Why we finish on the Ganga
For Rajasthani families, Kashi was never a foreign city. It was where you went, at least once, to pray. Rajasthan's story and Kashi's are more tangled than most travellers realise, and this journey lets you feel it.
Man Mandir: Raja Man Singh of Amber built a palace on the ghats of Varanasi around 1600.
A sister observatory: more than a century later, Sawai Jai Singh II, the astronomer-king who founded Jaipur in 1727, added one of his five observatories to its roof, a sister of the Jantar Mantar in Jaipur.
- Man Mandir
- Built by Raja Man Singh, around 1600
- Its observatory
- Added by Sawai Jai Singh II
- Jaipur founded
- 1727
- Udaipur founded
- 1559
- Direction
- West to east, Varanasi last
- A parade of royal houses: Rajput, Maratha and other dynasties from across India built palaces and bathing steps along the river in the same centuries.
- Why west to east: Rajasthan is a gentle introduction to India, with palaces with gardens, forts with guides and cities that ask little of you.
- Varanasi asks a great deal: it is crowded, loud and sometimes shocking, a city where people come to die and where the cremation fires never go out.
- And the most moving: it is also the most deeply moving place we know.
- Arrive with open eyes: after two weeks of learning how India works. Start there and it can overwhelm the rest.
- Udaipur: founded in 1559 by Maharana Udai Singh II, on its lakes.
- Jodhpur: the Rathore capital below Mehrangarh.
- Jaipur: our own city, built by the same Kachwaha kings who built on the Ganga.
- Agra: where Shah Jahan, the son of a Jodhpur princess, built the Taj Mahal.
Day by day, from the lakes to the river
- Nights
- Twelve nights, thirteen days
- Pace
- Unhurried, two flights save the long roads
- Best months
- October to March
- Good for
- First-timers who want sacred India too
- Starts
- Delhi airport
- Ends
- Varanasi, flying via Delhi or Mumbai
Day 1: Delhi
- Arrival: we meet you at the airport and take you to a quiet hotel for a proper night's sleep.
- In daylight: an hour at Humayun's Tomb in the late afternoon is the loveliest introduction to the Mughal architecture you will meet again in Agra.
Days 2 and 3: Udaipur
The flight: the morning flight to Udaipur, about an hour, to a room on the water.
Late afternoon on Pichola: after lunch and a rest, a boat on Lake Pichola past the Lake Palace to Jag Mandir. Stay on the water as the lights come on along the ghats.
- Day three, the palace at opening: the City Palace before the groups. Give it the morning.
- The old town: walk down to the Jagdish temple and the ghats, then rest through the afternoon.
- Evening: the folk dances at Bagore ki Haveli, or a quiet dinner on a terrace facing the lake.
Days 4 and 5: Jodhpur
Ranakpur on the way: drive north after breakfast to Ranakpur, where the marble Jain temple is carved with a traditional count of 1,444 pillars and the light moves across them through the morning.
The drive: five to six hours in all, with lunch before Jodhpur. Our route guide on Udaipur to Jodhpur via Ranakpur has the stops.
- Day five, Mehrangarh at opening: Mehrangarh, giving the museum and the painted palaces the morning.
- Down the hill: through the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park to Jaswant Thada.
- The blue lanes at dusk: after a rest, a guide who grew up in Brahmpuri leads you to the clock tower for a hot mirchi bada and a glass of makhaniya lassi.
Days 6 to 8: Jaipur
The drive: about five to six hours east, with a long lunch on the way, arriving for a sunset drink on the lawns of your palace hotel.
The road: our Jaipur to Jodhpur route describes it in the other direction.
- Day seven, Amber at first light: Amber Fort before the crowds and the heat.
- Afternoon: the City Palace, where the royal family still lives, and the Jantar Mantar, whose instruments have cousins on the Ganga.
- At dusk: the walled city's bazaars with one of our guides from the old lanes.
