Must-see attractions in Udaipur

Surmounted by balconies, towers and cupolas towering over the lake, the imposing City Palace is Rajasthan’s largest palace, with a facade 244m long and 30…

The main part of the City Palace is open as the City Palace Museum, with rooms extravagantly decorated with mirrors, tiles and paintings, and housing a…

Limpid and large, Lake Pichola reflects the grey-blue mountains on its mirror-like surface. It was enlarged by Maharana Udai Singh II, following his…

The restored Durbar Hall (royal reception hall) in the City Palace is one of India’s most impressive, with some of the country’s biggest chandeliers. The…

Perched on top of a distant hill like a fairy-tale castle, this melancholy, neglected late-19th-century palace was constructed by Maharana Sajjan Singh…

The palace on Jagmandir Island, about 800m south of Jagniwas, was built by Maharana Karan Singh II in 1620, added to by his successor Maharana Jagat Singh…

Jagniwas Island is about 15,000 sq m in size and entirely covered by the opulent palace built by Maharana Jagat Singh II in 1754. Once the royal summer…

On the way to Sajjan Garh, at the foot of the hill you enter the 5-sq-km Sajjan Garh Wildlife Sanctuary. A good way to visit is with the daily sunset…

This gracious 18th-century haveli (traditional, ornately decorated residence), set on the water’s edge at Gangaur Ghat, was built by a Mewar prime…

The maharanas’ car collection makes a fascinating diversion, for what it tells about their elite lifestyle and for the vintage vehicles themselves. Housed…

Houses rare crystal that Maharana Sajjan Singh (r 1874–84) ordered from F&C Osler & Co in England in 1877. The maharana died before it arrived, and all…

Reached by a steep, elephant-flanked flight of steps, 150m north of the City Palace’s Badi Pol, this busy Indo-Aryan temple was built by Maharana Jagat…

Entered from Ganesh Chowk, this museum has a splendid collection of jewel-like miniature paintings of the Mewar school and a turban that belonged to Shah…

Lal Ghat is the traditional raveller ghetto of Udaipur. Now, along with with budget hotels, handicraft shops and rooftop restaurants there are several…

About 3km east of the old city, at Ahar, is Udaipur’s royal cremation ground, with 372 cenotaphs of maharanas and queens of Mewar forming a spectacular…

A crafts village west of Fateh Sagar, Shilpgram was inaugurated by Rajiv Gandhi in 1989. Set in dusty, rolling countryside, it’s contrived, but remains…

The small Sunset Point Park has dazzling views over Lake Pichola, Jagmandir Island and off toward the Sajjan Garh (Monsoon Palace). It’s about 1.5km south…

One kilometre north of Lake Pichola, this lake is ringed by hills and is a popular local hang-out. It was dammed in 1678 by Maharana Jai Singh, but…

This private folk-art museum, with an uncannily Dalek-like entrance tower, exhibits dresses, tribal jewellery, turbans, dolls, masks, musical instruments,…

In the north of the city, about 3km from Lal Ghat, the Saheliyon-ki-Bari was built by Sangram Singh II in 1710. This small, quaint ornamental garden was…