Delhi, and Agra lies between Delhi and Jaipur.
- Other gateways: Gujarat's airports open the way to Udaipur and Mount Abu, and fast trains link Agra with Gwalior and Jhansi for Orchha.
- Logistics: our Rajasthan travel guide and airports and flights.
Agra, Delhi and the Mughal heartland
Three capitals: the Mughal emperors ruled from Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Delhi in turn, all within a day's drive of Jaipur.
The classic route: together they form the route most first-time visitors take.
- Makrana marble: the stone that built the Taj is still carved in the same quarry town. See our Makrana marble page.
- What travelled west: Mughal gardens, cusped arches and pietra dura inlay reached Amer, Jaipur and Udaipur.
- What stayed Rajput: palaces kept their crowded, vertical, intimate style, with painted rooms and hidden stairways instead of vast open courts.
- Two forts, one lesson: seeing Agra Fort and Amber Fort on one journey makes both easier to read.
- Two observatories: Sawai Jai Singh II, Jaipur's founder, built a Jantar Mantar in Delhi before the great one in his own city.
- Read more: Mughal and Rajput history, and Golden Triangle or Rajasthan to decide how much of each to see.
The neighbours, one by one
- Taj Mahal
- UNESCO 1983, closed Fridays
- Fatehpur Sikri
- Founded 1571
- Orchha
- Founded 1531
- Khajuraho temples
- About 950 to 1050
- Ahmedabad
- World Heritage City, 2017
- Dholavira
- UNESCO 2021
Agra, for the Taj Mahal
The tomb: Shah Jahan built it for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, who died in 1631, and the work went on for about two decades.
UNESCO 1983: together with the red sandstone Agra Fort.
- Twice: at sunrise, then at sunset from Mehtab Bagh across the Yamuna.
- Don't miss: the delicate tomb of Itimad-ud-Daulah, built by the empress Nur Jahan for her father.
- Getting there: four to five hours by road from Jaipur, or two hours or less from Delhi by fast train.
Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's red city
A saint's city: Akbar founded it in 1571 to honour the Sufi saint Salim Chishti, who had foretold the birth of his son.
A short reign: capital for about fourteen years, then left almost intact when the court moved on.
- UNESCO sights: the palaces, the Panch Mahal, the great mosque, the saint's white marble tomb and the soaring Buland Darwaza.
- An Amer queen: Raja Bharmal's daughter was one of Akbar's queens here.
- On the way: about 40 kilometres from Agra on the Jaipur road, so we always stop.
Delhi, the city of cities
Layer on layer: each dynasty rebuilt Delhi and left a monument.
Qutub Minar: begun around 1200.
- Humayun's Tomb: finished around 1570, one of the great inspirations for the Taj.
- The Red Fort: Shah Jahan's fort over the lanes of Chandni Chowk. All three are UNESCO sites.
- New Delhi: Lutyens' avenues spread to the south.
- Allow two nights: at the start or end, with an Old Delhi food walk and a quiet morning at Lodhi Gardens.
Mathura and Vrindavan, the land of Krishna
Krishna's country: Mathura is revered as his birthplace, and Vrindavan as the forest where he grew up among cowherds.
Braj: with Govardhan, Barsana and Nandgaon, north India's most loved pilgrimage country.
- An Amer temple: Vrindavan's Govind Dev temple was built in 1590 by Raja Man Singh I.
- Holi: legendary here, especially the Lathmar Holi of Barsana.
- The museum: Mathura's government museum holds superb early sculpture in red sandstone.
- Where: on the Delhi to Agra expressway, about an hour from Bharatpur.
Gwalior, the pearl among fortresses
Babur's phrase: he called it the pearl among the fortresses of Hind. It runs along a sandstone plateau above the city.
Man Mandir: Raja Man Singh Tomar's palace of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, covered in turquoise, yellow and green tiles.
- Older temples: the Teli ka Mandir and the eleventh-century Sas-Bahu temples, with giant Jain figures carved into the cliffs below.
- Jai Vilas Palace: the Scindia family's palace in the city, a museum of chandeliers and royal treasures.
- Getting there: two to three hours south of Agra by road, less by fast train.
Orchha, the Bundela capital
Founded in 1531: by the Bundela Rajput chief Rudra Pratap Singh, on a bend of the Betwa river.
