Three clans, three capitals, one road
To travel between their capitals is to cross three countries that happened to share a language, a desert and a long, tangled history of marriage and war.
Never one kingdom: until 1949 Rajasthan was a patchwork of princely states, each with its own ruling family, coinage, turban style and pride.
The three greatest: Amber, later Jaipur, ruled by the Kachwahas; Marwar, ruled from Jodhpur by the Rathores; and Mewar, ruled from Chittor and then Udaipur by the Sisodias.
- Jaipur
- Kachwahas, city laid out 1727
- Jodhpur
- Rathores of Marwar, Mehrangarh 1459
- Udaipur
- Sisodias of Mewar
- Haldighati
- 1576, Maharana Pratap against Akbar
- Princely states until
- 1949
- Three bargains with the Mughals: each family made a different one, and you can read it in their cities.
- The Kachwahas allied early: close to Akbar, they grew rich and cosmopolitan. Their capital at Jaipur, laid out in 1727 by the astronomer-king Sawai Jai Singh II, is a city of geometry, observatories and trade.
- The Rathores allied fiercely: and sometimes rebelliously. Mehrangarh in Jodhpur is a soldier's fort, all walls and gates.
- The Sisodias held out longest: Maharana Pratap fought Akbar at Haldighati in 1576, and his descendants built Udaipur, a capital of lakes and island palaces in the hills where they had taken refuge.
- A natural shape, part one: begin in the most outward-looking city, among bazaars sorted by trade and a palace that welcomed Mughal envoys.
- Part two: cross into Marwar, the hard country of the Thar's edge, where the fort is the city's reason for being.
- Part three: finish in Mewar, softer, greener and slower, where a Maharana once had a palace built in the middle of a lake for his summers.
- The practical shape too: Jaipur has an international airport and good flights from Delhi, Mumbai and the Gulf. Udaipur has direct flights to Delhi and Mumbai.
- No backtracking: fly in at one end and out of the other, and you drive only the two roads in the middle, both through lovely country. Our guide to the Jaipur to Jodhpur route describes the first.
Day by day through the three capitals
- Nights
- Eight: three, two and three
- Pace
- Classic, with two road days between
- Best months
- October to March
- Good for
- First-timers who want the three royal capitals
- Starts
- Jaipur International Airport (JAI)
- Ends
- Udaipur, Maharana Pratap Airport (UDR)
Day 1: Arrive in Jaipur
Met at the airport: and driven to your palace hotel.
- A simple late afternoon: tea on the lawn, then a short drive through Patrika Gate, painted in every colour of Rajasthan, and past the Albert Hall Museum as its lights come on.
- An early night: dinner at the hotel, because the next morning starts before the sun.
Day 2: Amber at first light, Nahargarh at sunset
Amber at opening: reach Amber Fort as the gates open, while the walls above Maota Lake are still pink with the dawn.
A century of building: Raja Man Singh I began the palace in 1592, and his successors added courtyards, halls and the famous Sheesh Mahal, the hall of mirrors, for well over a century.
- Almost alone: in the first hour you'll have it nearly to yourself.
- No elephants: we walk you up the old ramparts or drive you to the upper gate. We don't book elephant rides.
- Below the fort: Panna Meena ka Kund, a stepwell of criss-crossing stairs, and the old town of Amer with its temples and havelis.
- Midday: lunch and rest back in the city.
- Sunset: drive up the ridge to Nahargarh Fort and watch Jaipur turn amber below you as the lights come on.
Day 3: The walled city on foot
Sunrise at Hawa Mahal: Hawa Mahal, built in 1799 so the women of the court could watch the street unseen, as the sun hits its honeycomb of windows. Chai on a rooftop opposite.
The bazaars as shutters lift: with a guide who grew up in these lanes. Johari Bazaar for gems, Tripolia for brass and lac bangles, the flower sellers near Choti Chaupar.
- On the way: kachori and a clay cup of lassi.
- Late morning: the Jantar Mantar, Sawai Jai Singh's observatory of giant stone instruments, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
- Afternoon: after lunch and a rest, a private tour of the City Palace, where special tours can take you into rooms of the Chandra Mahal most visitors only glimpse.
