The places to visit in Rajasthan that we would choose for a first trip are twelve: Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, Ranthambore, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur, Bikaner with the Deshnoke temple, and the painted towns of Shekhawati. Seeing all twelve properly takes about three weeks by car; in ten or eleven days you can do five or six of them well. We have planned Rajasthan from our Jaipur office since 2005, and the route below is the one we use for guests who want the whole state in one go, with honest notes on what to drop when you have less time.

The 12 best places to visit in Rajasthan, and why each earns its night

A list of famous names is easy to find. What matters more is what each place gives you that the others don't, because Rajasthan has a lot of forts and after the fourth one they can blur.

1. Jaipur

The capital and our home town. The walled city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, and the Jantar Mantar observatory inside it has had its own listing since 2010. Amber Fort, on the ridge above the city, belongs to a third: the Hill Forts of Rajasthan. Give it two full days. Our Jaipur destination page covers the main sights.

2. Udaipur

Lakes, the City Palace and the Jagdish temple. It is the gentlest stop on the route, and a good place for a slower day. We have written separately about where to stay in Udaipur, which matters more here than anywhere else.

3. Jodhpur

Mehrangarh, begun by Rao Jodha in 1459, sits on a rock above the blue houses of the old city, and the Jaswant Thada memorial is a short drive away. One full day is enough for most people.

4. Jaisalmer

The yellow sandstone fort is one of the few in the world where people still live inside the walls. It is also the furthest point west and the hardest to reach, which is why it is the first place we cut on shorter trips.

5. Pushkar

A small holy town around a lake, with one of the very few temples in India dedicated to Brahma. Most of the year it is quiet; at the November fair it is anything but. Read Pushkar beyond the camel fair before you choose your dates.

6. Ranthambore

The tiger reserve, with a ruined fort inside the park. The core zones close for the monsoon (roughly July to September). If you are torn between parks, our comparison of Ranthambore and Sariska sets out the trade-off.

7. Bundi

Our quiet favourite. The palace's Chitrashala is covered in blue-and-gold murals, and the Raniji ki Baori stepwell dates from 1699. Few tour buses stop here.

8. Chittorgarh

A huge hilltop fort full of ruined palaces, towers and temples, and part of the same UNESCO hill-forts group as Amber, Kumbhalgarh, Ranthambore and Jaisalmer. It is usually visited on the drive out of Udaipur rather than as an overnight stop.

9. Kumbhalgarh

A fort in the Aravalli hills whose outer wall runs for about 36 km, and the traditional birthplace of Maharana Pratap. The drive up is part of the pleasure.

10. Ranakpur

The marble Jain temple, built in the 15th century with the patronage of a merchant minister, Dharna Shah, and famous for its forest of carved pillars. It fits on the same day as Kumbhalgarh.

11. Bikaner and Deshnoke

Junagarh Fort is unusual: it stands on flat ground, not a hill, and was begun under Raja Rai Singh in 1589. About 30 km south is the Karni Mata temple at Deshnoke, where rats are fed and protected.

12. Shekhawati

The merchant towns north of Jaipur, with havelis painted inside and out. Mandawa is the usual base; our article on Mandawa and the painted havelis explains which ones are worth opening doors for.

Not on the twelve, but worth a stop on the way: the Chand Baori stepwell at Abhaneri, about 90 km from Jaipur on the Agra road, thirteen storeys of steps cut into the ground.

How to fit them in: the route we use, day by day

All twelve are covered by our 19-night Royal Rajasthan tour, which starts and ends in Delhi. These are the drive days from that tour sheet, with our own corrections where the road is slower than the sheet suggests.

  • Delhi to Mandawa, 265 km, about 5 hours, after a morning in Old Delhi.
  • Mandawa to Bikaner, 200 km, about 4 hours, via Fatehpur village; Deshnoke the same afternoon or next morning.
  • Bikaner to Jaisalmer, via Kheechan's crane village and Ramdeora. Plan on about 330 km and five to six hours, not the sheet's five.
  • Jaisalmer: fort and havelis in the morning, then the Khuri dunes, 50 km out, for a sunset camel ride.
  • Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, 300 km via the Osian temples, five to six hours.
  • Jodhpur to Udaipur, 280 km via Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur. The sheet says five hours of driving; with both stops it is a full day.
  • Udaipur to Bundi, 300 km via Chittorgarh, about 6 hours.
  • Bundi to Ranthambore, 130 km, about 3 hours. The next day starts at 6.00 for the morning safari, with a second drive after lunch.
  • Ranthambore to Pushkar, 300 km, about 6 hours.
  • Pushkar to Jaipur, 150 km via the Ajmer dargah, about 3 hours.
  • Jaipur to Samode, 50 km, for a night in the village, then Samode to Agra, 300 km and about 6 hours, stopping at Abhaneri and Fatehpur Sikri.

Drive times assume an average of around 50 km/h, which is realistic on Rajasthan's roads once you include towns, cattle and lunch. You travel with a private driver throughout; how that works day to day is explained on our car and driver page.

Less than three weeks? What we would cut

If you have ten to fourteen days on the ground, our honest advice is to choose fewer places and stay two nights in each, rather than ticking all twelve from a car window.

With ten or eleven days, we'd suggest Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur (via Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur on the way to Jodhpur, or the reverse) and Jodhpur, with Agra at the start or end. That is six of the twelve with no day longer than about six hours. With two weeks, add Jaisalmer, or swap it for Bundi and Ranthambore if tigers matter more than dunes. We compared those lengths in detail in Rajasthan tours: 7, 10 or 14 days, and all our routes are on the Rajasthan tours page.

What we advise against: Jaisalmer squeezed into ten days. It is a long drive in and out, and winter flights between Jaisalmer and Delhi are seasonal, so they can't be counted on when you plan months ahead. Bikaner and Shekhawati, too, are the first to go when time is short; they reward a second trip.

Getting there from the UK and US

Non-stop flights from London to Delhi take roughly eight and a half to ten and a half hours; from New York, around fifteen. Most UK, US and Australian passport holders can use India's e-Tourist Visa, applied for online at least four days before arrival; our visa guide covers the details. India is five and a half hours ahead of the UK in winter. October to March is the season for this route; for month-by-month detail see the best time to visit Rajasthan.

What our guests remember

Elisa Lainati travelled on a tailor-made Rajasthan trip with us and wrote in her Google review: "we felt very secure with our driver Kana who was caring about us!" On a long route like this one, that matters more than any single fort. David and Carolyn Lamper, from Manchester, spent 13 nights in Rajasthan with Agra and called their driver Anand "the true hero of our trip". More reviews are on our reviews page.

Our founder, Karni Singh, was born and educated in Jaipur and worked in Taj hotels, including the Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur, before becoming a travel agent in 1998. Much of this route is simply his home ground.

Frequently asked questions

How many places in Rajasthan can I see in 10 days?

Comfortably five or six, such as Jaipur, Pushkar, Udaipur, Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur and Jodhpur, with two nights in the main cities. More than that and most of your trip is spent in the car.

Which place in Rajasthan should I not miss?

Jaipur and Udaipur are on every one of our published Rajasthan tours, and for good reason. If you can add one place most visitors skip, make it Bundi.

Is Jaisalmer worth the journey?

Yes, if you have at least two weeks and two nights to give it. On a shorter trip, the travel time outweighs what you see.

When is the best time to visit Rajasthan?

October to March. April to June is very hot, and Ranthambore's core zones close for the monsoon from about July to September.

Tell us how many days you have and which of the twelve appeal most, and we will draft a route around them: send us your Rajasthan enquiry.