Rajasthan - Land of the Maharajahs (Pushkar Festival) — Self-Launched

Land at Indira Gandhi International, take the Airport Express Metro to New Delhi station (~£1.80) or a prepaid taxi (~£5). Drop bags at a Paharganj guesthouse near the main bazaar, then head into Old Delhi in the late afternoon: hire a cycle rickshaw through Chandni Chowk (~£3-4 for an hour, negotiate first), see the Red Fort exterior and the Jama Masjid steps at golden hour. Eat at Karim's or a Paranthe Wali Gali stall. Get an Indian eSIM or Airtel SIM (~£5) sorted today.

🚌Airport Express Metro ~£1.80; metro/auto-rickshaw around town ~£2

🛏Paharganj guesthouse, private room with fan/AC — ~£15

• →Cycle rickshaw tour of Chandni Chowk bazaar
• →Red Fort exterior and Jama Masjid
• →Street food in Paranthe Wali Gali

Full day of Delhi's big-hitters using the metro and autos: India Gate and the Rajpath, the exterior of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Parliament, then south to Humayun's Tomb (~£4 entry) and Qutub Minar (~£4). Book a guide on GetYourGuide for Humayun's Tomb if you want context (~£15). Evening: catch a train to Agra — the Gatimaan Express or a 2AC seat on a later service (~£6-10, book on IRCTC). Check into a Taj Ganj guesthouse walking distance from the monument.

🚌Delhi metro/autos ~£3; train Delhi–Agra ~£8

🛏Taj Ganj guesthouse with rooftop Taj view — ~£18

• →India Gate and Rajpath walk
• →Humayun's Tomb
• →Qutub Minar
• →Optional GetYourGuide Delhi heritage walk

Buy your Taj Mahal ticket online in advance (~£12 for foreigners, closed Fridays) and be at the East Gate for opening at sunrise — the light and the quiet are worth the early alarm. Spend 2-3 hours inside, then walk or take a short auto to Agra Fort (~£6), the Moti Masjid within it, and Itimad-ud-Daulah (the 'Baby Taj', ~£3) across the river. Optional: return to the Taj at sunset from Mehtab Bagh (~£3) for the reverse view — a common traveller regret not to.

🚌Autos between sites ~£4

🛏Taj Ganj guesthouse — ~£18

• →Taj Mahal sunrise entry
• →Agra Fort and Moti Masjid
• →Itimad-ud-Daulah (Baby Taj)
• →Optional Mehtab Bagh sunset viewpoint

Take a local bus or shared taxi from Agra's Idgah bus stand to Fatehpur Sikri (~£2, 1hr). Explore the abandoned Mughal capital — Panch Mahal, Diwan-i-Khas, the Buland Darwaza — with a site guide (~£8, or a GetYourGuide entry+guide combo). Continue by bus towards Jaipur and break the journey at Abhaneri for the astonishing Chand Baori stepwell (~£2 entry; local buses run to Abhaneri village, ~£1.50). Finish into Jaipur by bus (~£3). Stay in a Haveli-style guesthouse in the old city.

🚌Buses Agra–Fatehpur Sikri–Abhaneri–Jaipur ~£7

🛏Old City Jaipur haveli guesthouse — ~£20

• →Fatehpur Sikri complex
• →Chand Baori stepwell at Abhaneri
• →Old City Jaipur evening walk

Get to Amber Fort for opening (~£6 entry, or the £10 composite ticket covering Amber, City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal and more). Local bus No. 5 or an auto (~£1.50). Walk up rather than take the jeep. Back in the city: Hawa Mahal from the street, the City Palace (~£8 or on the composite), and Jantar Mantar's astronomical instruments (~£4). Spend the evening wandering Johari and Bapu bazaars for textiles and block prints.

