ROYAL RETREAT : BETWEEN THE HILLS BY THE LAKE

Early Morning arrival in Udaipur was not a problem for us as our host was ready to serve us. We booked our accommodation through airbnb. It was in the heart of city. We were group of 8,of them 7 travelled from Mumbai. It was biting cold in the early hours of day which then proceeded to bright sunny day and then again a cold winter evening.

After our morning routine we headed straight to Jagdish Temple which was half a mile walk.
After paying visit to the holy place it was time for breakfast, and what could be a better than the Jheel Ginger cafe.
Jheel Ginger Cafe: It's a rooftop restaurant by the side of Lake Pichola. This place offers breathtaking views of the lakes and hills. The food is nice, we had fries, pizza, sandwich and hot coffee.
After a sumptuous breakfast and clicking many pictures our next stop was the pride of Udaipur: The City palace.
City Palace: Entry tickets INR 350. The palace takes you to the rich cultural heritage of Mewar and Rajasthan. The palace provides an insight into the Royal life of the rulers. It takes around 2-3 hours to visit all sections of the palace. After the palace we went to take a boat ride on Lake Pichola.
The way to the jetty is so beautiful that you feel like to just sit and enjoy the beauty.
Lake Pichola boating:  Tickets 400 INR from 9 am to 1pm and 800 INR from 3pm onwards. It was late afternoon when we started to explore the lake. The boat takes you around the lake and then drops you at the Jagmandir Palace.
Jagmandir Palace - It stands on an island, and also houses a restaurant and garden. Darikhana restaurant is an open roof restaurant and surrounded pillars and benches where you can sit and enjoy the sound of water. Grab a cup of coffee and bite a burger while you enjoy the evening and look at the lake through the curtains between the pillars. As the sun sets,  the palace lights up and so the nearby buildings.
The gardens adjacent to the palace provides a walk by the lake and one sit in peace and look at the beautiful lighted structures.
We took the boat back to the city palace. It was around 6pm and trust it me what a mesmerizing view of the structures around the lake, lighted up to welcome you to the new chapter, an evening in Udaipur.
The city palace also presents a Light and sound show:  Tickets 550 INR. The shows takes place in a open air theatre. It takes you through the history of Mewar and Udaipur.
After a tiresome day it was time for a grand dinner and that's what the city offers.
The Traditional Khana, Restaurant- It serves unlimited traditional Rajasthani food at fixed price.
The food is so tasty that I feel hungry while writing it.

The day started with breakfast but this time on the streets of Udaipur. We had Kachori and sabzi. Today, being Sunday was a lazy day. We went to lake Pichola side to enjoy bright sunshine. We clicked pictures in traditional Rajasthani attire and some chit chat with friends.
Then we went to FatehSagar lake. It is in the outskirts of the town. The way to lake has some very big hotels which in itself is a tourist attraction. The lake also has boating facility, but we didn't do it due to lack time. We then proceeded to Saheliyon ki baari.
Saheliyon ki baari:  This was the garden of royals. The queens used to come here to spend some time with nature.
Evenings we went for Street shopping.
Alls well that ends well. So go ahead have a lavish dinner.
Sun and Moon Restaurant - It's a rooftop restaurant near Jagdish Temple. The food is nice and it offers very nice view of the surrounding. You look up you see the stars, you look sideways and front and back you see lighted buildings. You look down you see reflection of buildings in the lake. A mesmerizing view.

This was our last day in Udaipur. We started with breakfast near City Palace and had samosa and ghughni.
Sajjangarh Palace or Monsoon Palace - This place is 7 kms from city centre. Take an auto it will drop you at the gate, from there you need to take their transport mostly mini bus or sumo to reach the palace. It is situated on a hill so you can see the whole city. The palace does not have much to offer to see, but the views from the palace compound is the real deal.
Shri Manshapurna Karni Mata Temple:  The Temple was built by the rulers of Mewar and is situated on a hilltop along with a dargah. We need to take a ropeway to reach the place. The ropeway offers nice views of the city. From the hilltop you can view the whole city.
We then went for shopping.
The city has lot to offer when it comes to shopping. The Hathipole market is the main market which has lot of shops selling the traditional Rajasthani clothes like Bandhani Sarees, suits and dupattas. Mojris or the traditional shoes are also easy to be found. Lot of decorative items like Lampshades and Wall hangings are also available. Large handicrafts shops are also there which have a variety of items to offer like earrings, keychains, diaries etc. We got some of these.
Near Jagdish Temple one can find Leather journals with a lock or without a lock.
By the end of day it was time to say goodbye to the city. We made lots of memories and some of the them were kept as secrets in the locked leather journals only to opened in the next trip.
The city is one of the best maintained tourist destination in India one must visit.
To reach one can take a flight to Udaipur which is directly connected to Mumbai, Delhi among another cities. You can take bus from places like Jaipur, Ahmedabad to reach Udaipur. It is also connected by train via North Western Railway and has connections to Delhi,  Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Jaipur and other places.
We took the " Palace Queen Hunsafar Express" from Mumbai and also returned by the same train. The train runs weekly between Mysore and Udaipur. 
December was an ideal time to visit as the day was sunny and nights were chilling. October to March can be considered a good time to visit the Royal city.