Your chauffeur meets you at Delhi (DEL) arrivals and transfers you to your hotel. In the afternoon you visit Raj Ghat, the tranquil riverside memorial marking the spot where Mahatma Gandhi was cremated in 1948.

You then drive to India Gate, the 42-metre war memorial anchoring New Delhi's ceremonial axis, a gentle, low-energy introduction to the capital before the road trip begins.

A morning run down the Yamuna Expressway brings you to Agra by lunchtime and your hotel check-in.

In the late afternoon you visit the Taj Mahal at sunset, when the white marble warms to amber and gold and the crowds thin, a softer, quieter first look at Shah Jahan's monument to love, with your guide tracing its history and symmetry.

You return to the Taj Mahal at first light, when the marble shifts from pink to pearl-white and the complex is at its calmest, the best hour to see and photograph it a second time.

After breakfast you visit the red-sandstone Agra Fort, where Shah Jahan spent his last years imprisoned by his son with a view of the Taj across the Yamuna.

You then drive to Jaipur, reaching the Pink City by evening.

The morning covers the highlights of the Pink City, the hilltop Amber Fort with its Sheesh Mahal, the City Palace, and the photogenic facade of the Hawa Mahal.

In the late afternoon you drive to Pushkar, one of Hinduism's oldest and holiest towns, set against the Aravalli hills at the edge of the Thar Desert.

You arrive in the evening for check-in and a first, quiet sense of the town's temple-lined lanes.

You visit the Jagatpita Brahma Mandir, one of the very few temples in the world dedicated to Brahma the creator, and walk down to the ghats of the sacred Pushkar Lake, ringed by 52 bathing steps and pilgrims performing rituals.

As the heat eases, you head into the surrounding desert scrub for a sunset camel safari over the dunes, an unhurried, atmospheric close to the day.

After a relaxed morning you drive back to Jaipur, arriving around midday.

The afternoon is yours for the city's famous bazaars, Johari and Bapu markets for block-print textiles, blue pottery, jootis, silver and Jaipur's celebrated gemstones, with your guide on hand to help you navigate and bargain.

After breakfast your chauffeur drives you back to Delhi along the highway, timed to your onward flight.

We can add a lunch stop or a final Delhi sight en route depending on your departure time, before your driver delivers you to the airport.