Half lost in the trees: palaces, temples and royal chhatris.
- Jahangir Mahal: built by the Bundela king Bir Singh Deo for the emperor's visit.
- Ram Raja temple: Ram is worshipped as a reigning king and saluted daily by armed police.
- Dusk: the chhatris along the Betwa turn to gold.
- Getting there: 15 to 20 kilometres from Jhansi, which fast trains reach from Agra and Gwalior.
Khajuraho, temples of the Chandelas
The builders: the Chandela kings raised dozens of temples between about 950 and 1050, and around twenty-five survive.
UNESCO: among the highest achievements of Indian sculpture.
- More than erotica: the famous carvings are a small part of a vast world of gods, dancers, musicians, soldiers and animals.
- At sunrise: climb the Kandariya Mahadeva platform and let your eyes travel up its tower like a mountain range.
- Getting there: three to four hours by road from Orchha, and it has its own airport.
Varanasi, on the Ganga
One of the oldest living cities: and the holiest for Hindus.
The ghats: pilgrims bathe at dawn, and cremation fires burn day and night at Manikarnika.
- Ganga aarti: every evening Dashashwamedh Ghat fills with lamps and bells.
- Sarnath: a short drive away, where the Buddha preached his first sermon.
- Banarasi silk: its weavers make the saris worn at Rajasthani weddings.
- Getting there: a short flight from Delhi, and a profound ending to a Rajasthan journey.
Ahmedabad, the walled city of Gujarat
Founded in 1411: by Sultan Ahmed Shah on the Sabarmati.
India's first World Heritage City: the old walled city, inscribed in 2017.
- The pols: gated neighbourhoods of carved wooden houses, best walked at dawn.
- Sights: the stone lattice of the Sidi Saiyyed mosque, the Adalaj stepwell, Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram and the Calico Museum of Textiles.
- Rani ki Vav: the extraordinary eleventh-century stepwell at Patan, a day trip away.
- Getting there: four to five hours by road from Udaipur.
Kutch, the white desert
The Thar's salt-white cousin: in winter the Great Rann dries into a vast, shining crust.
Rann Utsav: the festival raises a tent city at Dhordo.
- Crafts: ajrakh printing at Ajrakhpur, rogan painting at Nirona, bandhani, and the mirror embroidery of herding and farming communities.
- Dholavira: a Harappan city more than four thousand years old, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021.
- Bhuj: the old capital, its palaces still scarred by the earthquake of 2001.
Gujarat, the Thar's other shore
Never truly separate: caravans crossed between western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat for centuries.
Shared people: the same pastoral communities follow their flocks on both sides.
Shared crafts: ajrakh printing is practised in both Barmer and Kutch.
- Jain builders: the merchants behind Ranakpur and Dilwara also built across Gujarat.
- Stepwell cousins: the stepwells of Ahmedabad and Patan are grand relatives of Rajasthan's baoris.
- How we join it: from Udaipur or Mount Abu, south to Ahmedabad, then by air or road to Kutch.
- Give Kutch time: three or four nights, ideally in the Rann Utsav months, November to February.
- Routes: our Rajasthan and Kutch journey and Mount Abu and Gujarat's heritage.
- Read more: Rajasthan and Kutch, and luxury stays in Kutch for where to sleep.
Gwalior, Orchha and Khajuraho
The route of forts and temples: Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi and Orchha, then across the Bundelkhand countryside to Khajuraho.
Unhurried days: each stop is about two to four hours from the next.
- Agra to Gwalior
- Fast train or short drive
- Gwalior to Orchha
- A short hop via Jhansi
- Orchha to Khajuraho
- Three to four hours
- Each leg
- About two to four hours
- Two nights in Orchha: always, because its beauty is in its evenings.
- What each gives you: Gwalior a hilltop fort and a Maratha palace, Orchha a riverside town of Rajput palaces almost free of crowds, Khajuraho a thousand years of sculpture.
- Who it suits: travellers who have seen the Golden Triangle, or who love architecture.
- Where to stay: the Taj Usha Kiran Palace in Gwalior, and our guide to where to stay in Orchha and Khajuraho.
- Read more: Orchha, the forgotten capital and the Gwalior Fort. Rajasthan, Orchha and Khajuraho is the ready-made route.
