Nearly halfway between the two metropolitan areas of India, Delhi (655 km) and Mumbai (800 km), Udaipur is a city that is part of the state of Rajasthan. Udaipur is also known as “City of Lakes” or “White City”. Surrounded by mountains and seven lakes, it is the greenest city we have visited in India.
We chose to put this city on the list of what we want to visit because of its location, palace, and traditional dances. And it turned out to be a good choice because Udaipur is one of our favourite cities that we visited in India.
What you can visit in Udaipur
City Palace
The City Palace is the main attraction in Udaipur, so we start with it.
Like all Indian rulers, Maharana Singh II (who founded this palace) and his successors loved the beauty. So the construction of this palace lasted more than 400 years. Each leader adding another room or garden to the whole complex.
As you visit the palace and pass from one section to another you notice the inspiration of the leader who built that part. The entire palace is a mix of styles: Rajasthani, European, Chinese, Mughal, depending on the influences of the period and the preferences of the one who commissioned the construction.
Part of the palace has been converted into luxury hotels, so if you would like such an experience you can try it in Udaipur.
Visit cost:
300 rupee/person (foreign and Indian) – includes photo fee
Jagdish Temple
Just 150 m from City Palace is the largest temple in Udaipur. Built about 400 years ago, the Jagdish Temple is a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The entrance is free, but you may be asked to make a donation.
Bagore-ki-Haveli
A mansion built in the 18th century on the edge of Lake Pichola, Bagore-ki-Haveli is now a museum. It offers over 100 rooms with traditional costumes and art exhibitions.
However, every day starting at 19 o’clock, after the museum is closed, the whole atmosphere is transformed. Dozens of people are standing in queue starting at 18 o’clock in order to get a ticket. The traditional dance show DHAROHAR DANCE SHOW is a real delight for those who want to see more the Indian culture. If you visit this city you must see this show. Surely you will be pleasantly impressed.
Duration: one hour
Ticket:
- 150 rupees per person;
- Camera / video / phone fee: 150 rupees
Walkthrough the bazaar
If you want to observe the entrepreneurial spirit of the locals, it is best to take a walk through the bazaar. You’ll find all sorts of things, just about everything you can imagine. And it’s not limited to 2-3 stores, no, here’s a boutique at every step. They are next to each other and sometimes sell the same things as their neighbour, and nobody is upset. A street full of jewellery stores, another with slippers, and so on …
Sunset in Udaipur
Sunset near the lake or a rooftop restaurant may be just what you need to end the day. For us, the best place where we admired the sunset was near the Bagore-ki-Haveli Museum, which is on the edge of Lake Pichola. The reason why here we sow our favourite sunset is that we were lucky to see a Hindu ritual. A couple of women dressed in a red sari the steps that go down to the lake and performed a ritual called “puja”. Illuminating the lake with small lanterns.
If you want to see City Palace in the golden colors of the sunset one of the best points to admired is the Ambrai Ghat Park. The best part of this viewpoint is that to get to it you have to walk through streets and white houses that have colorful paintings. A totally different atmosphere than on the other side of the lake.
Sleep and Food
Where to book your accommodation in Udaipur
We chose the accommodation according to the most important criteria for us: be as close as possible to the center (sights) and be at an acceptable price so that we do not pay more than it deserves. Respecting these criteria, we have chosen a hotel very close to the City Palace, just a 5-minute walk to the northern entrance. Very close to the hotel were also the theatre, Ambrai Ghat Park and even the bazaar.
The hotel offered had a large enough room, quite clean-ish, which also had a tiny bathroom (even bigger than in Agra). The reception and behaviour of the staff were also ok-ish. The hotel has a rooftop that offers a view of the entire city. Here we admired the sunset and charged us after the long road from Pushkar.
Where to eat in Udaipur
The first meal in this city we served at the hotel restaurant, being too tired to go elsewhere. We can not say it impressed us, but that may be because it was quite late and it was deserted there.
The next day we made our “homework” and found a small, family-like restaurant that looked good and served delicious meals. The restaurant is called Lotus Cafe & Restaurant, had only good reviews and was very close to the hotel. Here we ate each day that followed because the food was like a rainbow in the mouth.
The food that left most of its mark was an eggplant dish, which together with roti became incredibly delicious.
How to get to Udaipur
In Udaipur, you can get by car (taxi or private driver) by bus or by train. Being a big city, it is well connected, with routes from all over the country. We got here by bus from Ajmer. It was our first bus we had on the sleeping seats and it was a real experience. Our driver believed he is at a race and accelerated and brake super aggressive. All the way we cling to everything we got through the cabin. As we are a little bit more sensitive when it comes to motion sickness, all the way was purgatory for us, always being on a thin line. We gave a bag review :))
