The pitch
Five days. Two cities. The Rajasthan everyone tells you to start with, and they’re right.
Udaipur is the lake city. Calm, white-and-cream architecture, slow afternoons, palaces on the water. Jaipur is the pink one. Louder, busier, the kind of place where bazaars and forts happen on the same street. Connect them with an overnight train and you have a clean five-day loop that gets you the postcard version of the state.
If this is your first Rajasthan trip, do this one first. Then come back for Pushkar, Bundi, and Ranthambore.
The route
Mumbai → Udaipur → Jaipur → onward
5 days, 4 nights, one early flight, one overnight train. Flight in on IndiGo (06:20 BOM → 08:00 UDR). Train across on the ASV JP SF EXP in 2A (00:15 UDR → 07:35 JAI), the kind of night train that gives you a full extra day of sightseeing on each end.
Day 1 – Tue, 20 Feb · Arrival in Udaipur
Early flight. Wheels up at 6:20 AM, walking out of Udaipur airport before 8:30. Taxi into the old city is about 45 minutes. By 10 AM you’re sitting on a haveli rooftop with a coffee, looking at Lake Pichola, deciding whether to nap or push through.
Push through.
Late morning, walk the lakefront from Gangaur Ghat to Hanuman Ghat. This is the version of Udaipur you came for. Whitewashed havelis, ghats stepping down into the water, women drying saris in the sun, the Lake Palace floating offshore. Don’t rush it. The town reveals itself slowly.
Afternoon, Bagore-ki-Haveli. An 18th-century haveli right on the lake, now a museum. The architecture is the point. Worth 90 minutes. The same building runs the Dharohar Folk Dance Show every evening at 7 PM. Book the show ticket when you visit in the afternoon.
Sunset at Ambrai Ghat across the lake. Walk over the footbridge, find a seat, watch the City Palace light up gold across the water. The best free thing in Udaipur.
Dinner, Upre by 1559 AD (4.5), rooftop, lake-facing, Indian and Continental. Or Ambrai Restaurant (4.4) at Amet Haveli if you want the direct lake-level view.
Day 2 – Wed, 21 Feb · City Palace + the long day
This is the big day in Udaipur. Start early.
8 AM, City Palace. Open at 9:30 but the queue starts before that. The complex is a small city on its own. Multiple courtyards, the Crystal Gallery (extra ticket, worth it), Sheesh Mahal, museum rooms with painted miniatures. Budget 3 hours minimum. Skip the audio guide. Hire a real one at the gate.
Late morning, Jagdish Temple (4.6). A short walk from the City Palace exit. 17th-century, Indo-Aryan style, three storeys high. The carvings on the exterior walls are the highlight. 30 minutes.
Lunch, Cafe Edelweiss (4.4) or Millets of Mewar (4.5). Both are quick, both are honest about what they do.
Afternoon, Saheliyon-ki-Bari. The Garden of the Maidens. Built in the 18th century for the queen’s ladies-in-waiting. Fountains, marble pavilions, lotus pool. Goes well after a heavy morning of stone palaces. 1 hour.
Evening, Bagore-ki-Haveli Folk Dance Show. 7 to 8 PM. Rajasthani folk dance, including the famous Bhavai (the one where the woman balances seven pots on her head). Touristy. Also genuinely good.
Late night, the train. Cab to Udaipur City station around 11 PM. Train departs 00:15. Sleep on the train. Wake up in Jaipur.
Where to eat in Udaipur
Ranked by how confidently I’d send a friend:
- Upre by 1559 AD (4.5): rooftop, lake view, dependable. Pick this if you only have one dinner.
- Ambrai Restaurant at Amet Haveli (4.4): lake-level on the Ambrai Ghat side. Other direction, equally good.
- Cafe Edelweiss (4.4): German bakery in the middle of the old city. Sandwiches and quiche. The right thing after a temple morning.
- Millets of Mewar (4.5): healthy local food done well. The thali is genuinely interesting, not just safe.
- Charcoal by Carlsson (4.3): if you want one nicer dinner, this is the move. Lake view, multi-cuisine, more polished service.
Stay: 4 Lal Ghat by Downtown, 1 night, on Lal Ghat Road in the old city. Cheap, central, walks you out of bed and onto the ghats in under a minute.
