Prithviraj Smarak

On the road climbing to Taragarh, terraced step-gardens lift a black stone rider above the traffic: Prithviraj Chauhan III, the 12th-century ruler of Ajmer, carved mid-stride and facing out over his own city. The whole stop takes twenty minutes: a short flight of steps to the platform, then rooftops running away below towards the hills. Entry is free. The last hour of daylight is when the black stone and the city both soften, and this works as a pause on the way up to the fort rather than a trip of its own.

Ajmer's easiest viewpoint: twenty minutes, no climb, the whole city underneath