Any ways, after lot of planning and discussions, we finally started during the last week of January.
The total distance to travel was 1700+ KM. With a kid on board, I
decided to have a few stop-overs, before reaching Jaisalmer.
Following were the cities that were there on the list
Following were the cities that were there on the list
a. Jaipur
b. Jodhpur
c. Jaisalmer
d. Bikaner
The other places of interest that were
on the route-map but I skipped (for the time) were Ajmer, Pokharan, Osian.
The hotel bookings were done through
Yatra. After a usual pre-requisite check for a road trip, I started
from Delhi at 4PM. It was a late start, but considering the objective
of Day1 was only to reach Jaipur, it was still fine. Delhi – Jaipur
highway is good and with distance of only 250 KM, it is only a matter
of 5 hours at max, with one stop in-between. For a night-halt, I had
booked
Hotel Ananda Greens. This is a new
hotel, just behind Fortis Hospital. Stay was cozy and food was good.
Next morning, after having breakfast at hotel, we started for Jodhpur at 11AM. Jodhpur is around 350KM and route goes through Ajmer and Beawar. Both these cities have a by-pass road, so the local city traffic was avoided. Traffic between Ajmer & Beawar kept me slow. Rest the roads are great and drive is fun.
Next morning, after having breakfast at hotel, we started for Jodhpur at 11AM. Jodhpur is around 350KM and route goes through Ajmer and Beawar. Both these cities have a by-pass road, so the local city traffic was avoided. Traffic between Ajmer & Beawar kept me slow. Rest the roads are great and drive is fun.
![]() |
Mehrangarh Fort view from Hotel |
![]() |
Umaid Bhawan Palace |
![]() |
View of Jodhpur City |
![]() |
Stone carved buildings @ Mandore Fort |
After a quick stop at Mandore Fort, we were on the way to Jaisalmer. It is around 300KM from the place. The roads are great and mostly deserted. One can easily drive the car at its peak speed. I enjoyed the drive all the way till Jaisalmer city. However, the moment you reach city, tour-operators / guides will start flocking around you. It gets tough to get through them. As I had to go to the dunes, I wanted the directions. And my best bet were the guys at filling station.
Sam (pronounced as 'sum') sand dunes are further 40M from the city. I had booked a camp stay for myself and family. As the booking was totally based on the feedback of previous travelers,
![]() |
Desert Camp |
![]() |
Desert Panorama |
![]() |
Sun Set @ Dunes |
After breakfast we left for Desert National Park. I wanted to explore, so drove though the place.
![]() |
Museum @ Jaisalmer Fort |
Palace museum has a nice tour.
![]() |
Wood Fossil Park |
There are a few fossils of more than 180 million years old. It is a good place for people who have interest in archeology & pre-historic era, but it is poorly maintained.
After spending a night in Jaisalmer, I
left for Bikaner. The place is some 350KM. Again, the roads are great
for a day drive. Bikaner is mostly popular for Fort, and 'Karni matamandir'.
We had a short stop at Bikaner and early next morning
started for Delhi. As this is the longest stretch of my road-journey,
around 450KM, my plan was to be at home by evening. There are
multiple routes that connect Bikaner & Delhi, and going by my
experience, the one via Hissar should be preferred Though it is 50KM
longer, the roads are good and drive is swift.
The week long trip turned out to be 1900KM for me. And I enjoyed every moment of it.
![]() |
Bikaner Fort |
The week long trip turned out to be 1900KM for me. And I enjoyed every moment of it.