- Day eight, slower: the morning light on the face of the Hawa Mahal, a blue pottery or block printing session, or simply the pool.
- Evening: dinner at the palace. Our Jaipur itinerary has other ways to spend the day.
Day 9: Abhaneri, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra
Leave early: for the great stepwell of Abhaneri, Chand Baori, whose steps fall away in a perfect geometry.
- Fatehpur Sikri: Akbar's abandoned red sandstone capital.
- Agra by late afternoon: watch the sunset over the Taj Mahal from Mehtab Bagh, the moonlight garden across the Yamuna.
- The road: our notes on Agra to Jaipur via Abhaneri.
Day 10: The Taj at sunrise, then the flight east
The Taj at opening: be at the Taj Mahal as the gates open, when the marble turns from grey to pink to white.
Closed on Fridays: which is why we plan this day first and build the rest of the journey around it.
- After breakfast: Agra Fort.
- To Delhi: about three and a half to four hours on the expressway to the airport.
- The flight: to Varanasi, about an hour and a half. We meet you and bring you to the river in time for a late dinner.
Days 11 to 13: Varanasi
Before sunrise: a wooden rowing boat downstream, past the bathers, the priests under their umbrellas and, at a respectful distance, the fires of Manikarnika.
Up the galis: walk the lanes to the area of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, with a breakfast of kachori and jalebi, or malaiyo, saffron milk foam, if it is winter.
Sarnath: in the late morning, about twenty minutes to Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon, for the Dhamek Stupa and the lion capital of Ashoka.
- The evening aarti: at Dashashwamedh Ghat, from a boat.
- Day twelve, the weavers: a family in Madanpura, and Banarasi silk coming off the loom.
- The southern ghats: in the afternoon, from Assi to Kedar, the wrestlers at Tulsi Ghat, and the observatory on the roof of Man Mandir.
- A second aarti: from the steps this time, then a private music recital on a terrace above the ghats.
- Day thirteen: one last boat at dawn, then fly home through Delhi or Mumbai.
- Why it ends here: guests often tell us the last morning on the river was the moment the whole journey made sense.
Varanasi, with respect
It is not ghoulish to watch the fires at Manikarnika. Many Indians find it calming, a frank acknowledgement of death in the middle of daily life. But every fire is a family's funeral.
Manikarnika: the holiest cremation ground in Hinduism. Visitors are welcome to watch from a distance, ideally from a boat or an upper level with a guide.
The aarti: is worship, not a show, and asks the same quiet attention.
- The lanes: a shrine is set into every other wall. Our temple etiquette guide has more.
- Never photograph the cremations: or the bodies or the mourners. This rule is firm and it is enforced.
- A well-known trap: ignore anyone who offers to take you closer to the pyres or asks for money for wood or a hospice.
- Dress: modestly, covering shoulders and knees, with shoes you can slip off.
- Kashi Vishwanath: phones, bags and cameras are usually not allowed inside, so we arrange for them to be held.
- The river: don't drink from or swim in the Ganga. A sprinkle of water on the head is enough.
- Watch your step: the ghats are steep, uneven and often wet.
Eating your way from west to east
Udaipur: the Mewari kitchen gives you dal baati churma, baked wheat balls broken into lentils with sweet crumbled churma on the side.
Ghevar: the honeycombed sweet of the monsoon months.
Jodhpur breakfast: fried and glorious, mirchi bada hot from the pan and pyaaz kachori filled with spiced onion.
- Mawa kachori: soaked in syrup, and enough for two.
- Marwari home cooking: gentler, built on ker sangri, the dried desert berries and beans our grandmothers stored for the lean months, and gatte, gram-flour dumplings in yoghurt curry.
- Jaipur: lassi before noon, and a royal Rajput dinner of laal maas, the fiery mutton of the old hunting parties, softened with yoghurt and smoke.
