Jaisalmer Travel Guide
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Jaisalmer is the second of two stops on Jodhpur & Jaisalmer 4 nights · with Jodhpur · from ₹21,999 per person See it →Jaisalmer is the end of the road: a twelfth-century fort that people still live in, rising out of the Thar on the far western edge of Rajasthan, with the desert starting at the last house. It is smaller and older than Jaipur, Jodhpur or Udaipur and the only one of the four where the evening's plan is a camel and a sky.
Quick facts
Founded: 1156, by Rawal Jaisal of the Bhatti Rajputs Known as: the Golden City, for its yellow sandstone Region: the Thar desert, sixty-odd kilometres from the Pakistan border Best time: October to March; November to February for the dunes Airport: Jaisalmer (JSA), a few kilometres from town, seasonal flights Rail: Jaisalmer station, overnight trains from Jodhpur, Jaipur and Delhi
Getting there
By air. Seasonal flights from Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai in the cooler months; check what is running for your dates.
By train. The overnight from Delhi via Jodhpur is the classic approach; you wake up in the desert.
By road. Jodhpur is about five hours through flat scrub, Bikaner about six. On our journeys the same private car and driver takes you the whole way, with the Bishnoi villages or Osian as a stop.
Getting around
The fort and the old town are for walking. Auto-rickshaws and taxis for Gadisar, Bada Bagh and the edges of town. The desert needs a car, a driver and a plan: Sam is forty kilometres, Khuri fifty, and the camps arrange the camels.
How many days
Two nights: one in town for the fort and the havelis, one in a camp on the dunes. That is what our journeys give it.
What to do
Things to do in Jaisalmer: the living fort and its Jain temples, the merchants' havelis, Gadisar Lake, Bada Bagh, the abandoned village of Kuldhara, the dunes at Sam and Khuri and a night in a camp, with how long each takes.
Where to stay
Six stays: inside the fort, below its walls, or in the desert. Boutique hotels in Jaisalmer, with what each is like.
Journeys through Jaisalmer
Jodhpur & Jaisalmer, Jaipur, Jodhpur & Jaisalmer and the ten-night Rajasthan Grand Journey. Or find a journey, weekend or city guide in three taps.