🚌Local bus/auto to Amber and around ~£4

🛏Old City Jaipur haveli guesthouse — ~£20

• →Amber Fort
• →Hawa Mahal
• →City Palace and Jantar Mantar
• →Bazaar shopping in the Pink City

Local bus from Jaipur's Sindhi Camp stand to Ajmer (~£2.50, 2.5hrs), then a shared jeep or auto the last 30 minutes to Pushkar (~£1). Pushkar during Camel Fair week is chaotic and brilliant — book your guesthouse weeks ahead and expect festival pricing (roughly double normal, ~£25-30). Afternoon: walk the ghats around Pushkar Lake, see Brahma Temple, and get your first look at the fairground — decorated camels, turbans, and the ferris wheels.

🚌Bus Jaipur–Ajmer ~£2.50; shared jeep Ajmer–Pushkar ~£1

🛏Pushkar guesthouse, festival-week rate — ~£28

• →Pushkar Lake ghats and Brahma Temple
• →First evening at the Camel Fair ground

A whole day immersed in the fair: watch the camel decorating and the livestock trading, catch the moustache competition and turban-tying contests, browse handicraft and food stalls, and take an optional camel ride or a hot-air balloon flight over the fairground if it's running (~£90-120 through a local operator, book ahead). Sunset from the dunes behind the fairground. This is the trip's festival centrepiece — go slow and talk to people.

🚌Walking; local autos ~£2

🛏Pushkar guesthouse, festival-week rate — ~£28

• →Camel Fair livestock trading and competitions
• →Handicraft and food stalls
• →Optional camel ride (~£8) or hot-air balloon over Pushkar

Long travel day but a good one: bus or train via Ajmer to Bikaner (~£5-7, 5-6hrs; the train is more comfortable — check IRCTC for Ajmer–Bikaner services). Afternoon at Junagarh Fort, which is unexpectedly one of Rajasthan's best (~£6 entry, excellent audio guide). Then Bhandasar Jain Temple with its mirror-work ceilings and the old-town havelis. Try Bikaneri bhujia and kachori from a local sweet shop. Optional splurge: a night at the Gajner Palace heritage hotel outside town.

🚌Train/bus Ajmer–Bikaner ~£6; local autos ~£3

🛏Bikaner guesthouse near the old town — ~£18

• →Junagarh Fort
• →Bhandasar Jain Temple
• →Bikaner old town and havelis

Bus or train to Jaisalmer (~£5-8, 5-6hrs). Check into a guesthouse inside the fort itself — sleeping within the walls is one of the great Rajasthan experiences (~£20). Evening: wander the fort lanes between Jain temples and havelis, browse the bazaars for stone carvings, leather and brass, and eat on a rooftop watching the fort glow gold at sunset. If your dates overlap the Jaisalmer Desert Festival (Jan/Feb), it happens out at Sam dunes — check the year's schedule.

🚌Bus/train Bikaner–Jaisalmer ~£7; local autos ~£2

🛏Fort guesthouse, private room — ~£20

• →Wander Jaisalmer Fort lanes
• →Bazaar shopping for handicrafts
• →Rooftop sunset over the fort

A walking day. Start at the Jain Temples inside the fort (~£2.50 combined ticket), then Patwon-ki Haveli (~£2.50) and Nathmal-ki Haveli for the carved sandstone. See the Jaisalmer Folklore Museum (~£1.50), then walk 15 minutes to Gadisar Lake at golden hour. Optional: an afternoon camel safari into the Sam or Khuri dunes with a desert camp overnight (~£25-40 booked locally, or via GetYourGuide) — if you take it, tonight's room is optional.

🚌Walking; auto to Gadisar ~£1

🛏Fort guesthouse, private room — ~£20

• →Jain Temples in Jaisalmer Fort
• →Patwon-ki Haveli and Nathmal-ki Haveli
• →Jaisalmer Folklore Museum
• →Gadisar Lake
• →Optional Sam dunes camel safari and desert camp

Train or bus to Jodhpur (~£4-7, 5-6hrs; the morning train is the easiest). Drop bags in a guesthouse in the old city below Mehrangarh, then spend the evening wandering the indigo-washed lanes of Navchokiya and the Sardar Market clock tower area, eating mirchi vada and makhaniya lassi. Rooftop dinner looking up at the lit fort is the classic Jodhpur night.