- Agra: the Mughal kitchen takes over, with rich kormas and the translucent candied pumpkin called petha.
- Varanasi breakfast: much of the old city is vegetarian, and breakfast is kachori-sabzi and jalebi in the lanes.
- Varanasi evening: tamatar chaat, a tangy tomato dish found only in Banaras.
- To finish: every meal ends with a sweet paan, without tobacco.
- The dishes explained: our Rajasthani food guide.
How the days actually feel
The rhythm: a great sight at the first hour, when the light is soft and the crowds have not arrived, then a long lunch and a rest through the heat.
The late afternoon: a walk, a boat or a sunset.
- Udaipur to Jodhpur
- 5 to 6 hours, via Ranakpur
- Jodhpur to Jaipur
- 5 to 6 hours
- Agra to Delhi airport
- 3.5 to 4 hours
- Delhi to Udaipur
- About an hour by air
- Delhi to Varanasi
- About 1.5 hours by air
- In the car: rarely more than five hours at a stretch, and never arriving in the dark if we can help it.
- A free half day: at least one in every city of two nights or more.
- The first flight: Delhi to Udaipur saves a long day on the road.
- The second flight: to Varanasi replaces a journey that would otherwise take most of two days.
- The one long transfer: day ten, from the Taj at sunrise to the river at night.
- Kept gentle around it: so you arrive in Varanasi rested enough for the dawn boat.
Where you'll stay
Delhi: a calm first night
The Imperial: colonial corridors and gardens on Janpath.
- The Leela Palace, New Delhi: in the diplomatic quarter.
- Either way: both are quiet enough to sleep off a long flight.
Udaipur: a palace on the lake
Taj Lake Palace: floats on its island in Lake Pichola and is reached only by boat.
- On the shore: The Oberoi Udaivilas and The Leela Palace Udaipur sit side by side with long lake views.
- Quieter: Raffles Udaipur, on its own island in Udai Sagar east of the city.
Jodhpur: a maharaja's home or a haveli under the fort
- Umaid Bhawan Palace: finished in 1943 and still home to the royal family in one wing, with Art Deco interiors and a long view across the city to the fort.
- RAAS Jodhpur: inside the old city, directly under the walls of Mehrangarh.
Jaipur: palaces in our home city
Rambagh Palace: began in 1835 as a garden house and became the home of the maharajas. Choose it for royal history.
- The Oberoi Rajvilas: on 32 acres outside the city, for calm.
- Samode Haveli: a nobleman's house inside the walled city.
Agra: a room with a view of the Taj
- The Oberoi Amarvilas: about 600 metres from the monument, and every room looks towards the Taj Mahal, which matters when you only have one night.
- ITC Mughal: in its large gardens, a calmer alternative with a fine spa.
Varanasi: the river or a garden palace
BrijRama Palace: a sandstone palace on Darbhanga Ghat, reached by boat or through the lanes.
- Which room: the river-facing rooms on the upper floors look straight onto the Ganga. Waking there, with the bells and the river outside, is the reason to come.
- Taj Nadesar Palace: once a residence of the Maharajas of Banaras, in quiet gardens away from the river with only a handful of suites. It suits guests who find crowds tiring.
- Or both: some guests split their three nights between the two.
When to go, and what each season trades
October to March: the season for the whole route, with warm, dry days and cool nights.
December to February in Varanasi: cold, often misty mornings on the river, magical for the dawn boat but chilly, so bring a shawl.
The same months elsewhere: mist at the Taj at sunrise, cold early starts at Amber, and the softest light on Lake Pichola.
- Best
- October to March
- Misty mornings
- December to February
- Very hot
- April to June
- Monsoon
- Ganga over the lower ghats
- Dev Deepawali
- Full moon of Kartik
- April to June: both regions are very hot, and the boat rides and fort climbs become hard work.
- July to September: Udaipur's hills turn green and the lakes fill, but the Ganga rises over the lower ghats and boats are often stopped.
