The Perfect 14-Day Route for India

This two-week loop through northern India is for first-timers who want the Mughal and Rajput classics without spending half the trip in transit. The pace is steady: two to four nights per stop and no journey longer than about six hours. You’ll use express trains, one hired car, an intercity bus, a domestic flight home from Udaipur, and app-booked autos and Ubers in the cities.

Days 1-2: Delhi

Most international flights land in Delhi, so it makes sense as the starting point. Spend the first day in Old Delhi: climb the minaret of Jama Masjid, then take a cycle rickshaw down Chandni Chowk to Paranthe Wali Gali for fried flatbread stuffed with potato. The next morning, ride the Yellow Line metro to the Qutub Minar Complex, where a 73-meter fluted sandstone tower from the early 1200s stands next to an iron pillar that has barely rusted in 1,600 years.

Days 3-4: Agra

The Gatimaan Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin covers the 188 kilometers to Agra in about 1 hour 40 minutes. Enter the Taj Mahal when … read more 👉

This two-week loop through northern India is for first-timers who want the Mughal and Rajput classics without spending half the trip in transit. The pace is steady: two to four nights per stop and no journey longer than about six hours. You’ll use express trains, one hired car, an intercity bus, a domestic flight home from Udaipur, and app-booked autos and Ubers in the cities.

Days 1-2: Delhi

Most international flights land in Delhi, so it makes sense as the starting point. Spend the first day in Old Delhi: climb the minaret of Jama Masjid, then take a cycle rickshaw down Chandni Chowk to Paranthe Wali Gali for fried flatbread stuffed with potato. The next morning, ride the Yellow Line metro to the Qutub Minar Complex, where a 73-meter fluted sandstone tower from the early 1200s stands next to an iron pillar that has barely rusted in 1,600 years.

Days 3-4: Agra

The Gatimaan Express from Hazrat Nizamuddin covers the 188 kilometers to Agra in about 1 hour 40 minutes. Enter the Taj Mahal when the gates open, roughly 30 minutes before sunrise (it’s closed on Fridays), and walk to the riverside terrace before the crowds arrive. Spend the afternoon in Agra Fort. On day 5, hire a car with driver to Jaipur for about ₹3,500 to 5,000 (US$40 to 60) and stop at Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar’s abandoned red sandstone capital 40 kilometers out. With the stop, the drive takes 5 to 6 hours.

Days 5-7: Jaipur

Three nights in Jaipur gives you one full day for Amer Fort, 11 kilometers north. Arrive at opening time, before the heat and the jeep convoys, and walk up instead of riding an elephant. See the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal from a rooftop café across the street in morning light, then spend an evening in the bazaars of Johari Bazaar.

Days 8-9: Jodhpur

The train to Jodhpur takes 5 to 6 hours. Mehrangarh Fort sits on a rock about 125 meters above the blue-painted houses of Brahmpuri, and the audio guide is one of the best in the country. Walk down through the old city lanes afterward, and try a makhaniya lassi near the clock tower.

Days 10-13: Udaipur

A bus or car takes 5 to 6 hours to Udaipur, and four nights let you slow down. Tour the City Palace above Lake Pichola, take the sunset boat, and fill the remaining days with a cooking class, a miniature-painting workshop or simply lunch at Ambrai ghat. On day 14, fly back to Delhi (about 1 hour 30 minutes) for your international connection.

If you can spare a day from Udaipur, hire a car to Kumbhalgarh, a hilltop fort about 85 kilometers north whose 36-kilometer wall you can walk for long stretches with hardly anyone else around.