Kutch rewards a loop, not a checklist. This is the five-day shape we sketch on napkins for friends — clockwise from Bhuj, salt first, sea last.
Day 1 — Bhuj
Land, drop bags, and give the walled city a full day: Prag Mahal's clock tower, the mirrored rooms of Aina Mahal, then Shroff Bazaar until the shops pull their shutters. Eat dabeli where the queue is longest.
Day 2 — The craft belt
A short arc north: Bhujodi looms in the morning, Ajrakhpur printing tables at noon, Nirona for rogan art and bell-tuning in the afternoon. Buy from the maker's hand; every piece comes with its own story told in first person.
Day 3 — The White Rann
Via Khavda's potters to Kalo Dungar for the highest view in the district, then down to the salt for sunset, dinner at a Hodka homestay, and a second walk onto the crust when the moon is up.
Day 4 — Dholavira
The long, straight, astonishing Road to Heaven across the salt to Khadir Bet. Walk the Harappan reservoirs slowly, stay for the fossil park, sleep under some of India's darkest skies.
Day 5 — Mandvi
Swing south to the coast: shipbuilders on the Rukmavati, lunch near Vijay Vilas Palace, and the softest beach in Gujarat for your last sunset. Back in Bhuj by night — or stay by the sea and thank us later.
Have three days instead of five? Cut Dholavira, do days 1–3 and finish in Mandvi. Then start planning the return trip for what you missed.