Jaisalmer is a sandstone fort city on the edge of the Thar, and two or three days covers it. Give the first morning to the fort, its palace museum and the Jain temples, the afternoon to Patwon ki Haveli and the bazaars. Drive out to the Sam dunes for sunset, then spend a second day on Bada Bagh, Kuldhara and Lodurva.
Rawal Jaisal raised his fort on Trikuta hill in 1156, and caravans crossing the Thar paid for everything that followed. The merchants built in the same yellow sandstone as the walls, which is why the whole city glows at dusk. People still live inside the fort.
Built from 1156 on Trikuta hill and still lived in: shops, temples and homes fill the lanes inside the walls. Enter through Akhai Pol and climb past Ganesh, Suraj and Hawa Pol to the main square. Entry to the fort itself is free.
The Raj Mahal, the rulers' palace, is the paid part of the fort. The rooms climb past carved balconies and painted chambers to roof terraces with the best view over the fort's bastions and the old city below.
Seven interlinked temples, built from the 12th to the 15th centuries in the same yellow sandstone as the walls, carved inside and out. Non-Jain visitors are admitted for limited hours only, so check at the gate the day before.
Five merchant mansions in one lane, begun in 1805 by Guman Chand Patwa for his five sons and finished over about fifty years. The first, Kothari's Patwa Haveli, is a museum furnished as the family lived. Look up at the facade before you go in.
The big dunes are about 40 km west of the city, inside the Desert National Park, and sunset there is the reason most visitors come to Jaisalmer. Go by jeep, take a short camel ride and stay for the camp's folk music after dark.
The reservoir that watered the city for centuries, rebuilt under Maharawal Gadsi Singh in the 14th century and lined with shrines and ghats. You enter under Tilon ki Pol, the carved gateway a courtesan paid for.
Rows of royal chhatris on a low ridge about 6 km north, built for the rulers of Jaisalmer from the 18th to the early 20th centuries above an old garden and dam. The domes face west, so this is the city's other sunset.
A Paliwal Brahmin village, founded around the 13th century and abandoned in the early 19th, roughly 18 km south-west of town. Roofless houses still line its street grid. Legend blames the prime minister Salim Singh; failing water is the other explanation.
The Bhati capital before Jaisalmer, about 15 km north-west, now a single rebuilt Parshvanath temple with a metal Kalpavriksha, the wish-granting tree, in its courtyard. Quieter than the fort temples and easier to see.
A small fort above a second abandoned Paliwal village, with a little museum of finds from the site. Climb to the top for the view over the ruined lanes, and watch for the peacocks that roam among them.
A five-storey tower Muslim craftsmen shaped like a Muharram tazia in 1886. Now part of a heritage hotel.
The carved gateway to Gadisar Lake. A Krishna shrine on top saved it from demolition.
A working Hindu temple to Lakshmi and Vishnu in the fort, busiest at the evening aarti.
A reservoir north-west of town with carved Jain temples beside it. The lake is often dry.
Brahmin cenotaphs on a ridge north of the fort. Locals' choice for sunset over the walls.
A retired teacher's collection by Gadisar, with an evening puppet show.
Textiles, instruments and household objects, on the same ticket as the Desert Culture Centre.
An Indian Army museum on the Jodhpur road with tanks and the story of Longewala. Free entry.
Smaller dunes south-west of town and a village setting, with far fewer jeeps than Sam.
Grassland and dunes protecting the great Indian bustard, best seen around Sudasari.
A red and yellow sandstone fort with a museum, about 110 km east on the Jodhpur road.
Kite day. The rooftops of the old city fill from morning.
Three days of camel races, folk stages and contests, ending on the Sam dunes.
Colours in the old city squares. Wear clothes you can throw away.
Women's festival for Gauri, with idols carried through the streets.
The monsoon festival for Parvati, with swings, henna and processions.
Pilgrims walk for days to Baba Ramdev's shrine near Pokaran.
The Jain festival of fasting, when the fort temples are busiest.
Lamps along the fort ramparts and the haveli rooftops.
A civil enclave at the air force station outside town, with a short list of domestic routes. Check the season's schedule before you build a trip on it.
Station code JSM, a short auto ride from the fort, with trains from Jodhpur and on to Jaipur and Delhi. Book ahead in winter.
State and private buses run from Jodhpur, about 285 km east. A hired car is the comfortable way and lets you stop at Pokaran.
The fort and havelis are walkable. Autos cover Gadisar and Bada Bagh; hire a jeep or taxi for Sam, Kuldhara and the border.
Desert berries and khejri beans, dried and cooked with spices.
The city's own sweet: gram flour, ghee and cardamom, pounded by hand.
Mutton in a red chilli and yoghurt gravy. Hot by design.
Baked wheat balls with lentils, ghee and a sweet crumble.
Five desert vegetables cooked together, a Marwari staple.
Gram-flour dumplings in a yoghurt curry.
Fried pastry filled with spiced onion, the breakfast snack.
Thick sweet lassi topped with butter and saffron.
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