Braj and Varanasi, the sacred east
Braj is not abroad: the Krishna of Braj is the Krishna of Nathdwara and of Jaipur's Govind Dev ji.
Our mothers' songs: the Janmashtami songs we grew up with are songs about Vrindavan.
- With a guide: Mathura and Vrindavan make sense of much you'll see in Rajasthan's temples and paintings.
- When: Holi week if you can bear the joyful chaos, or winter for quieter temples.
- An easy fit: Bharatpur and its bird sanctuary are close, so Braj sits naturally between Agra and Jaipur.
- Varanasi: a different order of experience. After weeks of palaces, it offers life and death lived openly on the river.
- Where to stay: on the ghats at BrijRama Palace, or in the calm gardens of the Taj Nadesar Palace.
- Link them: Rajasthan and Varanasi, and our journal piece on Rajasthan and Varanasi.
How we stitch the neighbours into a journey
The Golden Triangle, done slowly
A week: Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, with Fatehpur Sikri and the Abhaneri stepwell on the road.
- In Agra: The Oberoi Amarvilas, where every room looks at the Taj.
- In Delhi: The Imperial or The Oberoi, New Delhi.
Rajasthan with the Taj Mahal
- The longer route: Delhi, then Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur.
- The Taj last: Agra comes at the end, so it is the final great sight rather than the first.
A western loop into Gujarat
- The route: Udaipur, Mount Abu, Ahmedabad and Kutch, with lakes, Jain temples, stepwells, textiles and the white Rann.
- Who it suits: craft lovers, open-landscape lovers and second-time visitors.
Delhi, Jaipur and Agra in luxury
- Our shortest: five nights for guests with little time.
- Built around: the finest hotel in each city and private guides at every sight.
Seasons and festivals across the borders
Winter fog: December and January bring dense fog to Delhi, Agra and Varanasi some mornings, so we leave slack in train and flight plans.
The Rann in the monsoon: it floods and the salt desert disappears.
- Best season
- October to March
- Rann Utsav
- Roughly November to February
- Holi in Braj
- February or March
- Dev Deepawali
- Kartik full moon, usually November
- Khajuraho Dance Festival
- February
- Braj Holi: the most famous in India, with celebrations in Barsana and Nandgaon beginning days before the main festival.
- Dev Deepawali: the ghats of Varanasi are lit with countless lamps.
- Khajuraho: the dance festival is held against the floodlit temples.
- Gwalior: the music festival in honour of Tansen takes place in winter.
- Fridays: the Taj Mahal is closed. Read the Taj Mahal and Fridays before fixing dates in Agra.
What most visitors beyond Rajasthan miss
A prisoner's view: Shah Jahan spent his last years confined in Agra Fort by his son Aurangzeb, looking across the river at the Taj, and died there in 1666.
A widow's tomb: Humayun's Tomb was commissioned by his widow, Bega Begum, and designed by the Persian architect Mirak Mirza Ghiyas.
- Delhi Jantar Mantar
- 1724
- Khajuraho on UNESCO list
- 1986
- Rani ki Vav on UNESCO list
- 2014
- Shah Jahan died
- 1666, at Agra Fort
- Two sultans, one tower: the Qutub Minar was begun by Qutb-ud-din Aibak and finished by his successor Iltutmish.
- Jai Singh's first observatory: the Delhi Jantar Mantar dates from 1724, a few years before the larger one in Jaipur.
- A stepwell on a banknote: Rani ki Vav at Patan appears on the Indian hundred-rupee note.
- An island city: Dholavira stands on Khadir Bet, an island in the Great Rann.
- Tansen's tomb: the great singer of Akbar's court is buried in Gwalior, and the city's music festival is held in his honour.
What we tell friends crossing the border
See the Taj twice: at sunrise from inside and at sunset from Mehtab Bagh. The two views feel like different buildings.
Sacred towns: in Vrindavan and Varanasi, dress modestly, remove shoes at temples and ask before photographing people.
- Cremation ghats: photography is not welcome there.
- Take the train: fast trains often beat the road between Delhi, Agra, Gwalior and Jhansi. We arrange porters and a car at each end.
- Kutch crafts: buy from the makers' villages and cooperatives, where work is signed and fairly priced.
- Agra early: by late morning the Taj's marble is hot underfoot and crowds peak.
- Rest after Varanasi: the city is intense, and most guests want a quiet morning to think it over.