AGRA JAIPUR

The fabled "Pink City" of Jaipur is the vibrant, bustling and immensely colourful capital of Rajasthan. The "pink" is derived from the rich hues of the architecture, constructed from rare coloured sandstone. Two and a half centuries ago, Jaipur was the country's first modern city, laid strictly according to the ancient Indian treatise of town planning and architecture - the Shilpa Shastra. Structured in a nine-grid plan, it has City Palace in its centre, with mansions and markets emanating outward from this core. Many of those well-preserved palaces and mansions are now museums, or heritage hotels, making Jaipur one of the few big cities in India where walking around is a sheer pleasure. Whether through stately avenues or through the jumble of Jaipur's walled city - full of bazars, the bustle of cows, camels and rickshaws, discover this historic rajput city on foot. There is so much to see and absorb in Jaipur.