Plan your long Christmas weekend at Jaipur

It's Christmas day. Start your day early if you are going by road. With all the pit stops, it's gonna take a good 6 hours to reach Jaipur. Since the Pink city is the most common getaway for Delhiites, it's better to prebooked your stay at a hotel of your convenience.

We had prebooked our stay at FabHotels Bani Park. Bani Park is the central location of the city and many spots are very near to this location. After checking in the hotel we opted to have lunch and take rest before embarking on our exploration.

In the evening we made our way to Birla Mandir which is very famous in the city and Patrika Gate a very beautiful and picturesque place. Since these are on the opposite side of the city we decided to finish off with them earlier.

Post breakfast we started for City Palace. The palace opens at 9:00 am and we made sure we had an early entry to avoid crowds. If you start early you can go about here at your own pace knowing you still have time to explore other places. One can roam about in city Palace on there own. There is no need for a guide as they'll be slowing down your speed.

It's takes approx 2 hours to see all the galleries and the halls of the Palace.

Post that we went to Hawa Mahal which is very much accessible by foot from the Palace. It'll take hardly 5-10 minutes to walk from the Palace to Hawa Mahal. The palace of winds as it is called because of the numerous small windows may look shabby at the entrance but is beautiful from inside. The intricate designs and multicolor glass windows make it a favorite place of photographers

Right outside the Hawa Mahal are local shops where you can shop your hearts out. These shops sell everything from juttis, kurtas, skirts, menswear and home decor items at cheap prices. You can also look for souvenirs for your friends and family. Lunch can be sorted at the famous Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar that's located in the same lanes of the shops.

If you have completed shopping and lunch by 4 pm you can head to your next destination - The Jal Mahal. Since it lacks maintenance, the interiors of Jal Mahal are not accessible to the public. However, one can rent local dresses and get clicked on the banks with the Mahal in background.

It's time to go visit the mighty forts of the Pink city today. There are 3 forts guarding the city - Amer fort, Nahargarh fort and Jaigarh fort.

We started early post breakfast just like the previous day. First we headed to Nahargarh fort. The fort is majestic and stands out for its architecture. A nice stroll around the fort along with some rest and you'll be ready to explore the next destination. We skipped the Jaigarh fort as we were running short of time and proceeded to Amer fort. Amer fort has a light and sound show in the evening. It's a well coordinated show with narration of the history of the fort.

And that's how you can spend your weekend in the city of royals.