Three nights is the shape that works. One for Amber and the ridge forts, one for the palace and the observatory inside the walls, and one for the crafts quarters — block printing at Bagru, blue pottery at Kot Jewar, and the gem cutters who still work behind Johari Bazaar. Guests who want Ranthambore usually add a fourth night and drive down after breakfast.

Hotels here run from two palace hotels in the city to small owner-run havelis in Civil Lines where a garden room costs a fraction of the same view elsewhere. We will tell you which is worth the surcharge in which month, and which heritage rooms are too small to enjoy.

The old city is best walked and difficult to drive. Our chauffeurs park outside the gates and you cover the last stretch on foot, which decides the right hotel for a guest travelling with a stick or with small children — worth saying at the enquiry stage.