Udaipur is often referred to as the 'Venice of the East' . This beautiful ' city of lakes' was founded by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1553 . Udaipur is surrounded by the hills of Aravallis.
How to Reach : Udaipur is easily accessible by train, air and roads. I reached Udaipur by flight and reached the heart of the city in just about 45mins.
Where to Stay: Lal Ghat is a popular area to stay , if you wish to stay by the Lake Pichola. I stayed in Hotel Udaigarh Udaipur which is just about 5mins walk from The City Palace ,Udaipur and Jagdish Temple.
When in Udaipur, it is best to start your day early.
You can start with a visit to Jagdish Temple and entry is free here. The temple is open from early morning.
You can then finish a quick breakfast and head towards the City Palace. Palace Gates open at 9:30AM. The ideal plan should to get your tickets ( Rs 350) before 9:30AM and enter as soon as the gates open!
You enter the palace through the very famous 'Tripolia' Gate! As soon as you enter , the majestic white City Palace takes your breath away!
It would be good to visit the palace with a registered guide , who can help us understand the history of the palace.
This palace is absolutely amazing and has amazing view points. It is unbelievably picturesque! The palace has beautiful portraits and a small armoury as well. The garden on the 4th floor is amazing and is worth a visit.
It would take around 2/2.5hrs to visit the palace . From here I took a boat ride to the beautiful Jag Mandir. This is also a royal property and it is only accessible from inside the palace. It was a beautiful boat ride and the view from the boat is just amazing .
Jagmandir is a beautiful property . It is said that Shah Jahan stayed here for 18days. There is restaurant which which has decent food.
We finished our food and took a boat ride back to the Palace.
From here, we went to Bagore ki Haveli , beside Gangour Ghat ,to witness the beautiful dance show . Be sure to book tickets in advance. The show starts at 7:30pm and tickets get sold out early. Photography is not allowed here. Peacefully enjoy the view.
Eventually we went to Ambrai Ghat. This is a must visit ghat for the amazing view it offers. It is situated just opposite City Palace .
We had our dinner at Khamma Ghani. This is a much talked about place in Udaipur and as expected, food is amazing. The Lal Mash was just perfect.
Day 2 started early. The sunset view is just amazing from Karni Mata temple. You can get an amazing view of Udaipur City from here. You can take an auto or your own vehicle to reach the temple. The temple has many steps to reach up , so in case climbing is a problem, do consider taking a cable car (rope way route) from the city palace.
Post this head to Saheliyon ki Bari. This is a beautiful garden, built by Maharana Sangram Singh for the women. It has a small museum and multiple fountains. The lotus pond in the middle of the garden is also beautiful.
We grabbed a quick breakfast at JMB , Udaipur and headed towards the market for shopping. Udaipur Market , near Hathi Pol has many shops with amazing collection of Bandhni material. Do consider walking around this area and picking up your favourite items!
Silver is also famous in here. You can check the the stores and get floored by the amazing collections in most of the shops.
We headed straight to Fateh Sagar Lake , next. After the long shopping haul, enjoyed a great cold coffee from Bombay Shiv Sagar .
Next up was the Maharana Pratap Memorial and Moti Mahal near the Fateh Sagar Lake. These are not huge and takes just little over an hour. Moti Mahal is more of ruins now . The Memorial however takes most of your time to walk around learning the history of this place.
We then went to Sajjangarh Palace (Monsoon Palace) . This was just the perfect spot to witness a beautiful sunset. Palace entry closes by 5pm. Make sure you reach here on time. It provides an amazing view of all the 3 big lakes around the city. The city looks white and the glittering lake are just amazing views to catch.
We ended our day with a good dinner at Upre. Make sure you book tables in advance. Getting a table here might be a challenge!
Third day you can plan a visit to Eklingji Temple . The temple closed at 6:30AM . So, if visiting this temple , you have to start the day really early.
You can go to Shri Nathdwara from here. There are snacks available around the temple and are pretty decent. You can try Dal Vada here.
From Nathdwara , you can directly go to Haldighati , the very famous area of the Haldighati Battle. You can even visit Chetak Samadhi just before the area.
After visiting these you can come back to Udaipur by 3:30/4Pm and head straight to Fateh Sagar Lake again for a beautiful sunset boat ride.
You can end your day with a dinner with a beautiful view at Ambrai Restaurant.
If you have an extra day, make sure that you visit Kumbhalgarh! Kumbhalgarh Fort is an amazing structure! 36Km long wall and is often called the Great Wall of India. The historical importance of this fort makes it a must visit place.
Udaipur is a beautiful city and I fell in love with this amazing place. Go ahead and plan your Udaipur trip as soon as you can and make the most of your time here!
Happy Travelling!
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