Visit Udaipur, the best time would be just after the monsoons

Visiting Udaipur was a plan made long back, ever since I met Dharam. It was kept aside for his marriage. Though It took some time, along with few friends, I visited Udaipur recently. The time was just perfect, summer was over and the monsoon has reached Rajasthan. I would say, monsoon is the best time to visit Udaipur. I had no idea that Udaipur will be this much green.

On the way to the city from the airport, looking outside, I was laughing at myself for having the most idiotic perception about Rajasthan. For a person from the down south of the country, Rajasthan is a desert. I remember, in our geography classes, we used to put ‘brown’ color to this state on the map, an effort to give justice to the one and only desert state in the country. 

Though late, so now, travel taught me a lesson to doubt whatever I had read in the text books.

Udaipur has its own charm, has a lot of stories to tell. Stories about the kings, the fierce battles and about an era of prosperity. Things have changed, still we can see the shadows of a great era in every corner of the city.

Udaipur is surrounded by the Aravalli mountains, you see forts built all over. The city has grown around seven lakes. The major ones are lake Pichola and Fateh Sagar Lake. The best place to stay if you are visiting Udaipur is the old city, particularly somewhere near the lakes. The kings of Udaipur were visionaries, they built this city with proper planning, connecting rivers and store water in lakes, to meet the needs where rainfall is comparatively minimum.

The narrow streets and the architecture of the city will take you back to the times.

If you are a person who likes to stroll the old streets, looking around the colourful carved doors and windows, who like to spend some quiet time at the cafes, who can just sit at the ghats and simply watch thousands of pigeons come and go every minute, who doesn’t want to take eyes from the beautifully lit Jagmandir at night, then Udaipur is undoubtedly the place you must visit in Rajasthan.

Udaipur has given me some surprises too, the day when we reached, a festival was going at the Jagdish temple. It is a famous temple in Udaipur and we were told not to miss the festival. During the festival, the deity is taken out and go for a possession around the city. It was a big celebration and lot of people attended the festival that lasts till late at night.

Udaipur city palace

City palace is the major attraction of Udaipur. The palace is huge and posh. Once you are inside, it is going to take hours to walk through the entire palace complex. The city palace was built in different time periods, each new addition is completely different from the older one. 

Many rooms inside the palace are built with very complex and intricate artworks.

Another interesting fact, the palace has even trees on its upper floors. That was quite amazing. The trees are big, never seen anything like that before.

It took us almost 3-4 hours to just walk around the palace, and that is even after skipping few sections.

It was almost evening by then and we wanted to catch the boat ride in Lake Pichola.

Boat ride in lake Pichola

First of all, Lake Pichola is simply beautiful. Because of the good rain, the lake was almost full. 

Don’t miss the boat ride in Lake Pichola. It doesn’t matter at what all time you take the boat but never miss it in the evenings.You can buy the tickets from the City palace. The boat will take you to Jag Mandir at the middle of the lake.

The view of the city from the lake is amazing. You can see huge walls of the palaces standing close and tight on the banks. There are numerous ghats around the lake. The boat will take a round and drop us at Jagmandir. You have time until the last boat goes back.

Jagmandir is a small palace lookalike, built in the middle of the lake, it is a hotel now and one of the most renowned locations for India’s big destination weddings. There are restaurants inside Jagmandir, you can sit on the courtyard and enjoy the evening with a beer. 

Monsoon palace

Though I haven’t mentioned about the Monsoon palace before, this is one of the most beautiful things you see in Udaipur. Little far from the city, on the top of a mountain, amidst the clouds, you can find Monsoon palace. No one is going to miss this view. 

In the night, we can see the palace in the sky, among the stars, beautifully lit.

Monsoon palace is a little far from the city. Once you travel a few kilometers out of the city, the geography will change all of a sudden. The beauty of Aravalli hills will accompany you throughout.  Nature offers some amazing views on the way up to the palace.

We spend a whole day in and around the monsoon palace. Found some random trails on the mountains and hiked until we saw boards showing signs of leopards. The nature was so fresh and green after the rains.

Though it was monsoon season, the rain never was a villain for us in Udaipur. Usually it rained by the evening when we were back to our place. I would suggest to take a guest house or cottage which has a rooftop view. Our’s was one such which gave us incredible views. The ambience after dawn was amazing. All we had to do was go to the roof top and chill. 

Our friend’s marriage function was also going on these days. Every evening, there were some ceremonies. It was a good experience.

Spend almost 3 days in Udaipur. 

Best time to visit Udaipur

Summer will be hot in Udaipur. You can plan to visit Udaipur just after the monsoon, so that you can see a green and better version of the city and also there won’t be much tourists. During off-tourist seasons, the expense will be less compared to peak time which starts from September to February. 

How to reach Udaipur

Udaipur is well connected by railways. There are frequent trains from cities like Delhi , Mumbai and Jaipur. Look for trains if you are travelling on a budget and have more time. 

The Maharana Pratap Airport in Udaipur is connected with most of the Indian metro cities. The airport is about 20 km from the city. You can hire a taxi from the airport to reach Udaipur city.

Cost for traveling in Udaipur

You can have a luxurious travel or you can explore the city with a minimum budget, both are possible here. Since luxury is not my thing, I like to talk about traveling with less expense.

Accomodation : You can find a lot of hostels and dormitories in the city which will cost you a maximum INR 500 per day. 

There are a lot of guest houses along the banks of lake Pichola which will offer you a great view of the city. Those will cost you around INR 1000 -1500 per day. If you are traveling in a group, then I would suggest you to opt this.

Transportation: Local buses are not available in the old city. Either you need to walk or hire auto-rickshaws. Another way is to rent a motorbike which costs you around 250-300 INR per day.

Tickets to City Palace and the boat ride in Lake Pichola are quite pricy but unavoidable.

That’s all about my 3 days visit in Udaipur. There are many more things to experience here but didn’t want to rush. If you have more time, you can visit some more historical places and museums. There are quite few interesting places little far from the city also. 

Do let me know what you think about my journey and when you plan to visit Udaipur. Do put your suggestions and queries in the comment box.

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Keep travelling…

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