The rhythm of a good Jodhpur day
Mornings: the stone is cool, the light soft and the coach groups still at breakfast.
Midday: lunch in the shade and a rest at your hotel, especially from March onwards.
- Mornings
- The fort and the monuments
- Midday
- A long lunch and a rest
- Late afternoon
- The old city
- Evenings
- Clock tower, rooftop or palace terrace
- Getting around
- Private car and driver, local guide
- Late afternoon: the old city reopens as the heat fades.
- Evening: Mehrangarh lights up above the clock tower, a rooftop or a palace terrace.
- See less, better: we would rather you spent two unhurried hours in the fort museum and an hour on the stepwell's steps than raced through eight places before lunch.
- Our assumptions: a private car and driver, and a local guide for the fort and the old city.
- Read first: our main Jodhpur guide for the background.
How far everything is
On foot: the fort, Jaswant Thada, the stepwell, Brahmpuri and the clock tower are all within walking distance of each other.
- Old-city sights
- Walking distance, steep up to the fort
- Umaid Bhawan
- A ten-minute drive
- Mandore
- About twenty minutes, nine km north
- Bishnoi villages
- From about half an hour south
- Osian
- About ninety minutes north
- The one climb: the walk up to the fort is steep.
- Short drives: Umaid Bhawan is about ten minutes away and Mandore about twenty.
- Into the country: the Bishnoi villages begin about half an hour south of the city.
How many days to give Jodhpur
One day: enough for Mehrangarh, Jaswant Thada, the stepwell, Brahmpuri and the clock tower, but nothing beyond the city.
Two days: the minimum we suggest, adding the Bishnoi villages, the Umaid Bhawan museum and the cenotaphs of Mandore.
- One day
- The fort and the old city
- Two days
- Adds Bishnoi country and Mandore
- Three days
- Adds Osian's temples and dunes
- Four days
- Adds a village fort night
- Three days: time to slow down, with a whole morning at the fort, a free afternoon at the pool and Osian's temples and dunes.
- Four days or more: a night in a village fort such as Rohet Garh, Khimsar or Chandelao, and room for swaps like Nagaur, Khichan or a craft day.
- With children: afternoons planned around a hotel garden and pool suit a longer stay.
- In festival week: keep a separate morning for the fort's palaces and museum, because the courtyards become stages.
One day in Jodhpur
Morning, Mehrangarh as the gates open
Opening time: be at the gates of Mehrangarh.
The climb: through the seven gates, pausing at the handprints by Loha Pol.
- Quiet courtyards: Moti Mahal, Phool Mahal, Sheesha Mahal and the painted Takhat Vilas.
- The museum: at least an hour and a half in the galleries.
- The ramparts: past the old cannon for the classic view of the blue city.
- Walk down: through the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park to Jaswant Thada.
Afternoon, lunch and the stepwell
Lunch and rest: long, in the old city or at your hotel, through the hottest hours.
- About four: walk to Toorji ka Jhalra, the restored stepwell of around 1740, and sit on the steps.
- Brahmpuri: climb the blue lanes below the fort with your guide as the light softens and families come out onto their doorsteps.
Evening, the clock tower at dusk
As the lights come on: the clock tower and Sardar Market.
- Eat: a hot mirchi bada, and a makhaniya lassi if it isn't too late.
- Watch: the market fill with local families.
- Dinner: on a rooftop or your hotel terrace, with Mehrangarh floodlit gold above you.
Two days in Jodhpur
- Day one
- Fort, Jaswant Thada, stepwell, clock tower
- Day two morning
- Bishnoi villages, leave by seven
- Day two afternoon
- Umaid Bhawan museum, Mandore
- Evening
- Palace terrace or Manganiyar music
Day one, the fort and the old city
- The plan: as the one-day plan, from Mehrangarh at opening to the clock tower at dusk.
- Order clothes: stop at a bandhani workshop behind the market, or order a bandhgala from a tailor, so it is ready before you leave.
Day two, morning in the Bishnoi villages
Leave early: by about seven, for the Bishnoi villages south of the city.
In the fields: blackbuck graze without fear.
- People: tea in a farmer's courtyard, the potters, and the durrie weavers of Salawas.
- Khejarli: where Amrita Devi and hundreds of others gave their lives in 1730 to protect the khejri trees. Read about Bishnoi conservation.
- Ask your guide: about the community's twenty-nine rules and the khejri, which feeds goats, fixes the soil and shades the fields.
- Buy a durrie: this is the morning, directly from the weaver who made it.
Day two, afternoon and evening
Before lunch: the Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum.
Late afternoon: nine kilometres north to Mandore, the old capital, among the red sandstone cenotaphs of the Rathore kings as the light turns warm.
- Dinner: on the terrace at Umaid Bhawan Palace, or a private evening of Manganiyar music in a haveli courtyard.
- Staying in town: swap Mandore for Kaylana Lake at sunset, where Jodhpur families gather on the banks.
- Early night: keep the evening long and unhurried, because the next morning starts early.
Three days in Jodhpur
Days one and two, as above
The same ground: the fort, the old city, the Bishnoi villages, the palace museum and Mandore.
