India · State of Rājasthān
Where to Stay in Jaisalmer, State of Rājasthān
Jaisalmer is the Golden City of the Thar Desert in western Rajasthan, crowned by a great sandstone fort.
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Where to stay in Jaisalmer
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Where you stay in Jaisalmer turns on the fort. Rooms inside the golden citadel and in the old havelis around it put the temples, the lanes, and the views within a walk, and staying in the fort suits anyone here for the old city. The lanes glow at sunset.
Beds fill the old stone houses. Out toward the newer town and the dunes, the streets run wider and plainer. A room below the fort trades the crowded lanes for space, parking, and an easy road to the desert camps.
The open sands begin past the edge. If you want the fort and the havelis, stay in the old town; if you want the dunes, take a room outside. Either way, the golden fort is close at hand.
About Jaisalmer
Jaisalmer is famed for its golden fort in the sands.
What is Jaisalmer known for?
High on a hill in the Thar Desert rises Jaisalmer Fort, a living citadel of yellow sandstone still full of houses, temples, and lanes, and below it stand the carved merchant mansions known as havelis. The desert stretches gold in every direction. Sand and stone shine over the city.
What are the main landmarks in Jaisalmer?
Jaisalmer Fort crowns the desert city in gold. The great sandstone citadel, one of the last living forts in the world, rises over the town on its hill, the emblem of Jaisalmer, above the golden lanes. Carved havelis line the streets below.
The Patwa Haveli, the Salim Singh ki Haveli, and the Nathmal ki Haveli show their lacework fronts, while the Jaisalmer Fort Palace Museum and the folklore museum keep the desert's story.
What is the history of Jaisalmer?
Jaisalmer grew rich on the desert caravans. A Rajput king named Rawal Jaisal founded the city in 1156 and raised his fort on the Trikuta hill, and for centuries the town lived on the trade of camel caravans crossing the desert between India and the west. The fort became a city.
Within its walls the people built palaces, Jain temples, and houses of golden stone, so that Jaisalmer Fort still holds a living town inside its ramparts. Merchant wealth carved the town in stone. The rich traders of the desert raised great mansions, the havelis, whose sandstone fronts were cut like lace by the master masons, and the Patwa Haveli and Salim Singh houses stand among the finest.
Then the caravans faded. New sea trade and later a hard border with Pakistan cut the old desert routes, and Jaisalmer slipped into a quiet decline. Travellers found the golden city again.
Jaisalmer now draws the world to its fort and its sands.
Where is Jaisalmer?
Jaisalmer lies deep in the Thar Desert of western Rajasthan. The city rises from a flat sea of sand near the Pakistan border, where the golden dunes roll away under a hard sun and little grows but scrub and thorn. Bare rock and sand ring the town.
The desert runs empty to the horizon.
What is the climate of Jaisalmer?
Jaisalmer has a harsh desert climate. Fierce, dry heat bakes the sands through the long summer, and the winters turn cool by day and cold at night, with almost no rain in any season. Dust storms sweep the dunes in summer.
The desert air swings hot and cold.
How do you get to Jaisalmer?
Jaisalmer lies far out in the desert of western Rajasthan. A rail line and roads run to it across the sands from Jodhpur to the east, and the town is the last stop before the Pakistan border. Buses cross the desert to the villages around.
Most arrive by road or rail over the sands.
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Updated August 2026