Delhi

Delhi is the starting point of the Golden Triangle, the circuit most Indian families take as their first big North India holiday. In two nights you see two very different cities layered on top of each other: the Mughal lanes of Old Delhi, where a cycle-rickshaw squeezes past spice traders and silver shops in Chandni Chowk, and the broad avenues of Lutyens' Delhi, with India Gate and Rashtrapati Bhavan. Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb and the Lotus Temple fill the rest of the sightseeing, and evenings are for parathas, chaat and kebabs.

From Delhi the Yamuna Expressway brings you to Agra in under four hours. The Taj Mahal is seen at sunrise, when the marble turns from grey to pink to white and the crowds are thinnest, followed by the red sandstone walls of Agra Fort. On the way to Jaipur you stop at Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned capital, with its vast courtyard and the Buland Darwaza. Jaipur then gives you Rajput grandeur: Amber Fort on its hill, the City Palace, the Jantar Mantar observatory and the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal, with bazaars full of block prints, blue pottery and lac bangles.

The whole loop is about 750 km on good highways in a private air-conditioned car, so the drives are comfortable even for seniors and young children. It works best between October and March, when days are sunny and mild. Because Jaipur has direct flights to Hyderabad, most travellers fly into Delhi and home from Jaipur, so no day is wasted on backtracking.