- A slower pace: give the fort a whole morning without watching the clock.
- A free afternoon: keep one for nothing but the pool and a book.
Day three, morning in the quiet city
Before the shops open: an early walk or cycle ride past the gates and small shrines, with chai at a corner stall.
- Mahamandir: built in the early nineteenth century under Maharaja Man Singh for the Nath yogis, and still a busy place of worship.
- Or go green: walk the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park trails at first light, when birds are busy and the fort above turns pink.
- Calm and local: mornings most visitors never see. Then an early lunch.
Day three, afternoon at Osian
The drive: about ninety minutes north to Osian, once a great trading town on the desert routes.
The temples: early Hindu and Jain temples, among the oldest in Rajasthan, every carving sharp in afternoon light.
- Sachiya Mata: climb to the goddess's temple.
- Sunset: out to the dunes by camel or jeep, or simply on foot.
- Night: back to Jodhpur for dinner, or a desert camp.
Four days in Jodhpur and Marwar
- Rohet Garh
- Under an hour south, by a lake
- Khimsar Fort
- North, with a dune village
- Chandelao Garh
- Simpler, village-centred
- Then onward
- Udaipur, Jaisalmer or Bikaner
Days one to three, the city and Osian
- The plan: as the three-day version, perhaps with a camp night at Osian.
- Add an experience: a cooking lesson with a Marwari family, a turban-tying session, a dawn walk in the rock park, or the furniture warehouses on the city's edge.
Day four, to a village fort
Rohet Garh: after a slow breakfast, under an hour south to Rohet Garh, the family fort by a lake where Bruce Chatwin worked on The Songlines.
- The afternoon: the pool, a walk in the village, and Marwari horses as the sun goes down.
- Or north: Khimsar Fort and its dune village.
- Or simpler: Chandelao Garh, for a more village-centred stay.
Day five morning, before you go on
Early: a ride or a walk across the fields.
- Onward: south to Ranakpur and Udaipur, west to Jaisalmer, or north to Nagaur and Bikaner.
- The bridge: a village fort night links Jodhpur to whatever comes next.
Day trips at a glance
Bishnoi villages: a morning, for blackbuck in the fields, a farmer's courtyard tea, the potters and the durrie weavers of Salawas.
Mandore and Bal Samand: an afternoon among the red cenotaphs, with tea by the lake on the way back.
- Bishnoi villages
- About half an hour south, leave by seven
- Mandore
- Nine km north, late afternoon
- Osian
- About ninety minutes north, afternoon light
- Nagaur
- About two and a half hours north-east
- Rohet Garh
- Under an hour south, stay the night
- Osian: an afternoon and a dune sunset, with the option of a night at a desert camp.
- Nagaur: a full day for Ahhichatragarh, or a night on the way to Bikaner.
- Khichan: from about September to March, for the cranes, folded into the journey towards Jaisalmer rather than a return trip.
- Rohet, Khimsar or Chandelao: better as a night than a day, with a dawn ride or walk before you move on.
What to eat, and when, on each day
Breakfast at a halwai
Once at least: skip the hotel buffet and eat like the city.
- At a halwai: a sweet-and-snack maker, for hot mirchi bada and pyaaz kachori with chai. Janta Sweet Home on Nai Sarak is an old favourite.
- Share: a mawa kachori, the syrup-soaked pastry of reduced milk. One is plenty for two.
- The habit explained: our pyaaz kachori guide.
Lunch, long and in the shade
The main meal: in Marwar, it's lunch.
- A thali: at Gypsy in Sardarpura, the city's best-known thali house.
- Or at home: a haveli-courtyard lunch with ker sangri, gatte, bajra rotis and white butter.
- Then rest: the hour when Jodhpur itself slows down.
Dusk at the clock tower
- Frying again: the stalls start up as the market lights come on.
- What to have: a hot snack and chai while you watch the city shop. Makhaniya lassi at Shri Mishrilal Hotel is traditionally a morning drink.
Dinner under the fort
The setting: a terrace with a view of Mehrangarh.
- Order: laal maas, the fiery mutton coloured with Mathania chillies, or a Marwari vegetarian spread.
- Every dish explained: our food of Jodhpur guide, with street-food safety too.
Making the most of arrival and departure days
By air: Jodhpur Airport is only a few kilometres from the centre, so a morning flight can have you at the fort by early afternoon.
Then swap the order: stepwell and lanes in the late afternoon, clock tower at dusk, fort first thing next morning.
- By road: from Jaipur or Udaipur you usually arrive by mid-afternoon, tired. Keep the evening easy, with a swim, a rooftop sunset and an early dinner.
- Leaving day: use the early morning, with a last walk through Brahmpuri at sunrise or Jaswant Thada as it opens.
- Then go: after breakfast, to reach Jaisalmer, Udaipur or a village fort in time for lunch.
- Drive times: our guide to road distances gives every leg.
A festival version for October
Plan around concerts: during the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, the music sets the day, not the sights.
Before dawn: sunrise sessions on the ramparts, then breakfast and a long rest.
- Afternoons: short outings to the stepwell, the lanes or the Umaid Bhawan museum.
