Four kingdoms, one argument in stone
We run the loop clockwise, from the Pink City into the desert and then south over the hills to the lakes. The long drives fall in the middle, when your energy is highest, and the palaces grow softer as you go, from the warrior forts of the Thar to the pleasure palaces on Lake Pichola.
Never one kingdom: until 1949 Rajasthan was a patchwork of princely states, each ruled by a clan with its own gods, its own dialect and its own long memory of who had wronged whom.
The Kachwahas: held Amer and later Jaipur.
- Nights
- Twelve, in six stops
- Pace
- Two nights in most places, three long drives
- Best months
- October to March
- Good for
- History lovers who want the great forts
- Starts
- Jaipur, by air or road from Delhi
- Ends
- Udaipur, with flights from Dabok
- The Rathores: held Marwar from Jodhpur, and a Rathore prince, Rao Bika, rode north to found Bikaner in 1488.
- The Bhatis: held the desert road from Jaisalmer.
- The Sisodias of Mewar: held the Aravalli hills, first from Chittor and Kumbhalgarh, then from Udaipur. Our page on the Rajput dynasties tells the full story.
- Built for the landscape: each clan built for its own country and its own enemies. Amber climbs a ridge above a lake, its walls running along the hills to Jaigarh.
- Junagarh: sits flat on the desert plain at Bikaner behind a moat and a tall red wall, and it was never taken by siege.
- Jaisalmer: rises from a yellow sandstone hill and is still lived in by thousands of people.
- Mehrangarh: grows straight out of a cliff, so that rock and rampart are hard to tell apart.
- Kumbhalgarh: hides in the folds of the Aravallis behind a wall that runs for about 36 kilometres.
- Where the clans showed off: inside every wall is a palace. The Sheesh Mahal at Amber is lined with mirror, and the Anup Mahal at Bikaner glows red and gold.
- Painted and grown: Mehrangarh's Phool Mahal is painted with the musical moods called ragas, and Udaipur's City Palace grew for four hundred years into the largest palace complex in Rajasthan.
- A shared language: over twelve nights you learn to recognise the jharokha window, the chhatri pavilion and the zenana, the women's quarters behind carved screens, and how each clan bent them to its own taste.
- The right order to end in: the drives are long in the middle of the journey and short at the end, when you want to slow down.
Day by day, fort by fort
- Delhi to Jaipur
- About 280 km, four to five hours
- Jaipur to Bikaner
- Five to six hours
- Bikaner to Jaisalmer
- Five to six hours
- Jaisalmer to Jodhpur
- About 285 km, around five hours
- Kumbhalgarh to Ranakpur
- About an hour
- Kumbhalgarh to Udaipur
- About 85 km, two and a half hours
Days 1-3: Jaipur and Amer
Arrive and rest: reach Jaipur by air or by road from Delhi, and take the first evening slowly.
Amber at opening time: reach Amber Fort as the gates open, while the Sheesh Mahal is still yours.
Who built it: Raja Man Singh I began the palace-fortress in the late sixteenth century, and his successors kept adding to it for 150 years.
- On foot or by car: we walk or drive up, and we don't book elephant rides.
- Jaigarh above: climb on to Jaigarh Fort on the ridge for its great cannon, the Jaivana, and the best view down onto Amber and Maota Lake.
- Sunset: rest through the afternoon, then watch the sun set over the Pink City from Nahargarh.
- The walled city: begin at Hawa Mahal just after sunrise, walk the bazaars as they open, and visit the Jantar Mantar near midday, when its instruments are most legible.
- The City Palace: a private tour in the late afternoon of the City Palace, including the gilded rooms of the Chandra Mahal.
- Why begin here: the former royal family still lives in the City Palace. A palace journey should start in a palace that is still a home.
Days 4-5: Bikaner, the red fort on the plain
Into the Thar: leave Jaipur after breakfast for the long drive north-west, about five to six hours.
Watch the road: the landscape empties as you go, the turbans change colour, and camel carts appear on the verges.
- Arrive for tea: spend the evening on the terrace of your palace hotel in Bikaner as the red sandstone turns the colour of rose petals.
- Junagarh, the whole morning: enter Junagarh as it opens. It was built between 1589 and 1594 for Raja Rai Singh, one of Akbar's generals.
- Never looted: its walls were never taken by siege, so its interiors were never stripped.
- The rooms: walk from the mirrored Phool Mahal to the red and gold Anup Mahal and the Badal Mahal, painted with blue clouds and falling rain in a city where rain is precious.