- Evening: a haveli courtyard with folk musicians, or the long lawns of your hotel. Our Jaipur itinerary has alternatives for every day.
Day 4: West to Jodhpur
The direct road: about five to six hours after breakfast, across farmland and past the marble yards of Kishangarh.
- Pushkar for lunch: if you leave early we can turn off for Pushkar, the holy lake town, but it makes a long day, so we usually save it for a longer journey.
- First sight of the fort: Mehrangarh from the road in the late afternoon, a wall of red sandstone growing out of its cliff.
- Dinner: on a terrace facing the floodlit fort.
Day 5: Mehrangarh and the blue city
At opening: Rao Jodha founded the fort in 1459, and the Mehrangarh Museum Trust has kept it so well that its galleries are among the finest in India.
What to see: the palanquins, howdahs, turbans and the painted Phool Mahal. Ask our guide for the treasury gallery before the groups arrive.
- Down through Brahmpuri: on foot through the blue lanes with a guide who lives there, stopping at the stepwell of Toorji ka Jhalra.
- After lunch: the museum at Umaid Bhawan Palace, all Art Deco furniture, clocks and photographs of twentieth-century royal life.
- Late afternoon: sit at Jaswant Thada, the marble memorial below the fort.
- Dusk at the clock tower: mirchi bada, the chilli fritter Jodhpur is proud of, and a glass of saffron lassi.
Day 6: Ranakpur and the road into Mewar
The most beautiful drive: leave Jodhpur early and drive south, past Rohet and the Bishnoi villages, into the Aravalli hills.
Ranakpur: in about three and a half hours you reach Ranakpur, a fifteenth-century Jain temple of pale marble built under Rana Kumbha of Mewar, where by tradition no two of the 1,444 pillars are alike.
- How long: arrive as visiting hours begin and spend two unhurried hours there with a guide.
- Into Udaipur: after a vegetarian lunch in the valley, about two and a half hours winding through hills and villages. The whole day takes about seven hours with stops.
- Early evening: a drink overlooking Lake Pichola. Our route guide to Udaipur and Jodhpur via Ranakpur has more on the road.
Days 7 and 8: Udaipur, the lake city
The City Palace at opening: the City Palace is the largest palace complex in Rajasthan, built by generation after generation of Maharanas on the ridge above the lake.
How to see it: climb to the top courtyards first, then work your way down. Afterwards, the Jagdish Temple and the lanes below it.
- Before sunset: after lunch and a rest, a private boat on Lake Pichola, past the island of Jag Mandir and the white walls of the Lake Palace.
- Day eight, slow down: the fountains of Saheliyon ki Bari in the morning, a miniature painter's studio, or your hotel pool.
- Last sunset: drive up to the Monsoon Palace at Sajjangarh over the lakes and hills.
- Last dinner: on a rooftop facing the lit City Palace.
Day 9: Fly home from Udaipur
- After a late breakfast: your driver takes you to Maharana Pratap Airport at Dabok, about 22 kilometres from the city, for your flight to Delhi or Mumbai and onwards.
- An evening flight: we keep your room, or plan a quiet last morning at the Ahar cenotaphs or the vintage car collection.
Palace to palace: where you'll stay
Jaipur: the Kachwaha garden palace
Rambagh Palace: Rambagh Palace began in 1835 as a garden house and grew into the residence of Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II and Maharani Gayatri Devi. It became a hotel in 1957.
- Still the grandest address: peacocks on the lawns and the Suvarna Mahal dining room under gilded ceilings.
- Calm and space: The Oberoi Rajvilas, on 32 acres outside the city with a restored Shiva temple at its heart.
- Inside the walls: Samode Haveli, a nobleman's townhouse with painted rooms near Hawa Mahal.
Jodhpur: the Rathore palace on the hill
Umaid Bhawan Palace: Umaid Bhawan Palace was begun in 1929 and finished in 1943, the last great palace of princely India, under a dome about 31 metres high.
- Home and hotel: the royal family still lives in one wing, and part has been a hotel since 1971.
- In the old city: RAAS Jodhpur, beneath the fort.
