Your chauffeur meets you at Delhi (DEL) and transfers you to your hotel to settle in after your flight.

As the evening cools you take a gentle cultural walk, the lanes of Old Delhi around Chandni Chowk, or the gardens and tomb of Humayun, a low-key introduction that eases you into the trip.

A day of Delhi's highlights: the towering 12th-century Qutub Minar, the garden-tomb of Humayun that inspired the Taj Mahal, and the ceremonial sweep of India Gate and New Delhi's colonial avenues.

In the evening your chauffeur drives you down the Yamuna Expressway to Agra, positioning you for next morning's sunrise at the Taj.

You enter the Taj Mahal at first light with your guide, when the marble shifts from pink to pearl-white and the queues are shortest, the single best hour to experience it.

After breakfast you tour the red-sandstone Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan spent his final years gazing at the Taj across the Yamuna.

In the evening you board a train to Jaipur, arriving in the Pink City by night.

The morning belongs to the honey-coloured Amber Fort above Maota Lake, with its Sheesh Mahal mirror hall and sweeping ramparts (jeep ascent included).

Back in the old city you photograph the five-storey Hawa Mahal facade, visit the City Palace and, if you wish, the Jantar Mantar observatory, with time for the bazaars.

You drive west across Rajasthan to Jodhpur, the 'Sun City', edged by the Thar desert.

In the evening you visit the Umaid Bhawan Palace, one of the world's largest private residences, part royal home, part heritage hotel, part museum, its golden sandstone glowing at dusk.

You spend the morning at the mighty Mehrangarh Fort, rising 120 metres of sheer cliff above the old town, its palaces, courtyards and cannon-scarred ramparts among the most dramatic in India.

Nearby stands the Jaswant Thada, a serene white-marble royal cenotaph, before you descend for a walk through the tangle of indigo-washed houses that give Jodhpur its 'Blue City' name.

You head into the countryside for a village safari among the Bishnoi, India's original conservationists, whose faith centres on protecting trees and wildlife, a genuine encounter with rural Rajasthan, its potters, weavers and blackbuck.

As the light fades you settle in for tea in the desert, watching the sun sink over the scrub and dunes.

Your final morning is at leisure for a last stroll or some shopping before checkout.

Your chauffeur transfers you to Jodhpur airport for the flight to Delhi and your onward international connection.