- The old city: after lunch and a rest, walk to the carved Rampuria havelis and the Bhandasar Jain temple in the late light.
- For early risers: the temple of Karni Mata at Deshnoke, about 30 kilometres south, is quietest first thing in the morning.
Days 6-7: Jaisalmer, the golden fort
The drive west: about five to six hours to Jaisalmer across scrub and dune country, timed so you arrive in the late afternoon as the fort turns gold.
Vyas Chhatri: we take you to the ridge north of the walls for the half hour after sunset, when the fort's lights come on one by one.
- Gadisar at sunrise: row on the lake before the town wakes.
- Up through four gates: Jaisalmer Fort was begun by Rawal Jaisal in 1156 and is still home to around four thousand people.
- Inside the walls: visit the seven Jain temples during morning worship, and climb the Raj Mahal for the view over the roofs to the desert.
- The haveli lanes: in the afternoon walk below the fort to Patwon ki Haveli, Salim Singh ki Haveli and Nathmal ki Haveli.
- Bada Bagh: end among the royal cenotaphs, gold on gold at sunset.
Days 8-9: Jodhpur, under Mehrangarh
The drive east: about five hours to Jodhpur through the farming villages of Marwar.
Jaswant Thada: in the late afternoon visit the white marble memorial completed in 1906, whose stone is cut so thin in places that it glows in the low sun.
The clock tower at dusk: walk into the square and Sardar Market as the stalls fill with families and the smell of frying chillies.
- Mehrangarh at opening time: Rao Jodha began Mehrangarh in 1459 on a lone ridge about 122 metres above the plain.
- Seven gates: you climb through them, each recording a moment in the Rathore story.
- Inside: the Moti Mahal, the Phool Mahal and the painted Takhat Vilas, and one of the finest museum collections in Rajasthan.
- Ramparts and rock park: walk the ramparts for the view over the blue city, then the trails of the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park below.
- Umaid Bhawan: after lunch, visit the museum wing of the vast Art Deco palace completed in 1943.
- The blue lanes: walk the old city with a guide in the late afternoon.
Day 10: Ranakpur, then Kumbhalgarh by evening
South into the hills: leave Jodhpur early. After about three and a half hours you reach Ranakpur.
The temple: the fifteenth-century Jain temple to Adinath built under Rana Kumbha, with its 1,444 marble pillars, by tradition no two alike.
- Not a fort, but essential: no journey through these hills should pass it by. Arrive as it opens to visitors and spend two unhurried hours there with a guide.
- Lunch under the trees: then an hour's winding drive through the sanctuary to Kumbhalgarh.
- The fortress: Rana Kumbha built it in the fifteenth century, and Maharana Pratap is believed to have been born inside it.
- The evening show: sit with our guide at the light and sound show, which is narrated in Hindi, and have the key moments translated quietly.
Day 11: the great wall at sunrise, then the lakes
The wall at first light: the sections either side of the main gates are almost empty, and the wall loops away over the ridges as far as you can see.
Badal Mahal: climb to the palace of clouds for the view over the forest to the plains of Marwar.
- Down to the lakes: drive south, about two and a half hours through the hills, to Udaipur.
- Pichola by private boat: after lunch and a rest, drift past Jag Mandir in the hour before sunset as the City Palace turns from cream to amber.
- The softening: after eleven days of forts, it is the moment the whole journey changes key.
Days 12-13: Udaipur, the palace on the ridge
City Palace at opening time: enter the City Palace and climb straight to the top courtyards before the tour groups.
Four hundred years of building: Udai Singh II began it after founding the city in 1559, and his successors kept building for four centuries.
- What to look for: the glass peacocks of the Mor Chowk, the garden courtyard of the Badi Mahal on top of a natural hill, and the royal portraits in the museum.
- The Monsoon Palace: after a long lunch, drive up to the Monsoon Palace at Sajjangarh an hour before sunset for the widest view over the lakes.
- The last morning: if your flight allows, visit Saheliyon ki Bari, the garden of the maidens, while its fountains run.
- Flying home: Udaipur's airport at Dabok has direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and other major cities.
Where you'll stay: palaces, mostly
- Rambagh Palace
- Begun 1835, a hotel since 1957
- Lalgarh
- Finished 1926, by Swinton Jacob
- Umaid Bhawan
- Built 1929 to 1943
- Taj Lake Palace
- Built 1743 to 1746
- Jaisalmer Fort
- We don't book hotels inside
Jaipur: Rambagh Palace
The story: Rambagh Palace began in 1835 as a garden house and became the residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi.
