Udaipur, The Lake City

How to reach: Udaipur is a well-connected city and can be easily reached by flight, train or road.

Approximate budget per person: Rs. 2000 (Excluding accommodation and travel fare from Mount Abu to Udaipur)

From Mount Abu, we took a Rajasthan Roadways bus and reached Udaipur at night. It was a 4-hour long journey, yes it could have been less time-consuming if we would have been in a taxi, but if you will ask me which one I prefer, I would still say the Roadways bus. It was one of the best journeys I had with my friends. It was the experience which I was craving for, not the comfort of a cab. Also, I find Rajasthan Roadways really safe, people are quite friendly and well-behaved there.

Though it was my second visit, I was still excited to have new experiences in this beautiful city.

The first morning in Udaipur was not sunny, it started raining heavily and the situation was same during our whole trip. Because of rain, we could not visit many places. But here is the list of places which we visited-

Saheliyon Ki Bari

Entry Fee: Rs. 10 for Indians and Rs. 50 for Foreigners

Famous For: Leisurely walk in the garden and photography

Opening Timings: 8 AM- 8 PM

Built by Maharana Sangram Singh, this garden was a gift to his queen. Saheliyo ki Bari means Garden of maids. This garden is the little Venice of Udaipur. With many ponds, fountains and a museum, it is one of the most visited places in Udaipur. The garden has many beautiful flowers, there is a beautiful Lotus Pond too. As it rained the night before our visit, it brought more colours to garden, this is definitely a must visit the place to have some leisurely walk with friends and some good photography sessions.

Badi Lake

Entry Fee: Rs 10

Famous For: Relaxing and Photography

Opening Timings: 8 AM- 8 PM

From Saheliyon ki Bari, we took an auto rickshaw and went to this beautiful place, Badi Lake. This is one of the most peaceful places in Udaipur. A little bit away from the main city, this is a perfect place which one would love to visit to have some lonely and restful time. The view from there is just spectacular. Lake and mountains residing side by side, complementing each other perfectly and escalating the beauty of each other. One can sit there, enjoy the view and prosper the moment.

An important tip here, if you are going there by auto or a cab, please ask the driver to wait for you. As this place is not much visited you may face a problem while heading back. We did not get any cab or auto for hours and then came back by a government bus. So don’t make the same mistake.

Bagore Ki Haveli, Light and Music Dance show

Entry Fee: Rs 90 (for the show, and the price depends on your seat), Rs 500 extra for photography and videography.

Famous For: Cultural show

Opening Timings: 10 AM-8 PM (for the Haveli and museum) and 7 PM- 8 PM (for the light and music dance show)

We reached there on time for the show and were lucky enough to get the tickets. As soon as we entered the place I noticed that it is very well-managed, there are chairs, people seating on mats but everything is in order. I got a seat on a mat, front row, and I must say that I really enjoyed the show. In the 1 hour show, they will show different dance forms and a puppet show. The best part of the show is that the performances are not very long, so you won’t get bored with one particular dance form. It is a well-staged, well-choreographed and well-performed show. I really enjoyed it and would suggest to everyone who wants to go for a cultural ride.

Gangaur Ghat

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Famous For: Sunset and old city charm

Opening Timings: Open 24 hours

Just behind the Bagore Ki Haveli, there is this ghat, Gangaur Ghat. With a view of Lake Pichola and restaurants on the opposite side, this ghat looks beautiful at night. There is a special kind of old city charm in this place, with which you will fell in love instantly. Though little crowded it has its own beauty.

Lake Pichola

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Famous For: Boating and Photography

Opening Timings: 9 AM- 6 PM

Udaipur is known for its lakes, and Lake Pichola is the heart of the city. Surrounded by forts, palace, several ghats and mountains this lake looks nothing less than serene. After visiting Gangaur ghat we decided to visit Lake Pichola (not the area from where one can go for boating, there are specific timings mentioned above for that). Walking all the way we were tired but when we saw the magnificent Jagmandir situated in the midst of lake we instantly forgot about the tiredness. The lighted Jagmandir, looking heavenly, no one around at that time, the place is perfect to hang out with friends.

I would suggest you visit this place in the afternoon because there are so many things around. There are many little islands in the lake, The City Palace, one of the most famous palaces of Udaipur is situated there. After visiting the City Palace you can spend some time at ghat and then visit one of the restaurants for dinner overlooking the Lake Pichola.

After spending some time there we went for the dinner at one of the restaurants with the view of Lake Pichola, I will talk about my experience there in my next post. 😉

Monsoon Palace, Sajjan Garh

Entry Fee: Rs. 160

Famous For: Panoramic view of Udaipur, photography and hiking.

Opening Timings: 8 AM- 6 PM

Monsoon Palace, formerly known as Sajjan Garh Palace, is a hilltop palace situated in the Udaipur City. It is named as Sajjangarh after Maharana Sajjan Singh (1874–1884) of the Mewar Dynasty, who built Sajjangarh Fort in 1884. It offers a panoramic view of the city’s lakes, palaces and surrounding countryside. It was built basically to watch the monsoon clouds, hence, appropriately, it is popularly known as Monsoon Palace. The Monsoon Palace provides a beautiful view of the sunset. High in the Aravalli Hills, just outside Udaipur, the Palace is illuminated in the evenings, giving a glow of golden orange, and this illuminated palace can be easily seen from Lake Pichola at night.

On our second day in Udaipur, we first went to Kumbhalgarh about which I will talk in my next post. And after Kumbhalgarh, we went to Monsoon Palace. It is 11.4 Km away from Udaipur, you can either opt for a cab or bike on rent. I was excited for the beautiful view of whole Udaipur, but nature had some other plan for me, they took the name and the reason behind the palace which was originally to watch Monsoon clouds way too seriously. Yes, it started raining and instead of having a beautiful view of Udaipur what I could see was clouds. Basically, it was a Himachal Pradesh kind of feeling in Udaipur for me. 😉

This place is beautiful, we could not click many photographs because of rain, but it will be fun to hike till there and click photographs with Udaipur in the backdrop. Overall this place is a must visit if you are coming to Udaipur.

Fateh Sagar Lake

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Famous For: Boating and relaxing

Opening Timings: 8 AM- 4:30 PM (For boat rides) otherwise it is open for 24 hours

After our visits to Kumbhalgarh and Monsoon Palace in one day, which I would not suggest anyone, we were so tired that we slept early that day. It was next day when we decided to visit Fateh Sagar Lake. This lake is famous for walks and lakeside food joints. Visit this place to relax and have a walk, here you will see people exercising, jogging and kids enjoying their ice creams with their parents. After a long walk, you can head towards one of the food joints, enjoy snacks and the view of the lake.

Udaipur Market

Though I am not a fan of shopping while on a trip, but my friend suggested me that I can get bright and colourful long skirts here and that too in good price. So I went to the market and bought few things. If you are one of those who loves shopping then definitely visit the main market, Bapu Bazaar from where you can buy some long skirts, jackets and jootis.

And with this, my Udaipur trip came to an end, second time here, but totally different, and definitely not the last time, as this beautiful city deserves lot more exploration.

There are many other places in Udaipur to visit- City Palace, Karni Mata Mandir, Nimmach Mata Mandir, Jagdish Temple, Gulab Bagh, Ahar Cenotaphs, Sahastra Bahu Temples, Ambrai Ghat, Vintage Car Museum and Eklingji Temple.

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Will see you in the next post. 🙂

Tangled Tourista

Tangled Tourista is an online diary, which is about travel, food and books. Here you will read about book reviews and suggestions, tested travelling tips and about new cafes and restaurants around and their reviews.