Places to VisitNear Ajmer

The only major Brahma temple in the country sits beside Pushkar lake, ringed by fifty-two bathing ghats. Fifteen kilometres over the Nag Pahar hill from Ajmer and an easy half-day, though the lanes around the lake are walking-only.

India's marble capital, where the dust on the roadside is white. The Phool Mahal palace sits on Gundalao lake and the old fort is still largely intact. Quieter than anywhere else this close to Ajmer.

A colonial-era cantonment with wide avenues and old barracks, useful as a short run rather than a day out. Mostly of interest for the military history and the drive itself.

A seventeenth-century fort built by the Kishangarh rulers, now part heritage hotel. Worth the hour for the ramparts and the near-total absence of other visitors.

A nineteenth-century trading town on the old Agra-Ahmedabad route, with a working grain and cotton market that has not changed much. Not a tourist destination; a good one if you like a functioning Indian market town.

The centre of Rajasthan's textile industry, and the practical stop on the way south toward Chittorgarh. Harni Mahadev temple and the Badnore fort are the reasons to stop rather than pass through.

Three hours on good road puts you in Amer Fort by late morning. A long day from Ajmer rather than a half-day, and better as an overnight if you want the city palace and Hawa Mahal too.

The largest fort in the country by area, and the one with the heaviest history. Four hours each way makes this an overnight rather than a day trip — the fort alone needs most of a day to walk.