Jaisalmer

Jaisalmer, the "Golden City" rising from the flat Thar Desert of western Rajasthan, is one of India's most dramatically beautiful cities — a 12th-century fortress city that glows honey-gold in the desert light and remains, astonishingly, a living inhabited fort where about 4,000 people still make their homes inside its sandstone walls (the hilltop enclosure measures roughly 1,500 by 750 feet).

• The Sonar Killa (Golden Fort) was built in 1156 CE by Rawal Jaisal Singh on the Trikuta Hill — a 76-metre sandstone mesa rising abruptly from the flat desert plains — and is classified among the Hill Forts of Rajasthan UNESCO World Heritage Sites (2013).
• Inside the living fort: the Raj Mahal (seven-storey royal palace, now a museum), four exquisitely carved Jain temples (12th-15th centuries, dedicated to the Tirthankaras, open to all respectful visitors), the Laxminarayan Temple, and the fort's working lanes of craft stalls, rooftop café-restaurants, and guesthouses with desert-view terraces.
• Walking the fort's ramparts at sunset, when the entire sandstone structure turns from amber to deep ochre, is one of India's great travel experiences.
• Outside the fort walls, the Patwon Ki Haveli (a five-haveli complex of elaborately carved merchant mansions begun in 1805, open 9 AM-6 PM) is the city's grandest heritage ensemble — the most intricate sandstone facade carving in Rajasthan, covering five contiguous five-storey buildings.
• The Nathmal Ki Haveli and the Salim Singh Ki Haveli (with its famous peacock-topped façade) complete the haveli circuit.
• The Sam Sand Dunes, 42 km west of Jaisalmer on the Pakistan-border road, are the Thar's most accessible dune field — 30-60 metre crescent dunes at the desert's edge where camel rides, 4x4 jeep safaris, and luxury desert tent camps with stargazing (Jaisalmer's extremely low light pollution makes it one of India's finest locations for naked-eye stargazing) are the evening highlights.
• The Kuldhara abandoned village (18 km west) is a haunting complete stone village evacuated overnight in 1825 by its entire Paliwal Brahmin community — standing untouched since.
• For vegetarian travellers, Jaisalmer is a Rajasthani Marwari food destination: dal baati churma (lentil soup, hard wheat dumplings baked in desert coals, and sweet crushed grain with pure ghee) is the essential meal; ker-sangri (desert berry and bean curry, unique to the Thar region and impossible to find outside Rajasthan) and gatte ki sabzi (chickpea-flour dumplings in spiced yogurt gravy) are the defining dishes; and the local sweet rabdi (thick reduced-milk dessert with cardamom) is served at rooftop restaurants with fort views.
• October to March is comfortable; the Desert Festival (February full moon) is the cultural peak.