Panna Meena Ka Kund

A sixteenth-century baoli (stepwell) a few minutes from Amber Fort, where symmetrical flights of steps zigzag down three walls and an arcaded gallery closes the fourth: geometry that photographs as though it were drawn rather than built. This was once the village's water source and its meeting place, and it still feels like a courtyard: the fort next door takes thousands of visitors a day, while this holds a dozen. Free to see. Climbing on the steps themselves is sometimes closed off by the caretaker, so look for the sign or ask.

Five minutes from Amber's crowds, a stepwell that almost nobody turns off for