North-West India
Rajasthan
Rajasthan for UK travellers: the four cities worth the long drives, what fort entry and a Jaisalmer camel safari actually cost in rupees, and why a car with a driver beats the train.
In short
Rajasthan at a glance
Rajasthan is India's desert state of forts and palaces, and the trip works as a string of four headline cities, each with its own colour and character. Jaipur, the Pink City, is the third corner of the Golden Triangle and the usual way in, an easy add-on after Delhi and Agra. Jodhpur is the Blue City under the vast Mehrangarh Fort; Udaipur is the City of Lakes with its palace on the water; and Jaisalmer is the golden sandstone fort-town on the edge of the Thar Desert, where the camel safaris run. The catch UK first-timers hit is the distances: this is a big, slow state, the drives between cities run four to six hours on single-carriageway roads, and the smart way to do it is a hired car with a driver, not self-driving and not piecing together trains.
Rajasthan reads on a map like a tidy circuit of four cities, and the thing first-timers underestimate is the distance between them. Jaipur, the Pink City, is the easy bit — the third corner of the Golden Triangle, about 5 hours by road or a 4.5-hour Shatabdi train from Delhi. But from there the legs stretch out: Jaipur to Jodhpur is a good 5.5 hours over 330km, Jodhpur to Jaisalmer another 285km and 5 hours west into the Thar Desert, and the run back to Udaipur longer still. These are single-carriageway highways, not motorways, so the honest pace is 10 to 14 days for all four, and the smart move is a hired car with a driver rather than self-driving or stitching together trains.
What you get for the driving is four genuinely different cities. Jodhpur is the Blue City under the great hilltop bulk of Mehrangarh Fort (foreign entry about ₹600); Udaipur is the soft, romantic City of Lakes, where a room over Lake Pichola earns its price; and Jaisalmer is the golden sandstone fort-town on the desert’s edge, where the camel safaris run into the Sam and Khuri dunes — a sunset ride from around ₹1,500, or an overnight camp from ₹2,500–3,500 booked through your hotel rather than a tout. Go October to March, when the forts are bearable and the desert nights are cool; come April to June and the plains top 45°C and the trip turns into a slog.
Towns & places in Rajasthan
The route
A two-week loop that takes in all four headline cities without living in the car. The drives below are real Rajasthan road figures on single-carriageway highways, not motorway estimates, so build in buffer and don't drive after dark. Most people fly into Delhi, do Agra and Jaipur as the Golden Triangle, then continue into the desert; you can shorten this to a Jaipur–Jodhpur–Udaipur week if Jaisalmer's long western leg doesn't fit.
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Days 1–3
Jaipur — the Pink City
Reach Jaipur from Delhi in about 5 hours by road or 4.5 hours on the morning Shatabdi train. Take in Amber Fort early before the heat and crowds (foreign entry ~₹500), the City Palace, the Hawa Mahal facade and the Jantar Mantar observatory. Jaipur is the loop's best place for block-printed textiles and jewellery — and the place to be firm with commission-hungry 'guides' and gem-scam touts.
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Days 4–5
Jodhpur — the Blue City
Drive Jaipur to Jodhpur (around 330km, a good 5.5 hours). The hilltop Mehrangarh Fort (foreign entry ~₹600, one of India's finest) looks down over the tangle of blue-painted old-city houses; spend a morning on the ramparts and an afternoon in the Sardar Market lanes below the clock tower.
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Days 6–7
Jaisalmer & the Thar Desert
From Jodhpur it's about 285km west (roughly 5 hours) to Jaisalmer, the golden sandstone fort-town on the desert's edge. Wander the living fort and the carved haveli mansions, then take a camel safari into the Sam or Khuri dunes — a sunset ride from ~₹1,500, or an overnight desert camp from ~₹2,500–3,500 booked through your hotel.
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Days 8–10
Udaipur — the City of Lakes
The long leg back east and south to Udaipur (around 490km from Jaisalmer, best broken with a night in Jodhpur). Udaipur is the softer, romantic end of the trip: the lakeside City Palace (foreign entry ~₹300), a boat on Lake Pichola past the Lake Palace, and the Jagdish Temple. A good place to slow down before the journey home — fly out of Udaipur (UDR) or drive back to Jaipur for the flight.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Jaipur — near the Old City or MI Road
££ mid-rangeBasing near the walled Pink City puts the Hawa Mahal, City Palace and the bazaars on your doorstep, with Amber Fort a short drive out. Jaipur also has the loop's widest spread of stays, from cheap guesthouses to converted-haveli heritage hotels if you want one splurge night.
Best for: First-timers, the Golden Triangle corner, heritage-hotel splurges
Udaipur — around Lake Pichola
££ mid-rangeThe lake is the whole point in Udaipur, so a rooftop or lakeside room with a view of the City Palace and the Lake Palace is worth paying for. The old-city ghats are walkable and the most atmospheric base in the state for couples; it's also the calmest of the four cities to wind down in.
Best for: Couples, lake views, a relaxed final stop
Jaisalmer — inside or below the fort
£ valueYou can sleep inside the living Jaisalmer fort itself, though conservationists ask visitors to stay below it to ease the strain on the old drainage. Either way it's the base for the Sam and Khuri desert camps and camel safaris. A one-or-two-night stop on the way through, not a long stay.
Best for: Desert safaris, the fort-town experience
Getting around Rajasthan
The sensible way to do Rajasthan is a hired car with a driver booked for the whole loop — roughly ₹3,000–4,000 a day including fuel and the driver, cheaper than it sounds, and it means someone else handles the chaotic single-carriageway highways, the parking and the pace. Don't self-drive: India has one of the world's highest road-death rates (GOV.UK), the roads are potholed and unpredictable, and night driving is genuinely dangerous, so plan every leg to finish before dark. Trains link the main cities and are cheap and characterful — the Delhi–Jaipur Shatabdi takes about 4.5 hours, and there are overnight sleepers on to Jodhpur and Jaisalmer — but popular routes sell out days ahead, so book early on the IRCTC site or through a reseller. Within each city, use the Uber and Ola apps where they run rather than hailing an auto-rickshaw on the street; if you do take a street rickshaw, agree the fare before you climb in. For the long western hop, some travellers fly Jaipur–Jaisalmer or out of Udaipur (UDR) to save a full day in the car.
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