Golden Triangle & Rajasthan in Depth

Arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport, where you are met and assisted through arrival formalities before being driven to your centrally located hotel. After check-in, the remainder of the day is free to relax, giving you time to recover from your journey. If energy permits, you may choose to explore a nearby market or enjoy your first Indian meal at a recommended restaurant. This gentle start sets a relaxed tone, ensuring you begin your Golden Triangle and Rajasthan tour refreshed and ready for the days of discovery ahead.

After breakfast, explore New Delhi’s broad boulevards and significant monuments, often including India Gate, the Presidential area and a key monument such as Humayun’s Tomb or Qutub Minar. Later, shift tempo as you venture into Old Delhi’s narrow lanes by cycle rickshaw, passing spice markets, jewellery shops and historic façades. Your guide introduces the stories behind mosques, temples and merchant homes, giving context to everyday life. Return to your hotel in the late afternoon, with the evening at leisure. This full day offers a rich overview before your journey continues to Agra.

Depart Delhi by road for Agra, typically a four-hour drive through semi-urban landscapes and farmland. After checking into your hotel and taking a short break, visit Agra Fort, whose red sandstone ramparts, palaces and river views introduce Mughal power and refinement. Later, join a guided street food walk, visiting carefully selected stalls to sample chaats, kebabs or sweets while learning how locals dine and socialise. This curated experience emphasizes both flavour and hygiene. Evening is at leisure, perhaps with a view toward the Taj Mahal from your hotel or a rooftop venue.

Leave Agra after an early Taj Mahal visit at sunrise, when the monument is at its most serene, then return to your hotel for breakfast and checkout. En route to Jaipur, stop at Fatehpur Sikri, Emperor Akbar’s once-abandoned capital with beautifully preserved palaces, courtyards and gateways. Continue through rural Rajasthan, passing villages, fields and roadside shrines, arriving in Jaipur by late afternoon. Check in and relax, with the evening free to acclimatise to the city’s rhythms. This day links Mughal splendour with the beginning of your Rajasthan in depth tour.

Begin with a photo stop at honeycombed Hawa Mahal before driving to Amber Fort by jeep, exploring frescoed pavilions, mirrored halls and ramparts with sweeping views across the hills. Later, visit City Palace museums and the precise instruments of Jantar Mantar, gaining a curated understanding of Jaipur’s royal and scientific heritage. In the late afternoon, step into a local home for a hands-on Rajasthani cooking lesson followed by dinner, learning family recipes and spice traditions. Evening is at leisure to return to your hotel or browse nearby bazaars at your own pace.

See Jaipur through a different lens this morning on a women-led e-rickshaw experience or guided heritage walk, passing residential quarters, small temples and markets as the city slowly wakes. Continue into artisan districts where block printers, jewellers or bangle makers keep traditional crafts alive, with time to browse or make small purchases. Later, visit additional neighbourhoods or unwind at your hotel. The afternoon and evening are flexible, allowing you to revisit a favourite bazaar, relax by the pool, enjoy a café, or consider an optional sound-and-light experience at Amber Fort after dark.

Drive southwest from Jaipur through the Aravalli hills toward Udaipur, watching the landscape shift from semi-arid plains to a more undulating, green-fringed countryside. Arrive and check into your lakeside or centrally located hotel, then take time to rest and freshen up. In the late afternoon, enjoy a shared or private boat ride on Lake Pichola, gliding past ghats, island palaces and the imposing City Palace façade. As the sun sinks, the city’s lights reflect on the water, creating a memorable first impression of Udaipur. Evening is at leisure to dine and relax.

This morning, explore Udaipur’s City Palace complex, wandering through courtyards, arches and museum rooms that tell stories of Mewar’s rulers. Later, stroll through Saheliyon-ki-Bari or another historic garden, enjoying fountains, shade and carved pavilions. In the afternoon, head slightly outside the city into the surrounding countryside, passing small villages, fields and temple shrines that reveal everyday rural life. Depending on your interests, you may pause for tea with a local family or a gentle walk. Return to Udaipur by early evening, with time at leisure along the lakeside or bazaars.