- Family-run: Ajit Bhawan, a warm palace that helped begin Rajasthan's heritage hotel movement.
Udaipur: the Sisodia palace on the water
Taj Lake Palace: Taj Lake Palace was built between 1743 and 1746 as a summer palace for Maharana Jagat Singh II. It covers almost its whole island, so it seems to float, and you reach it only by the hotel's boats.
- Space and service: The Oberoi Udaivilas, with gardens.
- Inside the City Palace: Shiv Niwas Palace. Our guide to palace hotels explains how we choose.
If you'd rather not sleep in palaces
Not for everyone: long corridors, old staircases and formal dining rooms can feel more like a museum than a home.
- Smaller heritage havelis: a handful of rooms and a family in residence. Our guide to heritage havelis lists the ones we like.
- Contemporary hotels: large rooms and quieter service.
Three cities, three kitchens
- Jaipur
- Pyaaz kachori, laal maas, ghevar
- Jodhpur
- Ker sangri, mirchi bada, makhaniya lassi
- Udaipur
- Dal baati churma, maize, greens
- Ghevar season
- Teej
- Laal maas chillies
- Mathania
Jaipur: court food with a sweet tooth
Breakfast: pyaaz kachori, a flaky pastry with spiced onion, and thick lassi in clay cups on MI Road.
- Dinner: laal maas, mutton cooked slowly with fiery Mathania chillies.
- In the Teej season: ghevar, a honeycomb disc of fried batter soaked in syrup.
- Where we trust: our food guide to Jaipur.
Jodhpur: desert food, built from what keeps
Ker sangri: dried desert berries and beans, sour, smoky and delicious with bajra roti and a spoon of white butter.
- Mirchi bada: a large green chilli stuffed with spiced potato and fried in batter, the city's favourite snack.
- Makhaniya lassi: near the clock tower, a meal in a glass. Our Jodhpur food guide goes further.
Udaipur: cooking with the hills in mind
More greens and maize: the hill country shows on the plate.
- Dal baati churma: baked wheat balls broken into lentils and ghee, with a sweet crumble of wheat and jaggery.
- The last night: eat on a rooftop above Pichola with the palace lit across the water.
- Every dish explained: our Rajasthani food guide, and the Udaipur food guide for where to eat it.
What each capital makes, and where to watch it made
Jaipur: gems, block prints and blue pottery
Gemstones: tradition says Sawai Jai Singh invited cutters and setters to his new city, and the lanes behind Johari Bazaar are still full of small workshops cutting emeralds, garnets and tourmalines.
- Block printing: the printing families of Sanganer and Bagru stamp cotton with carved wooden blocks.
- Blue pottery: Jaipur's blue pottery, made from quartz rather than clay, comes from a handful of studios on the edge of town.
- Buying gems: our gem and jewellery guide explains how to buy without being fooled.
Jodhpur: bandhani, durries and breeches
Bandhani: tie-dye in which thousands of tiny knots are tied into the cloth by hand before it is dyed.
- Durries: flat cotton rugs woven on pit looms in the village of Salawas, half an hour south of the city.
- Riding breeches: Jodhpur gave the world its breeches, made popular by the Rathore princes and their polo. You can still have a pair tailored in the city.
Udaipur: miniatures and pichwai
Miniature painting: Mewar's court artists painted the Maharanas at festivals, hunts and boat parties.
- Still at work: painters in the lanes around the Jagdish Temple use squirrel-hair brushes and stone pigments.
- Pichwai: an hour north, the temple town of Nathdwara produces the painted cloth hangings called pichwai, made for the shrine of Shrinathji.
- From the painter: we take you into a studio to watch, and if you buy, you buy from the painter.
How we shop
No commission showrooms: we never take guests to the large showrooms where drivers and guides are paid a commission.
- The makers themselves: ask us, and we'll introduce you.
- What a fair price feels like: our shopping guide to Rajasthan explains what to look for in each craft.
When to go, and the festivals on the way
October and November: warm and clear, with green countryside after the rains.
Diwali in Jaipur: in October or November, the most beautiful week of the year, with the bazaars strung with lights and every haveli lit with clay lamps.