- Evenings: back to the fort for the main concerts, which can run late into the night.
- The fort itself: see its palaces and museum on a separate morning, before or after the festival, because the courtyards become stages.
- Book together: hotels fill months ahead, so we book room, festival passes and car at once.
- Read more: our folk festival page, and folk music for private performances at other times.
Where Jodhpur fits in a longer journey
From Jaipur: we usually break the drive at Ajmer and Pushkar. Our Jaipur to Jodhpur route guide has the stops.
West to Jaisalmer: ideally with a night at Manvar in the dunes.
- From Jaipur
- About five to six hours
- To Jaisalmer
- About five hours west
- To Udaipur
- About five to six hours south
- To Bikaner
- Four to five hours north
- South to Udaipur: broken at Ranakpur for the great Jain temple, or with two nights among the leopards of Jawai.
- Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur: this journey gives Jodhpur two nights between the pink city and the lakes.
- The desert triangle: loops Jodhpur, Jaisalmer and Bikaner.
- Mewar and Marwar: pairs it with Udaipur and the forts of the south.
- Lakes to dunes: Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer.
- The long trip: the Royal Rajputana gives it the time it deserves.
Variations for families, couples and repeat visitors
For families with children
At the fort: keep to the highlights, and let children linger in the armoury and on the ramparts by the cannon.
Older children: the zipline over the fort walls.
- Younger ones: turban-tying and the camel ride at Osian.
- Every age: a Bishnoi village morning with blackbuck and potters.
- Hotels: gardens and a pool, such as Umaid Bhawan or Bal Samand, with afternoons planned around them. See travelling with children.
For couples
Mornings: a private early visit to the fort, then slow, free afternoons.
The room: one facing Mehrangarh.
- Evenings: rooftop sunset drinks, and a private haveli-courtyard dinner with musicians, or on the dunes near a village fort.
- A quiet ending: a night at Mihir Garh or Rohet Garh.
- The wider trip: our Rajasthan for two journey.
For repeat visitors
Go deeper: a morning with a historian on the Rathores.
- Further out: Nagaur's restored Ahhichatragarh fort, or Khichan for the demoiselle cranes in winter.
- Time it: for the October folk festival at Mehrangarh.
- Or reverse it: base yourself in the countryside and come into the city for single mornings in the bazaars.
For photographers
When: dawn walks in Brahmpuri, evenings at Jaswant Thada and on the rooftops.
- The fort's light: the first hour after sunrise and the half hour after sunset.
- Our angles: best photo spots in Jodhpur, and our photography journey builds trips around the light.
For travellers in the hot months
April to June: shift everything earlier. Fort at opening, back by eleven, out again only after four.
- Osian: swap the afternoon for a dawn drive.
- Roads: keep journeys to the morning.
- Each month: our best time to visit Jodhpur guide.
Days you can swap in
Nagaur instead of Osian
Where: about two and a half hours north-east, Nagaur.
- Ahhichatragarh: a fort restored with great care by the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, with palaces, gardens and painted rooms.
- How long: a full day, or a night on the way to Bikaner. Quieter than Osian.
Khichan in the crane season
When: about September to March.
- What: demoiselle cranes in their thousands, fed by the villagers each morning.
- How: a long drive, so we fold it into the journey towards Jaisalmer. Read about the demoiselle cranes of Khichan.
A craft day
- With makers: a bandhani workshop in the old city, a bandhgala fitting with a tailor, the durrie weavers of Salawas and the Bishnoi potters.
- How we choose: our crafts page.
A slower day for older travellers
The fort's lift: it rises to the palace level.
- Little walking: the fort, the Umaid Bhawan museum and a drive to Mandore and Bal Samand.
- Instead of Brahmpuri: its lanes are steep and uneven, so a rooftop view and an auto-rickshaw ride along the old city's edge.
- More: our accessible travel guide.
Where to base yourself
Short stays: RAAS Jodhpur sits directly under the walls, a short walk from the stepwell and the clock tower.
Longer stays: Umaid Bhawan Palace, Ajit Bhawan or Bal Samand Lake Palace give space and calm.
- Short stay
- One or two nights close to the fort
- Longer stay
- Three nights or more, or with children, a palace with gardens
- A fourth night
- A village fort
- Split the stay: two nights in the old city for the sights, then a night or two at a palace or village fort to rest.
- Worth the move: the contrast between the lanes and the countryside is the whole point, and the drive is short.
- Compare them all: our guide to luxury hotels in Jodhpur.
Small things that make the plan work
Book a guide: for the fort and the old city. The audio guide is good, but a local guide brings the stories alive and knows which lanes to take.
Soft shoes with grip: the fort ramps and stepwell steps are polished smooth.
- Walk the old city: leave the car at the gate, or take an auto-rickshaw.
- Keep an afternoon free: the city is best with time to sit, watch and talk.
- Order clothes on day one: good tailors need a few days and at least one fitting.
- Street food timing: morning and evening, where the queue is long and the oil hot. Save rich palace dinners for the evenings.
- Dress: cover shoulders and knees at temples and Jaswant Thada, and take your shoes off where others do.
- Khamma ghani: the Marwari greeting. It opens doors.