- A hotel since 1957: peacocks walk the lawns and the polo ground is next door.
- A modern retreat: The Oberoi Rajvilas is calm and spacious.
- Inside the walls: Samode Haveli puts you in the walled city.
Bikaner: Laxmi Niwas Palace or Narendra Bhawan
Laxmi Niwas Palace: Laxmi Niwas Palace is part of the Lalgarh complex, the red sandstone palace designed by Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob and finished in 1926.
- Stone like lace: it is carved into screens and balconies so fine they look like lace.
- Narendra Bhawan: Narendra Bhawan, once a home of the last maharaja, is a stylish boutique hotel with a rooftop pool.
- Who it suits: guests who like design and a touch of theatre.
Jaisalmer: Suryagarh
Not inside the fort: we don't put guests there, because the hill cannot take the water that hotels pour into it.
- Suryagarh: Suryagarh, about thirteen kilometres out on the Sam road, is a modern fort built in the old Jaisalmer manner and the same yellow stone, around courtyards and a pool.
- The best of both: you see the real fort by day and sleep in quiet.
- For romance and open desert: The Serai is a tented camp on private land off the Jodhpur road.
Jodhpur: Umaid Bhawan Palace or RAAS
Umaid Bhawan Palace: Umaid Bhawan Palace was begun in 1929 and finished in 1943, partly as famine relief, to designs by Henry Lanchester.
- The grandest of the journey: its Art Deco interiors are among the finest in Asia, and part of it is still the royal family's home.
- Under the fort: RAAS Jodhpur sets old haveli buildings and new red sandstone wings around a pool directly beneath Mehrangarh.
- Like family: Ajit Bhawan feels like staying with an old Jodhpur family.
Kumbhalgarh: the hillside below the walls
What's there: a handful of heritage-style resorts on the slopes below the fort, a few minutes from the gate, comfortable rather than grand, with gardens and pools.
- Why we stay close: you can see the lit fort after the show and walk the wall at sunrise without an early drive.
- For a palace instead: RAAS Devigarh at Delwara or Deogarh Mahal make a slower loop through the hills, at the cost of the evening at the fort.
Udaipur: inside the palace, or on the lake
Sleep inside one: Shiv Niwas Palace and Fateh Prakash Palace stand within the City Palace complex, so you can walk its courtyards after the visitors have gone.
- Across the water: the Taj Lake Palace is the summer palace built between 1743 and 1746, and it covers nearly its whole island.
- Weighing it up: our page on palace hotels explains what you gain and give up in a true heritage building.
How to read a Rajput fort
Rajput forts were built by people who expected to be besieged, and almost every detail has a purpose. Once you know what to look for, each fort on this route becomes a puzzle you can solve.
The approach: gates set at sharp angles on a ramp that doubles back, so that an army or a war elephant could never charge straight through. Jaisalmer has four such gates, Mehrangarh seven.
The spikes: iron spikes on old gate doors, set at the height of an elephant's forehead.
- The handprints: just inside Mehrangarh's Loha Pol, small handprints left by royal widows on their way to sati, a reminder of what the walls once meant.
- The water: step tanks, reservoirs and channels, because a fort that ran dry fell. Kumbhalgarh and Jaisalmer both hold their old tanks.
- The zenana: the women's quarters, behind carved stone screens called jali, built so the women of the court could see without being seen.
- The jharokha: the projecting balcony window, used for the ruler's public appearance and for catching the breeze.
- The mirror rooms: the Sheesh Mahal of Amber and its cousins, where a single lamp becomes a starry sky.
- The scars: on Mehrangarh's Dedh Kangra Pol you can still see the marks of cannon fire.
- Read further: our guide to reading Rajasthani architecture and our page on forts and palaces go deeper.
When to go, and what's on along the way
- October
- Folk festival at Mehrangarh
- Autumn full moon
- Marwar Festival, Jodhpur
- Early December
- Kumbhalgarh Festival, usually
- January
- Bikaner Camel Festival
- Magh full moon
- Desert Festival, usually February
October and November
The weather: warm days and cool nights, with the lakes of Udaipur usually full after the rains.
- Music at the fort: Jodhpur hosts the Rajasthan International Folk Festival at Mehrangarh in October.
- The full moon: the Marwar Festival falls on the autumn full moon.
- Diwali: in October or November, it lights every fort on the route.
December and January
Bright and cold: Bikaner has recorded temperatures below freezing in January, and the desert nights are sharp, so pack a warm layer.
- Chilly ramparts: Kumbhalgarh's walls are cold at dawn.
