Royal Rajasthan Grand Circuit

Arrive at Jaipur airport and settle into a haveli near the walled city. Late afternoon, climb to Nahargarh Fort for the view down onto Jai Singh's 1727 grid, then return for the seven o'clock aarti at Govind Dev Ji inside the City Palace complex, where the crowd sings and the shrine doors swing open together. Dinner of laal maas in a courtyard, with the day's dust washed off first.

Leave at eight for Amber Fort, where the convex mirrors of the Sheesh Mahal were cut so that one candle would read as a thousand. Walk down to Panna Meena ka Kund, the eighteenth-century stepwell with its crossing staircases. Afternoon in the walled city: the Samrat Yantra at Jantar Mantar, the four painted seasonal gates of Pritam Niwas Chowk, Hawa Mahal's 953 windows, then pyaaz kachori at Rawat and an hour in Johari Bazaar.

Drive 135 kilometres southwest, about three hours, to Ajmer for the dargah of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, where qawwals sing in the courtyard and the huge degh cauldrons stand near the gate. Cross the Nag Pahar ridge to Pushkar, fifteen minutes on, in time to walk the ghats barefoot and ride the ropeway up to Savitri temple for sunset over the lake and the camel fair ground.

Morning by the lake, watching priests and pilgrims at the ghats and the pilgrim shops selling rose petals, then 185 kilometres and four hours to Jodhpur across increasingly dry country. Check into a haveli in the old town under the fort. Evening at Toorji ka Jhalra, the 1740s stepwell now ringed by cafes, and the clock tower market for mirchi bada and a thick makhaniya lassi at Shri Mishrilal.

A full day in Jodhpur. Mehrangarh opens at nine; take the audio guide through the Phool Mahal and Sheesh Mahal, look at the handprints left by Maharaja Man Singh's widows beside Loha Pol, and cross to the white marble cenotaph of Jaswant Thada. Afternoon on foot through the indigo lanes of Navchokiya with a local guide, then the spice and textile stalls of Sardar Market.

The 285-kilometre road to Jaisalmer runs through Pokhran and open thorn scrub, about five and a half hours with a tea stop. Arrive by mid-afternoon and sit out at Gadisar Lake, a fourteenth-century reservoir entered through the carved Tilon ki Pol gateway, as parakeets come in to roost. Evening walk up into the fort, built in 1156, for dinner on a rooftop over the Trikuta hill.

Morning inside Sonar Quila, home to roughly four thousand people, past the Jain temples of the twelfth to sixteenth centuries and the Raj Mahal. Then the five joined mansions of Patwon ki Haveli and the leaning facade of Salim Singh ki Haveli. After lunch drive 42 kilometres to the Sam dunes for a camel ride at golden hour, Manganiyar musicians around a fire, and a night under a great many stars.

The longest drive of the trip, and worth it. Leave early for Khichan, 160 kilometres on, where villagers have fed demoiselle cranes since the 1970s and thousands of kurjan wheel in over the feeding ground between August and March. Lunch near Jodhpur, then south through Pali into the Aravallis, roughly 450 kilometres in all, reaching Ranakpur by evening for a quiet night in forest above the Maghai river.

Kumbhalgarh opens at nine, 35 kilometres uphill. Walk a stretch of the rampart, wide enough by local reckoning for eight horses abreast, up to Badal Mahal, where Maharana Pratap was born in 1540. Return to Ranakpur for the Chaumukha Jain temple, open to visitors from noon, and its 1,444 pillars. Then 90 kilometres to Udaipur and a boat on Lake Pichola as the light goes.

Start at the City Palace when it opens, working up through Mor Chowk's glass peacocks to the Amar Vilas terrace and its hanging gardens. Cross to Jagdish temple, built in 1651, for the late-morning arti, then browse Hathi Pol for miniature painting on old paper. If your flight is late enough, take in the Dharohar folk dance at Bagore ki Haveli before the 22-kilometre drive to Dabok airport.