Attraction
Amber Fort
Hilltop Rajput palace-fortress above Maota Lake in Amer, about 11 km from Jaipur, known for its courtyards, Sheesh Mahal mirror work and UNESCO-listed walls.
India is a vast country whose capital, New Delhi, sits within the larger city of Delhi in the north. For many visitors, Delhi is the starting point of the Golden Triangle, a classic circuit that continues to Agra, home of the Taj Mahal, and Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, known for the Hawa Mahal. Fast trains such as the Gatimaan, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat expresses link these cities, making it easy to combine them in a single trip. Beyond the Golden Triangle, Mumbai is the country's largest city, and Fatehpur Sikri near Agra is a popular addition to the classic route. Travellers come for India's monuments, its regional cuisines and the sheer variety of its cities, and most find that a first visit leaves them planning a second.
Attraction
Hilltop Rajput palace-fortress above Maota Lake in Amer, about 11 km from Jaipur, known for its courtyards, Sheesh Mahal mirror work and UNESCO-listed walls.
Attraction
The 1924 basalt arch on the Apollo Bunder waterfront, built to mark a royal visit and now the departure point for Elephanta ferries.
Attraction
Shah Jahan's red sandstone citadel, completed in 1648, with audience halls, palace pavilions, gardens and several museums inside a UNESCO-listed complex in Old Delhi.
Attraction
The Victorian Gothic railway terminus formerly known as Victoria Terminus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and still Central Railway's busy headquarters.
Attraction
The royal palace at the heart of the walled Pink City, begun in 1729, combining museum galleries, ornate courtyards and the residence of the former Jaipur…
Attraction
A 72.5-metre sandstone minaret begun in 1199, standing in a UNESCO-listed complex in Mehrauli with the Iron Pillar and the ruins of Delhi's earliest mosque.
Café
Around 120 years old and described as Mumbai's oldest operating Irani cafe, serving bun maska, Irani chai, keema pav and cherry custard near Marine Lines.
Café
Jaipur's best-known modern chai house, overlooking Central Park on Prithviraj Road, with a long tea list, vegetarian snacks and a small design store upstairs.
Café
A Connaught Place bakery with roots in a Swiss couple's 1920s catering business, known for plum cake, shortbread, lemon tart, patties and pastries.
Café
A Parsi-Irani cafe in Ballard Estate since 1923, famous for its berry pulao made with barberries from Iran, salli boti, dhansak and caramel custard.
Café
Pioneering Jaipur specialty roaster founded by former army officer Neeraj Sheoran, roasting Indian, Kenyan and Rwandan beans and serving all-day food in C-Scheme.
Café
A no-frills, worker-run coffee house on the top floor of Mohan Singh Place, serving cheap coffee, dosas and omelettes to a crowd of regulars since the…
Hotel
Taj-run former royal residence built in 1835 as a guest house and hunting lodge, with 78 rooms and suites set in formal Mughal gardens south of…
Hotel
A heritage luxury hotel on Janpath, welcoming guests since 1936, mixing Victorian, Art Deco and Lutyens styles with several restaurants, the 1911 Bar and a spa.
Hotel
Mumbai's grand heritage hotel opposite the Gateway of India, welcoming guests since 1903, with 285 rooms and suites, a pool, spa and celebrated restaurants.
Hotel
Oberoi resort on 32 acres of gardens outside central Jaipur, with private-pool villas, luxury tents, a spa and an old Shiva temple in its grounds.
Hotel
A five-star deluxe hotel at Nariman Point with views over the Arabian Sea and Marine Drive, Ziya restaurant and an outdoor pool in a private courtyard.
Hotel
A five-star deluxe hotel opened in 1965, overlooking Humayun's Tomb and the Delhi Golf Course, with modern Indian, Chinese and international restaurants and indoor and outdoor…
Bar
A rooftop bar on the 34th floor of the Four Seasons in Worli, with skyline and Arabian Sea views, inventive cocktails, wine and international small plates.
Bar
Blue-painted Italian bar and restaurant in the gardens of Narain Niwas Palace, opened in 2013, known for its murals, tented pavilions and evening cocktails.
