Ajanta, Ellora and Aurangabad: what to see, in what order

About 30 Buddhist caves cut into a horseshoe-shaped cliff above the Waghora river, made between about the 2nd century BC and the 5th century AD. They were forgotten for centuries until a British officer out hunting spotted them in 1819. The walls are covered in paintings of the Buddha's lives, princes, dancers and animals, the finest old paintings in India. Caves 1, 2, 16 and 17 have the best of them; caves 19 and 26 are carved prayer halls.

The spot on the rim across the gorge where you see the whole horseshoe of caves at once, close to where the caves were spotted in 1819. A stepped path runs down from here to the caves.

34 caves along 2 km of cliff, made by Buddhists, Hindus and Jains between about the 6th and 10th centuries. The star is cave 16, the Kailasa temple: a whole temple, with elephants, towers and bridges, carved downwards from a single rock. Caves 10 (a Buddhist prayer hall with a ribbed ceiling) and the Jain caves 32 to 34 at the north end are worth the walk.

One of the 12 Jyotirlinga temples of Shiva, about 1.5 km from the Ellora Caves. The red stone temple was rebuilt in the 18th century by Ahilyabai Holkar, and its walls are carved with gods and animals. Unlike most big temples, you can touch the linga yourself.

A fort on a cone-shaped hill, once called Devagiri, about 15 km from the city on the Ellora road. In 1327 Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq moved his whole capital here from Delhi, then moved it back. Inside the walls are the 60 m Chand Minar tower and the Chini Mahal, and the path to the top goes through a pitch-dark, twisting tunnel built to confuse attackers.

A Hanuman temple in Khuldabad, 4 km before Ellora, known for its rare image of Hanuman lying down, as if resting. Local belief says Hanuman rested here after hearing a king sing Ram's praises.

A white tomb in a walled Mughal garden, built in the 1660s by Aurangzeb's son Azam Shah for his mother, Dilras Banu Begum. It was modelled on the Taj Mahal, so it is often called the Taj of the Deccan, but it is smaller and only the lower part is marble; the rest is plaster.

Twelve Buddhist caves cut into the hill behind Bibi Ka Maqbara, from about the 6th and 7th centuries, in two groups about 1.5 km apart. Cave 7 has some of the finest carvings of women in Indian art, including dancers and musicians beside the Buddha. Far fewer people come here than to Ellora.

A small 17th-century palace of a Bundela chief, named for the gold paint once used in its rooms. It is now a museum of local finds: stone sculptures, old coins, Paithani textiles and paintings. The garden in front is calm and shady.

A 17th-century water mill beside the shrine of the Sufi saint Baba Shah Musafir. Water was brought by an underground clay pipe from a spring about 6 km away and dropped in a small waterfall to turn a millstone that ground grain for pilgrims. The big tank with fish and the old banyan tree make it a pleasant short stop.

The city's main park, by the central bus stand, with a small zoo of tigers, leopards, deer and birds. Families come in the evening.