Pangong Tso

A hilltop fort and palace of 1592 above Maota lake, with mirrored halls, courtyards and a long ramped approach.

The 1799 palace facade of 953 latticed windows, built so royal women could watch the street without being seen.

An eighteenth-century observatory of nineteen masonry astronomical instruments, including the world's largest stone sundial.

A four-hundred-year palace complex built in stages along Lake Pichola, with courtyards, mirror rooms and a museum of the Mewar dynasty.

The artificial lake at the centre of Udaipur, created in 1362, with island palaces reached by boat from the city palace jetty.

Ladakh is a high-altitude desert in the Indian Himalaya, with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries on ridges above the Indus and passes over 5,000 metres. Leh, at 3,500 metres, is the base, and altitude acclimatisation is a real planning constraint rather than a formality. Road access from Manali and Srinagar is seasonal; flights operate year-round.