- Festivals: the Kumbhalgarh Festival is usually held in early December, and Bikaner celebrates its camels at the Bikaner Camel Festival in January.
- The busiest weeks: Christmas and New Year, for palace hotels especially.
February and March
Our favourite months: the most comfortable balance of warm days and mild nights.
- The Desert Festival: Jaisalmer's Desert Festival falls around the full moon of the Hindu month of Magh, usually in February, and the best rooms sell out early.
- Spring festivals: Holi arrives with the spring full moon, and Gangaur follows in Udaipur and Jaipur.
April to September
Too hot: from April the heat builds fast, and in May and June Jaisalmer and Bikaner pass 45°C. We don't run this journey then.
- The monsoon: July to September brings little rain to the desert but turns the Aravallis around Kumbhalgarh and Udaipur green.
- The green alternative: a shorter southern version, our Monsoon in Mewar, is lovely then.
- Month by month: see our best time to visit Rajasthan guide.
Make it yours
Add Chittorgarh
The greatest fort in Mewar: Chittorgarh is about two hours east of Udaipur.
- Its history: the capital of Mewar until 1568 and the scene of its three great sieges.
- With a thirteenth night: we spend a full day there and either return to Udaipur or stay at Castle Bijaipur, a sixteenth-century castle about an hour away.
Add a night in the dunes
- What you get: camels, Manganiyar music by the fire and a sky full of stars.
- The full version: our Under the Thar Sky journey is built around it.
Shorter: nine or ten nights
Drop Bikaner: drive from Jaipur to Jodhpur, about five to six hours, then on to Jaisalmer and back.
- Or skip the desert: go Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur.
- Ready-made versions: our Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer and Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur journeys.
Longer: fifteen nights or more
Delhi and Ranthambore: begin with two nights in Delhi and add Ranthambore, whose fort is another of the six UNESCO hill forts, between Jaipur and the desert.
- Close to our signature: that turns this tour into something like Royal Rajputana.
- For repeat visitors: Bundi's painted palace and Taragarh fort make a wonderful extra, as in Offbeat Rajasthan.
For families
What children love: the cannon at Jaigarh, the First World War biplane in Junagarh's museum, the old cannon on Mehrangarh's ramparts and the lit walls of Kumbhalgarh.
- How we adapt it: we shorten the long drives with stops and choose hotels with pools.
- More ideas: our family journeys page.
Flying instead of driving
Airports on the route: Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur have domestic flights, and Jaisalmer has seasonal winter flights.
- Swap a road day: for guests who dislike long drives, we can replace one with a flight.
- Or charter: a private charter through our helicopter and charter team.
- Honest advice: we'll tell you when the road is the better choice.
How we look after you
We are a Jaipur family, and we plan this journey the way we would for our own relatives visiting from abroad. We don't publish prices. After one conversation about your dates, your pace and your taste in hotels, we send a quote and a day-by-day plan you can change as often as you like.
Met and seen off: a meeting at the airport or station in Jaipur, and a farewell at Udaipur.
- One chauffeur, one car: for all twelve days, so your bags stay in the same boot and your driver learns how you like to travel.
- Local guides: born in every city, who know the fort's quiet corners and the families in the lanes below.
- Long drives, broken well: good stops for tea, lunch and a stretch, timed so you arrive for the evening light.
- Flights or trains: where they save real time, and never where they don't.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout, able to change a dinner, a guide or a whole day at short notice.
- No commission shopping: we take you to the usta painters of Bikaner, the tie-dyers of Jodhpur or the miniature painters of Udaipur only if you ask.
- Built around you: every grand tour is shaped by the people taking it, which is why there is no fixed price list.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
Understand, not just see: you'll love it if you want to understand Rajasthan, not just tick it off.
First-timers with two weeks: who would rather go deep into the old kingdoms than add Delhi and Agra.
- Love it
- History lovers, photographers, castle-loving families
- First-timers
- With two weeks, skipping Delhi and Agra
- Repeat visitors
- Who saw only Jaipur and Udaipur
- Think twice
- If long drives wear you out
- Who else: history lovers, photographers chasing desert light, and families with older children who like castles.
- Repeat visitors: who saw only Jaipur and Udaipur the first time and want the desert in between.
- If long drives wear you out: three days of this journey include five or six hours on the road.
- More rest, fewer hotels: Rajasthan for Two moves only twice.
- Merchants, not maharajas: our heritage havelis trail covers some of the same country from the merchants' side.
- If wildlife matters: Palaces and Tigers mixes palaces with Ranthambore and Jawai.
