Celestial Honeymoon in Jaisalmer

Begin where the honeymoon warms up: Jaipur, an easy 3.5-hour expressway run from Delhi. Check into your haveli, walk the old city's pink facades before dinner, and split one plate of pyaaz kachori as a statement of intent for the week.

A couples-paced Jaipur day: Amber Fort early while the courtyards are quiet, the mirror-and-fresco chambers at your own speed, then bazaar time - Johari for jewellery, Bapu for mojari slippers - with lassi served in clay kulhads. End at Nahargarh at dusk, when the whole pink city switches its lights on below you.

Drive deeper into Marwar to Bikaner and trade crowds for courtyards at Junagarh Fort, whose painted palaces reward slow looking. The town's other credential is sweeter: its rasgulla tradition, less famous than the bhujia and arguably the better secret. Evening asks nothing more of you than a slow walk and an early dinner - tomorrow crosses the open Thar for six hours.

The six-hour desert run to Jaisalmer is part of the romance - the Thar unrolling to the horizon on both sides. Arrive as the golden sandstone lights up, walk the fort ramparts at sunset, and dine at a rooftop with the bastions for a backdrop.

Morning among the havelis - Patwon ki Haveli's carved facades, then Nathmal ki Haveli - and Gadisar Lake's pavilions before the heat. In the afternoon, out past Bada Bagh's cenotaphs to the dunes: a sunset camel ride, then your desert camp, where live Manganiyar music, a bonfire and a serious starfield make the case for winter layers.

Leave the dunes for Jodhpur - 285 km, about 5.5 hours - and spend the late afternoon inside Mehrangarh, rising sheer off its rock over the blue city. Evening food assignment for two: mirchi bada and mawa kachori, both local, both non-negotiable.

A marble pause at Jaswant Thada, one last look over the blue rooftops, and then the day-long drive south into Mewar's hills. Udaipur by evening - check into the lake side and let the week's final act begin softly. Break the journey wherever the chai stalls look right, and arrive with enough evening left to find your rooftop and your table.

Udaipur plays the closer perfectly: Saheliyon ki Bari's fountains in the morning, the City Palace at leisure, and the sunset boat across Pichola past Jag Mandir. Book the evening slot, then dinner on a Lal Ghat rooftop with the Lake Palace glowing mid-water - the honeymoon photograph that needs no filter.

Departure with options: the morning flight home, or the Mewar Express overnight if you would rather end the trip asleep on the rails. Either way, Udaipur to your doorstep in a day - and a marriage's first great trip in the album.