Forts, Palaces & Heritage

The good stuff is rarely on the ticket. Jaisalmer’s fort still has three thousand people living inside it, which is why you walk it at seven, before the shops open. Bundi’s Chitrashala holds better frescoes than anywhere in Rajasthan and you will often have them alone. Orchha’s chhatris on the Betwa fill with vultures at dusk. Sigiriya wants a 5.30 start; the Taj closes on Fridays. We use small heritage properties whose owning families still live there — Deogarh, Chanoud, Narlai — arrange dinner in the stepwell with two hundred lamps, and bring in the historian who wrote the book rather than the guide at the gate.