Journey Across Rajasthan (17 Days)

Since the 12th century, Delhi has seen the rise and fall of seven major powers. The Chauhans took control in the 12th century and made Delhi the most important Hindu centre in northern India. When Qutab-ud-din Aibak occupied the city in 1193, he ushered in six and a half centuries of Muslim rule. The Delhi Sultanate lasted from 1206 to 1526, and was followed by the mighty Moghuls from 1526 to 1857. The basis of what is today 'Old' Delhi, including the Red Fort and the Jama Masjid, was built during the reign of the Moghul emperor Shah Jahan (1628-1658). In 1803, the British captured Delhi and installed a British administrator. When the British decided to make Delhi the capital in 1911, they built New Delhi in a grandiose imperial style.

Jaisalmer is unlike any other city in India. Located in the western reaches of the barren Thar desert near the border with Pakistan, this outpost is dominated by an 850-year old fortress made from yellow sandstone, giving rise to the city's nickname, The Golden City. The city's position on the ancient trade route between India and Central Asia was responsible for its past prominence, but even today it does not take much to imagine the city in its heyday, and the havelis in the old part of the city are still by far the best examples of their kind in India.

On the eastern fringe of the Thar Desert, Jodhpur, dubbed "the Blue City" after the colour-wash of its old town houses, sprawls across the arid terrain, overlooked by the mighty Meherangarh fort, whose ramparts rise from a sheer-sided sandstone outcrop. It was once the centre of Marwar, the largest princely state in Rajputana, and today has a population close to 800,000. In the blue maze of the old city you'll stumble across Muslim tie-dyers, lacquer bangle and puppet makers and traditional spice markets, while Jodhpur's famed cubic roofscape, best viewed at sunset, is a photographer's paradise. In addition, the encroaching desert beyond the blue city is dotted with small settlements where you escape the congestion and pollution for a taste of rural Rajasthan.

Udaipur, built around the lovely Lake Pichola, has been dubbed the 'Venice of the East'. Founded in 1568 by Maharana Udai Singh, the city is a harmonious Indian blend of whitewashed buildings, marble palaces, lakeside gardens, temples and havelis (traditional mansions). It boasts an enviable artistic heritage, a proud reputation for performing arts and a relatively plentiful water supply, all of which have helped make it an oasis of civilisation and colour in the midst of drab aridity. Lake Pichola is the city's centrepiece and it contains two delightful island palaces - Jagniwas and Jagmandir. The huge City Palace towers over the lake and is bedecked with balconies, towers and cupolas. Other attractions in Udaipur include the gates to the old walled city and its lovely alleyways; the fine Indo-Aryan Jagdish Temple, dating from the mid-17th century; and the lakeside Bagore ki Haveli, once a royal guesthouse, but now a cultural centre.

Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, is popularly known as the 'pink city' because of the ochre-pink colour of its old buildings and city walls. Maharaja Jai Singh II (1699-1744), took advantage of declining Moghul power to move his somewhat cramped hillside fortress at nearby Amber to a new site on the plains in 1727. Today Jaipur is a city of broad avenues and remarkable architectural harmony, built on a dry lake bed surrounded by barren hills. It's an extremely colourful city and, in the evening light, it radiates a magical warm glow. The city now has 1.5 million inhabitants and has sprawled beyond its original fortified confines, but most of its attractions are compactly located in the walled 'pink city' in the north-east of the city. The most striking sight is the stunning artistry of the five-storey facade of the Hawa Mahal, or Palace of the Winds, which is part of the City Palace complex which forms the heart of the old city.

Agra, in the populous state of Uttar Pradesh, used to be the Capital of India during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries under Mughal rule. It is now distinguished only by the wonderful monuments left behind as a legacy of that time. The Taj Mahal needs little introduction. This exquisite Mughal monument was constructed by the emperor Shah Jahan as a testament to his love for his wife after she died during childbirth in 1631. The Taj Mahal took over twenty years to build and twenty thousand people are said to have worked on its construction.