The itinerary that moves India from the standard one-week Golden Triangle to the 14-day circuit that earns the country — adding the Pushkar camel fair town, the desert fort city of Jaisalmer, the blue city of Jodhpur, and the pink city of Jaipur in a Rajasthan road circuit that most India first-timers don’t attempt because the logistics look complex and turn out not to be, with the specific India instruction that overrides everything else: hire the driver for the full circuit, give the driver the itinerary, and let the country show itself.
Reading time: 11 minutes | Last updated: 2026
India in two weeks is not India — the country requires the full relationship, the months of sustained engagement that the long-term traveller discovers. But India in two weeks is the correct beginning, the 14 days that give the framework for the return.
The Delhi-Rajasthan circuit covers the Mughal north (Delhi, Agra) and the Rajput west (Jaipur, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer) — the two great traditions of north Indian culture visible in their most concentrated form in the cities that were their capitals.
Before You Leave
The visa, vaccinations, driver hire, and India context from 7 Days in India. The specific additions for the 14-day circuit:
The driver for the full circuit: A car and driver-guide for 14 days costs INR 55,000-85,000 / £495-765. This is the most important single booking decision of the trip — the Rajasthan road circuit (Jaipur → Pushkar → Jodhpur → Jaisalmer → Jodhpur → Jaipur) requires 8-12 hours of driving over 5 days, the road quality variable, the signage intermittent. The driver who knows the route, the petrol station locations, the tea shop stops, and the correct time to leave each city makes the circuit achievable.
The overnight train (Rajasthan): The overnight train from Delhi to Jaisalmer (the 18-hour journey, the sleeper class) is the specific India train experience that the driver-only circuit misses. The Howrah Mail or the Jaisalmer Express from Delhi Sarai Rohilla (the northwest Delhi station) — the 3A (3-tier air-conditioned sleeper) berth: INR 900-1,500 / £8.10-13.50. Book at irctc.co.in at least 60 days in advance (the Tatkal quota, the emergency booking window, opens 1 day before departure but is more expensive).
The Route
Delhi (2 nights) → Agra + Fatehpur Sikri (1 night) → Jaipur (2 nights) → Pushkar (1 night) → Jodhpur (2 nights) → Jaisalmer (3 nights) → return Jodhpur, fly Delhi → home
The 14 Days
DAYS 1-3 — Delhi and Agra
The full Golden Triangle guide in 7 Days in India. The specific Days 1-3 additions:
The Delhi Street Food Circuit:
The Dilli Haat (the craft and food market, opposite INA Metro — the government-run market giving the full regional food variety of India in one location, the stall from each state preparing the state’s specific street food): the Rajasthani stall (the dal baati churma — the hard wheat rolls baked on charcoal and dipped in the clarified butter, the lentil dal, the sweet churma — the dish of the Rajput warrior that appears at every Rajasthani wedding feast); the Gujarati stall (the dhokla, the thepla, the khandvi). Entry: INR 150-200 / £1.35-1.80.
The Agra instruction: The Taj Mahal at dawn (Day 3 morning: 5:15am arrival at the east gate) is the non-negotiable. Full guide in 7 Days in India.
DAYS 4-5 — Jaipur
Full guide in 7 Days in India. The specific Day 5 addition:
The Nahargarh Fort at Sunset:
The Nahargarh Fort (the 1734 fort on the Aravalli hills above the city — the rooftop bar at the Padao restaurant giving the sunset view over the Pink City, the Amber Fort visible in the hills to the north): the sunset drink (the local Rajasthani thanda (cold drink) or the Indian Old Monk rum) at the hill above the city. Entry to the fort: INR 50 / £0.45.
DAY 6 — Pushkar
The drive (100km, 2.5 hours from Jaipur):
The Ajmer-Pushkar road crosses the Aravalli hills at the Nag Pahar pass — the first view of the Pushkar Lake visible as the road descends from the pass, the ghats around the lake visible from above.
The Pushkar Lake:
Pushkar (the Hindu pilgrimage town surrounding the sacred lake — the 52 ghats around the lake, the 400+ temples, the one Brahma temple in India, the no-meat and no-alcohol town where the specific Pushkar rules are enforced by the community):
The lake circuit (the circumambulation of the Pushkar Lake — the ghats, the flower offerings floating on the water, the priests at the water’s edge performing the puja, the specific religious atmosphere of the lakeside at dawn and dusk): free.
The Pushkar Camel Fair (the annual cattle and camel fair, the largest in the world — held in the lunar month of Kartik, typically November — the 50,000 camels traded over 5 days, the specific India that the Jaipur cultural scene does not give): if the timing allows, the Pushkar Camel Fair is the specific reason to plan the Rajasthan circuit for November.
Where to stay: The Inn Seventh Heaven (the heritage haveli, the rooftop restaurant above the lake: £40-80/night), the Pushkar Bagh (the camp at the fair ground: tent from £60-120/night during the fair only).
DAYS 7-8 — Jodhpur
The drive (200km, 3.5 hours from Pushkar through the Thar Desert edge):
The landscape transition: the Ajmer-Jodhpur road through the Marwar region, the acacia and the scrub giving way to the Thar Desert edge, the blue domes of the Jodhpur mosques visible in the heat shimmer before the city is reached.
