Things To Do in Jaipur Over the Weekend

Jaipur is a beautiful city colored in pink and a center of all the Rajasthani culture. Rajasthan is a state which is rich in every sense whether it is geographically, culturally, arts, food and what not. This place is just 4-5 hours from Delhi. So, I decided to explore this place in just 2 days and trust me, it is easily doable.

Take an overnight bus from Delhi to Jaipur. I have stayed in this hostel called 'The Big Mooch' runs by a family who belongs to Jaipur Gharana. The best part about this place is that it is cheap(under 500 you will get a bed) and the hosts of this property can give you vast knowledge of their history, places and culture. Their owners literally have big mooch(Moustache) so they justify the name of this place beautifully. Contact Jai once you reach there and he can even help you to even plan your itinerary like the way he helped me out. Now, this is the itinerary which I followed.

Take an Ola or Uber bike road in case if you want to save your money and directly head towards Jantar Mantar, buy a composite tickets and you are all set to explore the places which comes under this composite ticket. Explore Jantar Mantar of Jaipur, here you can see the biggest sun dial of the entire world. From architecture point of view to astronomical, this place is full of knowledge.

After exploring Jantar Mantar, take an exit and walk towards The City Palace. For the city palace, you need to buy a different ticket as it is not a part of a composite ticket. It is privately managed by the current royal family of Rajasthan. Here you can get the entire knowledge of Royal Family, from their history to their clothes to their weapons. Beautifully designed with all the smooth carvings and ancient doors. You will get the knowledge of how beautifully these kings protect their kingdoms and still very passionate about their hobbies in arts and sports.

After City Palace, either take a rickshaw or walk towards the famous Hawa Mahal. It was built in 1799 by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh. It is made up with red and pink sandstone. If you are having a composite ticket then you don't need to buy a ticket for this monument, enjoy this place from inside and to take a full picture, you can visit the cafes which is just in the front of this place.

After Hawa Mahal walk towards Isarlat. Remember, all these places are in walking distance and you are walking in the old city of Jaipur, so enjoy the feel of this pink city. Again Isarlat is a part of your composite ticket. It was built in 1749 AD by Sawai Ishwari Singh. It is a place from where you can see the 360 degree view of Jaipur city.

Albert Hall Museum was built in 1876 as a concert hall. Its structure is similar to Victoria and Albert Museum of London. It was initially used as a townhall in 1880, later Maharaja Sawai Madho Singh II decided to use it as a museum for Industrial Arts. As, it is also a part of composite ticket so one doesn't need to buy an extra ticket unless you're going in evening. The beauty of this place is when they light up the entire museum in evening. So, do try to visit once it is dark, this place glows in the evening.

After Albert Hall, just walk towards Masala Chowk, after exploring so much, satisfy your taste buds at Masala chowk. Take a entry ticket of just 10rs and enjoy this food court where you can enjoy Dal Baati to Gulab Singh's Kullad Chai. You can have good meal there in just under 300 bucks.

And here you're done for the day 1. Go back to The Big Mooch, recharge yourself for Day 2 because it is gonna be a long long day.

After exploring the city, prepare yourself for some real big forts which represents the history of Princely state Jaipur.

After having a breakfast, take an Ola moto(under 100-150bucks) or a cab directly towards the Panna Meena ka Kund.

Panna Meena ka Kund is a beautiful historic stepwell and it has a very small tourist attraction but what I liked over there is the symmetry in all the stairways. The purpose of these step wells in Rajasthan is to store the rain water as it is a desert area so it was and still is important to store water as much as they can. You can still see water in this step well and I personally feel that this one was the most beautiful step well among all the step wells in this city.

Jagat Shiromani Temple is a beautiful small temple so after Panna Meena ka Kund, walk towards this temple, which is just few meters away. This temple is dedicated to the Hindu gods Shri Krishna and Meera Bai. According to locals, the statue of Sri Krishna is the same statue that Meera Bai worshipped in the State of Mewar.

Amer palace is the main attraction of Jaipur city. So, after Jagat Shiromani temple walk towards Amer Palace which is approximately 1km away from the temple. The town of Amer was built my Meenas and later it was ruled by Raja Man Singh I. The architectural design of this fort is majorly influenced by the Mughal architecture. This palace was the residence of Rajput Maharajas and their families. From Diwan-e-khas to Diwan-e-aam, there are different sections which describe the lifestyle of these Rajas and their families. It is a part of the composite ticket so one doesn't need to buy a different ticket. From Amer Palace, there's a tunnel which you can directly take to reach Jaigarh fort.

The fort was built by Maharaja Jai Singh II to protect the Amer fort. It has a huge Jaivaan Cannon which they only used once because the consequences of using it even once was terrible. So, after that they decided not to use it again. It has a cannon museum also where it is mentioned that how they built all these cannons. It is a huge fort with a bird eye view of Amer Palace. From Jaigarh to Nahargarh one can take an auto and reach there in 15 to 20 minutes, please do notice that it(Nahargarh) opens till 5:30 in the evening.

Nahargarh Fort is a place from where you can see the entire Jaipur city and it is famous because there are few movies which have been shot here including Rang De Basanti, Shuddh Desi Romance etc so the view from this place is beautiful. In case if you want to see the entire city once it is dark then there's a restaurant 'Padao' in the same fort which opens everyday till 11 but do remember you have to have your own vehicle to come back else you can leave this place at 5:30 and just to save money, you can take a shortcut like I did, it can save your 500 bucks. So, there's a shortcut which is a half an hour walk down towards the main city, starts from the backside of the fort.

Once you reach the city, take a rickshaw from there to Hawa Mahal, enjoy the night view of Hawa Mahal, enjoy the old city of Jaipur with all the sparkling lights. Shop alot because it is not expensive and enjoy the delicious Rajasthani food like Pyaaz and Maave ki Kachori, Dal Baati, Gatte ki Sabzi etc.

Here, you're done with your Jaipur trip. In case if you still have a day add Jal Mahal, Tal Katora and Govind ji Temple in your list and you can Thank me later.

This whole itinerary has been planned by Jai Vardhan who is a co-founder of The Big Mooch, Jaipur. So, in case if you want to know more about Jaipur and Jaipur Gharana then Jai and his father are the most beautiful hosts who can share everything in detail.

Also, if you have something else in your Jaipur list, please do let me know.