If you’re in Jaisalmer and you only have one extra half-day to step beyond the fort’s honeyed ramparts, make it Lodurva (also spelt Lodhruva/Lodarva). About 15 km northwest of the city, the ancient capital of the Bhati Rajputs shelters a dazzling Jain temple complex whose pale-gold stone gleams against the Thar’s big sky.

On a low hill just north of Jaisalmer, an otherworldly skyline of domes and pillars rises above the desert. These are the royal cenotaphs (chhatris) of Bada Bagh—a golden necropolis where the Bhati rulers and their families were commemorated for centuries. At sunrise and sunset the yellow sandstone blushes into copper, the domes casting long colonnaded shadows across the scrub and the old mango groves below.

Jaisalmer Fort, often called the “Golden Fortress,” is one of the most iconic landmarks in India’s desert state of Rajasthan. Standing majestically atop Trikuta Hill, the fort gleams like gold at sunrise and sunset, its sandstone walls glowing against the vast Thar Desert.

Nestled on the outskirts of Jaisalmer in western Rajasthan, the Sam Sand Dunes are a mesmerizing expanse of golden sands that radiate under the desert sun. Dotted with rolling dunes up to 150 feet high, this sweeping landscape has become synonymous with desert adventure and cultural immersion. Offering an authentic desert safari experience, Sam beckons travelers to ride camels across sculpted dunes, witness spellbinding sunsets, sleep under the Milky Way, and absorb the traditions of nomadic Rajasthan.