Mehrangarh Fort:
The Mehrangarh Fort (the 15th-century Rathore fort on the 125-metre sandstone cliff above Jodhpur — the most impressive fort in Rajasthan by scale and condition, the ramparts 36 metres high, the interiors housing the finest collection of Rajput art and arms in any private collection):
The specific rooms: the Phool Mahal (the Flower Palace — the royal pleasure chamber, the gilded ceiling, the jali screens, the miniature paintings of the Marwar school on every wall), the palanquin gallery (the royal litters, the elephant howdahs, the specific Rajput ceremonial excess visible in the collected transport), and the rooftop view (the blue city of Jodhpur below the fort — the traditional Brahmin houses painted blue, the specific Jodhpur identity visible as a blue sea from the fort ramparts): entry INR 600 / £5.40.
The Chris Rea concert (the 1988 photograph of Chris Rea playing guitar at Mehrangarh is not why to visit the fort — but the Blue City view from the rampart at this specific level of the fort is the most photographed single view in Jodhpur).
The Blue City Walk:
The bazaar below the fort (the Sardar Bazaar, the clock tower, the Jodhpur market where the specific Jodhpur spice sellers and the silver jewellers and the blue pottery vendors operate at the local price rather than the tourist price of the Jaipur jewellery district):
The jodhpuri cuisine: the makhaniya lassi (the Jodhpur specialty — the thick yoghurt drink sweetened with the saffron and the cardamom, the specific refreshment of the desert city at noon): INR 50-80 / £0.45-0.72 per glass.
DAYS 9-11 — Jaisalmer
The overnight train (recommended) or the drive (280km, 5 hours from Jodhpur):
The Jaisalmer Express from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer (5 hours, 3A sleeper: INR 700-1,000 / £6.30-9.00): the desert train, the landscape visible through the window as the Thar Desert takes over completely — the sand dunes visible from the train window in the final hour.
Jaisalmer Fort:
The Jaisalmer Fort (the 1156 CE Rajput fort — the only living fort in India, 3,000 residents within the fortified walls, the narrow lanes, the carved sandstone haveli merchant houses, the Jain temples within the fort): the fort that the desert gives — the yellow sandstone the same colour as the desert, the fort merging with the landscape rather than contrasting with it in the way that the red sandstone forts of Jodhpur and Agra do. Entry: free to the fort (the specific museums within: INR 50-200 / £0.45-1.80 each).
The Desert Camp:
The Sam Sand Dunes (40km from Jaisalmer on the Jaisalmer-Pakistan highway — the most accessible of the Thar Desert sand dune formations, the camel safari departing from the dune base at 5pm for the sunset, the camp in the desert for the night): the camp (the tent camp on the desert floor, the dinner around the fire, the Rajasthani folk music and dance performance, the desert dawn the next morning): INR 2,500-6,000 / £22.50-54.00 per person including the camel ride, the dinner, and the breakfast.
The specific desert instruction: the sunset from the Sam dunes is the tourist version. The sunrise is the correct dune visit — the sand in the horizontal first light, the dunes shadowed in one direction and lit in the other, the camel track visible in the sand from the previous evening’s visitors disappearing in the new patterns of the overnight wind.
The Havelis:
The Patwon ki Haveli (the merchants’ haveli complex — the five connected mansions of the Patwa merchants, the most elaborate carved sandstone facade in Jaisalmer, the specific Jain merchant wealth visible in the 860 carved arches): entry INR 200-400 / £1.80-3.60.
DAYS 12-14 — Return and Departure
Day 12: Return to Jodhpur or Jaipur
The overnight train back to Jodhpur or the driver bringing the car from Jaisalmer. The Day 12 instruction: Jodhpur for the Mehrangarh sunset (the fort lit in the last light from the rooftop restaurant), or Jaipur for the final Rajasthan market shopping.
Day 13-14: Delhi Return and Departure
The Delhi return from Jaipur (the 280km, 5-hour drive by the driver, or the Shatabdi Express train — Jaipur to Delhi Hazrat Nizamuddin: 4 hours, INR 500-800 / £4.50-7.20 second class).
The Delhi final day: the Lodhi Garden (the 15th-century tombs of the Lodi dynasty in the public park — the most accessible of the Delhi garden monuments, the architecture visible without the admission queue, free): the correct final Delhi morning.
Fly home from Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL).
What It Costs
| Category | Budget | Mid-Range |
|---|---|---|
| Return flights (UK-Delhi direct) | £350-600 | £500-800 |
| Driver-guide (14 days) | £495-765 | £495-765 |
| 14 nights accommodation | £200-420 | £560-1,120 |
| Food (14 days) | £80-160 | £180-360 |
| Train (Jodhpur-Jaisalmer return) | £15-25 | £25-50 |
| Site entries (Mehrangarh, Taj, forts) | £50-90 | £60-110 |
| Desert camp | £45-110 | £80-180 |
| Total | £1,235-2,170 | £1,900-3,385 |