Journey north from Udaipur toward Jodhpur, watching the landscape gradually become drier and more ochre-toned as you approach the gateway to the Thar Desert. The drive offers glimpses of villages, roadside shrines and occasional herds of livestock along the roadside. Arrive in Jodhpur by afternoon and check into your hotel, with time to rest or take a gentle orientation walk nearby. Depending on your location, you might enjoy your first distant view of Mehrangarh Fort rising above the Blue City. Evening is at leisure to settle into the rhythm of Jodhpur.

This morning, visit Mehrangarh Fort, one of Rajasthan’s most impressive citadels, exploring its courtyards, galleries and ramparts with sweeping views over the Blue City below. Continue to Jaswant Thada, a serene marble cenotaph complex overlooking a small lake. Later, descend into the old city to wander Sardar Market and the clock tower area, where spice shops, textile stalls and everyday traders fill the streets with colour. Depending on your interests, there may be time to visit an additional stepwell or craft workshop before returning to your hotel for a relaxed evening.

Drive west from Jodhpur into the Thar Desert, where the landscape becomes increasingly sparse, dotted with hardy shrubs, small villages and grazing camels or goats. As you approach Jaisalmer, the sandstone fort appears on the horizon, gradually growing in scale. Arrive and check into your hotel, then enjoy time at leisure to freshen up, perhaps with tea on a rooftop. In the late afternoon or early evening, you may take a gentle orientation walk in the old town, admiring carved façades and lantern-lit lanes before returning for a relaxed night.

Today, explore Jaisalmer Fort, one of the world’s few living forts, where homes, temples and shops line narrow sandstone lanes. Visit intricately carved havelis, such as Patwon Ki Haveli or Nathmal Ki Haveli, whose façades display astonishing craftsmanship and merchant histories. In the late afternoon, drive out to Sam Sand Dunes for a gentle camel ride across the ridges as the sun sets over the Thar Desert. Enjoy the changing colours, quiet expanses and desert breeze before returning to your camp or hotel for an unhurried evening under the stars.

Depart Jaisalmer after breakfast and drive toward Bikaner, crossing arid plains dotted with hardy villages, grazing camels and wind-sculpted trees. The changing light and wide horizons emphasise the scale of the Thar Desert along this route. Arrive in Bikaner by afternoon and check into your hotel. After a short rest, you may choose to take an easy wander through nearby streets or visit a local sweet shop to sample regional specialities. Evening is at leisure, with time to appreciate Bikaner’s quieter, less touristed feel compared to Rajasthan’s more famous cities.

Today, explore Bikaner’s main highlights, beginning with Junagarh Fort, whose richly painted halls, lattice windows and royal apartments reveal centuries of desert-state history. Continue to a local temple—such as the famously unique Karni Mata Temple at Deshnok—for insight into regional devotional practices and folklore. Later, visit the Camel Breeding Farm, where you learn about camel husbandry, desert adaptations and the animal’s historic role in trade routes across the Thar. Depending on timing, you may sample camel milk products or observe feeding before returning to the city for an evening at leisure.

Depart Bikaner and drive into the Shekhawati region, where once-prosperous trading towns are renowned for their frescoed merchant mansions. Arrive in Mandawa and check into your heritage hotel before taking time to rest and refresh after the journey. Later, enjoy an introductory walk through nearby streets to admire painted façades, courtyards and arches that hint at the stories you will explore in more detail tomorrow. The pace here is gentler than in Rajasthan’s larger cities, inviting you to slow down, notice small details and absorb the atmosphere before an evening at leisure.

After breakfast, depart Mandawa and drive back to Delhi, passing farmland, roadside towns and the gradual thickening of traffic as you approach the capital. On arrival, check into your hotel and enjoy the remainder of the day at leisure. You might choose to rest, complete some final shopping or revisit a favourite café or market discovered earlier in the trip. This transitional day gently eases you out of Rajasthan’s slower rhythm and back into Delhi’s energy, while keeping the schedule flexible and unhurried before tomorrow’s departure flight to your onward destination.