- Month by month: our pages on the best time to visit Varanasi and the best time to visit Rajasthan.
- October or November: Diwali lights up Jaipur and Udaipur.
- Dev Deepawali: about two weeks after Diwali, at the full moon of Kartik, clay lamps line Varanasi's ghats from end to end. It is the most beautiful night on the river and the most crowded.
- The Ramlila of Ramnagar: in autumn, across the river from Varanasi, performed over about a month and recognised by UNESCO as intangible heritage.
- 14 January: Makar Sankranti fills the sky over Jaipur's walled city with kites.
- February or March: Mahashivratri brings huge crowds to the Vishwanath temple, and Holi is wild in Varanasi and joyful in Udaipur.
Make it yours
The temple road through Orchha and Khajuraho
Three or four more nights: leave Agra by the fast Gatimaan Express to Jhansi.
Orchha: two nights in the forgotten Bundela capital on the Betwa.
- Khajuraho: then four to five hours by road to the Chandela temples.
- On to Varanasi: fly when the seasonal flights run, or by way of Delhi when they don't.
- The slower, richer way: our Rajasthan, Orchha and Khajuraho journey shows the Bundela half in detail.
With less time
- Nine nights: drop Jodhpur and fly from Udaipur to Jaipur, or keep Jodhpur and give Varanasi two nights instead of three.
- Our minimum on the river: two nights. One dawn boat and two evening aartis is the least the city deserves.
For families
Children love: the boat on Pichola, the cannon at Mehrangarh and the observatory in Jaipur.
- A break in Varanasi: Sarnath's gardens and deer, and the Taj Nadesar Palace gives a family room to breathe.
- The burning ghats: we keep them for older children and explain them gently.
- More: our page on travelling with children.
For couples
Udaipur: a night at the Taj Lake Palace.
- Jaipur: a private dinner on a rooftop.
- Varanasi: all three nights at BrijRama, with breakfast on the terrace above the river.
- Worth every rupee: a private boat for the aarti, held at the front of the river.
For repeat visitors and pilgrims
- Buddhist travellers: continue from Varanasi to Bodh Gaya, about six hours by road.
- For the temples: our Sacred Rajasthan journey.
How we look after you
Never alone at a terminal: we meet you in Delhi, at Udaipur Airport and again at Varanasi.
One chauffeur in Rajasthan and Agra: he drives you the whole way, then hands you to a second car and driver in Varanasi.
Varanasi on foot: the old city is walked, rowed and rickshawed rather than driven.
- Local guides chosen for each place: a Brahmpuri man in Jodhpur, one of our own walled-city guides in Jaipur, and a guide in Varanasi whose family has lived beside the ghats for generations.
- Booked for you: the flights, the boats and the reserved places at the aarti.
- Phones and bags: we hold them when the temples ask.
- The dawn boatman: works with us year after year.
- Winter fog: if it changes a Delhi flight, your planner rearranges the day before you have landed.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: throughout.
- No published prices: the season, the festivals and your rooms change everything. We quote after one conversation.
- The routing explained: our journal piece on combining Rajasthan and Varanasi and our guide to airports and flights.
Who will love it, and who should choose another journey
Palaces and the oldest living city: you will love it if you want the grace of one and the force of the other in one journey.
Faith and ritual: if you are curious about them, and happy to rise before dawn for a boat on a cold river.
- Who it suits: first-time visitors who want more than the Golden Triangle, couples, families with older children, and anyone whose family has a story about Kashi.
- Not right if: crowds, poverty or the sight of death are hard for you to face, or you would rather spend every night in a palace.
- A calmer finale: choose Golden Triangle and Udaipur.
- More Rajasthan, no Ganga: choose The Royal Rajputana.
- The Taj and Rajasthan alone: see Rajasthan with the Taj Mahal.
- Unsure: tell us, and we will say honestly which suits you.