Bar
A craft cocktail bar in Greater Kailash II founded in 2018 by Yangdup Lama and Minakshi Singh, ranked on both Asia's and the World's 50 Best…
Bar
A high-ceilinged cocktail bar and restaurant in the Fort known for house-made infusions and tinctures, Neapolitan pizza and a glowing central bar.
Bar
A modern speakeasy in Vasant Vihar with a film-noir-style monochrome interior, ranked number 8 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025.
Bar
Bar and kitchen in a 150-year-old building near MI Road, named after architect Samuel Swinton Jacob, with a courtyard, pan-Asian restaurant and speakeasy rooms.
Restaurant
Chef Shantanu Mehrotra's modern Indian restaurant at The Lodhi, on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list since 2015, known for inventive tasting menus.
Restaurant
Rambagh Palace's formal Indian dining room, set in a hall styled on an 18th-century palace ballroom and serving royal recipes from Rajasthan and beyond.
Restaurant
A Kala Ghoda seafood institution since 1991, known for Koliwada prawns, butter garlic crab, Bombay duck and a long list of sauces for king prawns.
Restaurant
The celebrated tandoor restaurant at ITC Maurya, serving north-west frontier kebabs, raan and its famous black dal in a rustic stone-walled dining room since the late…
Restaurant
ITC Rajputana's North-West Frontier restaurant, serving charcoal-grilled kebabs, breads and slow-cooked dal at lunch and dinner on Palace Road.
Restaurant
A lively modern Indian restaurant and bar in the Kamala Mills compound, known for regional dishes, Eggs Kejriwal and inventive cocktails built on Indian produce.
Thing to do
Old Delhi's main market street, laid out in 1650 by Jahanara Begum, lined with temples, a gurdwara and a mosque and branching into specialist bazaars and…
Thing to do
The old city's jewellers' street near Hawa Mahal, lined with family-run shops selling gemstones, kundan and thewa jewellery in Jaipur's planned grid of pink shopfronts.
Thing to do
A three-kilometre seafront promenade curving from Nariman Point to Girgaum Chowpatty beach, best walked at sunset when the Queen's Necklace lights come on.
Thing to do
An open-air crafts bazaar and food plaza opposite INA Market, opened in 1994, where artisans from across India rotate through the stalls every couple of weeks.
Thing to do
A compact art and heritage quarter in the Fort, packed with galleries, museums, a historic synagogue and Victorian buildings, and home to an annual February arts…
Thing to do
Jaipur's grand single-screen cinema, opened in 1976 off MI Road, where watching a Hindi film in the pastel Art Moderne auditorium is an experience in itself.
Tour operator
An award-winning social enterprise running Dharavi tours, street food walks, bicycle tours and local transport tours, with most profits funding community projects.
Tour operator
A two-hour walk through Old Delhi led by young people who once lived on the city's streets, run by the Salaam Baalak Trust, which has supported…
Tour operator
Jaipur-based tour company running since 2008, best known for its morning and evening heritage walks through the artisans' lanes and bazaars of the Pink City.
Tour operator
Food tours of Old Delhi and beyond designed by founder Anubhav Sapra, from breakfast and night walks in the old city to vegetarian street-food trails.
Tour operator
A Mumbai walking tour company whose volunteer 'Ambassadors of Mumbai' lead heritage, bazaar, faith, food and ghost walks across the Fort, Bandra and beyond.
Tour operator
Social enterprise running heritage, food, shopping and morning tours of Jaipur in electric rickshaws driven and guided by women from low-income communities.
Long distances are usually covered by train or domestic flight, and fast trains such as the Gatimaan, Shatabdi and Vande Bharat expresses connect Delhi with Agra and Jaipur
For Delhi and the north, the cooler, drier months from October to March are the most comfortable, while April to June is very hot and July to September is the monsoon
Agra for the Taj Mahal and Jaipur for the Hawa Mahal complete the Golden Triangle, and Fatehpur Sikri near Agra is a popular addition