Folk music at Mehrangarh: the Rajasthan International Folk Festival brings musicians from across the state around the full moon of Sharad Purnima.
- Season
- October to March
- Loveliest month
- February
- Book early
- Christmas and New Year
- Hot
- From April, often above 40°C by May
- Green season
- Monsoon, July to September
- December and January: cool and bright, with chilly mornings, so bring a shawl for Amber at sunrise.
- Book early: Christmas and New Year fill up in all three cities.
- Kites on 14 January: for Makar Sankranti, the whole walled city of Jaipur climbs onto its rooftops.
- Late January: the Jaipur Literature Festival fills the city's best rooms.
- February: perhaps the loveliest month, with warm days and cool nights.
- March: Holi and, in some years, Gangaur, when women carry images of the goddess Gauri through the streets of Jaipur and down to the ghats of Udaipur.
- April onwards: the heat builds, often above 40°C by May, so we plan early starts and long afternoons by the pool.
- The monsoon we quietly love: July to September. Udaipur's hills turn green and the lakes fill, Jaipur is fresh after rain, and the hotels are quiet.
- The catch: it's humid and the odd downpour changes plans. Our guide to the best time to visit Rajasthan goes month by month.
Make it yours
Shorter: seven nights
Take a night from Udaipur: the simplest trim.
- Skip Jodhpur: fly between Jaipur and Udaipur instead of driving.
- With the capital: Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur is our seven-night version with a night in Delhi.
Longer: ten to twelve nights
- A country night: Rohet Garh or Rawla Narlai between Jodhpur and Udaipur.
- Into the desert: two nights in Jaisalmer, which becomes our twelve-day Rajasthan.
For families
What children love: the walk up Amber's old ramparts, the kite shops of the walled city, the cannons and ramparts of Mehrangarh and a boat on Pichola.
- What we change: gentler days and hotels with space and pools.
- Tigers instead of Jodhpur: see Family: Jaipur, Ranthambore and Udaipur.
For couples
- The romance: the Lake Palace in Udaipur, a private rooftop dinner in Jaipur and a sunset at Jaswant Thada.
- A honeymoon or anniversary: Rajasthan for Two adds a night in the desert, and our honeymoon page has more.
For repeat visitors
Jaipur: swap the walled city tour for a morning of block printing in Bagru.
- Jodhpur: spend a day with the Bishnois south of the city.
- Udaipur: stay in the hills outside the city at RAAS Devigarh.
How we look after you
Met at the airport: and one private chauffeur stays with you for the whole journey in an air-conditioned car.
Rajasthani drivers: they know the road between these cities as well as their own lanes: where to stop for tea, which dhaba is clean, and how to time the drive so you never arrive in the dark.
- Jaipur to Jodhpur
- About 5-6 hours
- Jodhpur to Ranakpur
- About 3.5 hours
- Ranakpur to Udaipur
- About 2.5 hours
- Jodhpur to Udaipur
- About 7 hours with stops
- Udaipur airport
- About 22 km from the city
- A local guide in each city: someone who grew up there, chosen for knowledge and good company rather than shop commissions.
- No commission shopping: for gems in Jaipur, textiles in Jodhpur or miniatures in Udaipur, we take you to families we have known for years.
- Your planner on WhatsApp: to change a dinner, move a guide or take a day off, it's one message.
- Flights booked: your flights in and out, and any trains or extra flights if you lengthen the trip.
- No prices on this page: no two journeys are alike, so we quote after one conversation, once we understand how you like to travel. Start with Plan my journey or speak to a local planner.
Who will love it, and who should choose another route
First-time visitors: who want the three most famous cities of Rajasthan, done well.
Lovers of palaces and history: three distinct royal stories and three palace hotels to match.
- Eight or nine nights: for travellers who want to fly in and out without backtracking.
- Almost any month: it works in all but the hottest weeks of May and June.
- No desert: if dunes and a night under the stars matter, choose Udaipur, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer or Under the Thar Sky.
- No wildlife: for tigers, choose Palaces and Tigers or Golden Triangle with Ranthambore.
- Seen these cities already: try Offbeat Rajasthan for Bundi, Chittorgarh and Dungarpur instead.