🚌Train Jaisalmer–Jodhpur ~£6

🛏Old City Jodhpur guesthouse — ~£17

• →Old City blue lanes walk
• →Sardar Market and clock tower
• →Rooftop dinner facing Mehrangarh

Mehrangarh Fort deserves 3-4 hours — the museum, the ramparts, the audio guide (~£8 entry + guide). Then walk down to Jaswant Thada and, in the afternoon, take a shared jeep or taxi out to the Bishnoi villages (~£15-20 return with a driver, book through your guesthouse) to see the blackbuck conservation and village life. Optional evening zip-line over the fort's own lake (~£10).

🚌Shared jeep/taxi to villages ~£18 (split); autos ~£3

🛏Old City Jodhpur guesthouse — ~£17

• →Mehrangarh Fort
• →Jaswant Thada
• →Bishnoi village jeep trip
• →Optional flying fox zip-line

Hire a shared taxi or take a bus south towards Ranakpur (~£6, 3hrs). The Ranakpur Jain temples — 1,444 carved marble pillars — are a highlight (~£4 entry, no leather, shoulders covered). Continue 45 minutes to Ghanerao and stay at a small heritage property or the castle guesthouse in the village (~£20), walk out to the Adinath temple and watch village life wind down. This is the quietest, most 'real Rajasthan' stop on the route.

🚌Bus/shared taxi Jodhpur–Ranakpur–Ghanerao ~£8

🛏Ghanerao heritage guesthouse — ~£20

• →Ranakpur Jain temples
• →Ghanerao village and Adinath temple
• →Heritage haveli stay

Shared taxi or bus to Kumbhalgarh (~£5), home to the second-longest wall in the world after the Great Wall — walk a stretch of ramparts (~£3.50 entry). Continue to Udaipur (~£6 by bus, 3hrs). In the late afternoon, take a boat ride on Lake Pichola from Rameshwar Ghat to Jag Mandir island (~£6-8, buy at the ghat), then settle into a lakeside guesthouse in the old town for sunset over the palaces.

🚌Shared taxi/bus Ghanerao–Kumbhalgarh–Udaipur ~£11; boat ~£7

🛏Udaipur old-town lakeside guesthouse — ~£20

• →Kumbhalgarh Fort ramparts walk
• →Lake Pichola boat ride to Jag Mandir
• →Udaipur old town sunset

Morning at the City Palace complex (~£8, allow 2-3hrs for the museum and Crystal Gallery), then Jagdish Mandir next door and the surrounding bazaar. Optional: Bagore ki Haveli folk dance show in the evening if you take a later flight (~£3). Fly Udaipur to Delhi in the late afternoon/evening (~£45-60 booked 6-8 weeks out on IndiGo/Air India) rather than a 12-hour train — it's the one place a flight clearly wins. Last-night dinner in Hauz Khas or Paharganj.

🚌Autos ~£3; flight Udaipur–Delhi ~£50

🛏Delhi airport-area or Paharganj guesthouse — ~£20

• →Udaipur City Palace
• →Jagdish Mandir
• →Old town bazaars
• →Optional Bagore ki Haveli dance show

Slow breakfast, any last shopping or a final walk depending on your flight time. Airport Express Metro (~£1.80) or prepaid taxi (~£5) to IGI. If your flight is late, the National Museum (~£2.50) or Lodhi Gardens are easy, air-conditioned-adjacent ways to kill a few hours.

🚌Airport Express Metro ~£1.80

🛏—

• →Optional National Museum or Lodhi Gardens
• →Departure from Delhi