10 Hidden Gems Beyond the Tourist Trail

Our ten favourites

• Chand Baori, Abhaneri — one of India's deepest stepwells, with thousands of symmetrical steps, an easy detour between Jaipur and Agra.
• Panna Meena ka Kund, Jaipur — a smaller, quieter stepwell just below Amber Fort.
• Bundi — a sleepy town of painted palaces, blue houses and stepwells that inspired Rudyard Kipling.
• Kumbhalgarh Fort — protected by walls stretching around 36 km, among the longest in the world.
• Ranakpur Jain Temple — a marble masterpiece with more than 1,400 individually carved pillars.
• Mandawa, Shekhawati — an open-air gallery of havelis covered in frescoes painted by merchant families.
• Osian — ancient Hindu and Jain temples on the edge of the Thar, around an hour from Jodhpur.
• Kuldhara — an abandoned 19th-century village near Jaisalmer, wrapped in local legend.
• Junagarh Fort, Bikaner — never conquered, and home to some of the finest painted interiors in Rajasthan.
• Chittorgarh — a vast hilltop fort full of towers, palaces and stories of Rajput courage.

How to fit them in

Most of these sit along routes you will already be travelling. Abhaneri fits between Jaipur and Ranthambore or Agra; Ranakpur and Kumbhalgarh between Jodhpur and Udaipur; Osian and Kuldhara on the way to and around Jaisalmer. Ask us and we will build them into your itinerary at no extra planning cost.