The Great Rajasthan Road Trip: A 10-Day Self-Drive Circuit from Delhi

A loop through Rajasthan is the road trip of a lifetime from Delhi: the Pink City of Jaipur, Bikaner's ornate fort, the golden fort and sand dunes of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur's blue city under Mehrangarh, and the lakes of Udaipur. It covers about 2,150 km in ten days, with drives of four to six hours between cities and a day to explore each. This guide lays out the daily plan, distances, road tips and costs for doing it in a self-drive car.

The Rajasthan circuit at a glance

• Distance: about 2,150 km, Delhi to Delhi.
• Time: ten days, or seven if you skip Bikaner.
• Daily drives: 260–335 km between cities, four to six hours each.
• Best time: October to March.
• Car rental: trips over 5 days get 20% off.

A 10-day itinerary

1. Day 1: Delhi to Jaipur, about 280 km (4.5–5.5 hours). Evening in the old city.
2. Day 2: Jaipur: Amer Fort, Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Nahargarh at sunset.
3. Day 3: Jaipur to Bikaner, about 335 km (5–6 hours). Junagarh Fort in the afternoon.
4. Day 4: Bikaner to Jaisalmer, about 330 km (5–6 hours), across the Thar Desert.
5. Day 5: Jaisalmer: the living fort, the havelis and Gadisar Lake, then sunset at the Sam Sand Dunes, about 40 km out, with a night in a desert camp.
6. Day 6: Jaisalmer to Jodhpur, about 285 km (5 hours).
7. Day 7: Jodhpur: Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada and the blue lanes of the old city.
8. Day 8: Jodhpur to Udaipur, about 260 km (5 hours), stopping at the Ranakpur Jain temple.
9. Day 9: Udaipur: the City Palace, Lake Pichola and Sajjangarh at sunset.
10. Day 10: Udaipur to Delhi, about 660 km (10–12 hours), or break it in Jaipur or Chittorgarh.

The last day is long. Our Delhi to Udaipur guide covers that drive, including the routes via Ajmer or Chittorgarh and where to break it, and the Delhi to Jaipur guide covers the first day.

Driving in the desert

• The highways between the cities are well paved, but stretches across the Thar are long and empty: fill up whenever the tank drops to half.
• Carry plenty of water, and download offline maps: the mobile signal drops near Jaisalmer.
• Camels, cattle and goats wander onto the road, so drive in daylight and slow down near villages.
• Never take the car onto the dunes: at Sam, use a jeep or a camel.
• Our cars have a 120 km/h speed limit; empty roads make it tempting to go faster.

What the trip costs

For fuel, a petrol SUV doing 14 km a litre uses about 155 litres over 2,150 km: roughly ₹15,000 at ₹96 a litre. Tolls come to about ₹3,000 for the loop, mostly on NH48 between Delhi, Jaipur and Udaipur. Hotels range from hostels and desert camps to palace hotels; the lists on this page cover every budget.

The car rental gets 20% off for trips over 5 days, so ten days costs much less per day than a weekend.

Renting a self-drive car for Rajasthan

• Unlimited kilometres and an All-India permit on every car; you pay any state entry taxes.
• An SUV is the most comfortable on long desert days: the Scorpio N, XUV 7XO or Grand Vitara; for a family of six or seven, the Ertiga.
• Collect the car at our Mahipalpur office near IGI Airport, or have it delivered anywhere in Delhi NCR.
• You need a driving licence held for at least a year, a government ID and a ₹5,000 refundable deposit.

See all our cars or read more about outstation trips from Delhi.