Day 3 – Thu, 22 Feb · Train to Jaipur + first afternoon
Train rolls into Jaipur Junction at 7:35 AM. Cab to your stay in Bani Park (about 20 minutes from the station). Check-in is 1 PM, so drop bags, find breakfast, kill the morning.
Breakfast, Sahu Tea Stall near Bani Park. Pyaaz kachori and a glass of chai. This is the local order. ₹40, ten minutes, you’re set.
Late morning, walk MI Road. Jaipur’s main commercial spine. Get oriented. The old walled city is east of here and that’s where most of your sightseeing happens.
1 PM, check in at Vinayak Guest House. Bani Park, near Collectorate Circle. Family-run, quiet street, walking distance to the old city. Shower, change, head out.
Afternoon, Hawa Mahal (4.5). The pink five-storey screen facade. Most people just photograph it from the street and move on. Don’t. Pay the ₹50 entry and go inside. The view of the city from the upper jharokhas is the whole point. 1 hour.
Late afternoon, Jantar Mantar (4.5). UNESCO site. An 18th-century open-air astronomy observatory, all stone instruments, some of them three storeys tall. Sounds dull, isn’t. The world’s largest stone sundial is here and it reads accurate to two seconds. 1 hour.
Evening, Tapri Central (4.4) at Central Park. A tea house with a view of the park. Order a kulhad chai and a plate of pakoras. Stay until the lights come on. The most pleasant chai stop in the city.
Dinner, Niros (4.2) on MI Road for old-school Jaipur fine dining. Or Suvarna Mahal if you want one big-night-out splurge at the Rambagh Palace.
Day 4 – Fri, 23 Feb · Amer Fort + Nahargarh + bazaars
The big Jaipur day.
8 AM, Amer Fort (4.5). 30 minutes outside the city in the hills. Go early to beat both the heat and the tour buses. Sheesh Mahal (the mirrored palace), Diwan-i-Aam, the elephant ride up the ramp (skip if you have any feelings about it, take the jeep), the view back down to Maota Lake. Budget 3 hours.
Late morning, Panna Meena ka Kund (4.4). A 16th-century stepwell just below Amer Fort. Architecturally stunning, free, takes 20 minutes, and Instagram has somehow not ruined it yet.
Lunch, 1135 AD inside Amer Fort. Royal Rajasthani food in a heritage room. Pricey, but it’s the only place in the country I’ve had a thali this composed. Or Stag Bar & Restaurant near the fort if you want something faster.
Afternoon, Nahargarh Fort (4.4). Sits on the Aravalli ridge above the city. Drive up (the road is one of the more dramatic in Jaipur), spend an hour walking the ramparts. Time it for sunset. The view of Jaipur turning pink as the sun drops is the single best skyline I’ve seen in north India.
Evening, Johari Bazaar. Jaipur’s jewellery district. Even if you’re not buying, walk it. Precious stones, kundan work, meenakari. The street life alone is worth an hour.
Dinner, Masala Chowk (4.2) at Ram Niwas Garden. Open-air food court, every Jaipur street food stall under one roof. Get the dal baati churma, the kachoris, and one round of kulfi. ₹500 buys you a feast.
Where to eat in Jaipur
- Rawat Mishtan Bhandar (4.2): the city’s most legendary pyaaz kachori. Order four. Eat three. Walk away with one in a paper bag.
- LMB / Laxmi Misthan Bhandar (4.1): MI Road institution, sweets and chaat, 70+ years old. Get the rabri.
- Masala Chowk (4.2): open-air street food court. Best one-stop for variety.
- Tapri Central (4.4): chai, pakoras, and the best park view in town.
- Niros (4.2): old-school fine dining, Indian + Continental, the kind of place your parents would pick and you’d quietly enjoy.
- 1135 AD (4.4): the heritage Rajasthani thali experience inside Amer Fort.
Stay: Vinayak Guest House, 2 nights, Bani Park. Family-run, quiet street, value for money, and the host will arrange a driver for the day if you ask.
Day 5 – Sat, 24 Feb · The last morning
Final breakfast at the guest house. Pack up by 10. Then onward.
If you have a few hours before your next move, the cleanest single thing to do is walk Bapu Bazaar for one last round of textiles and leather. Buy a Jaipuri quilt. Buy a juti. Argue the price down by 40 percent and then thank the shopkeeper anyway.
Then it’s done. The pink city is closed out. Whatever’s next, you’ve earned it.
What I’d change
A few notes from a second visit, two years later, with Pushkar, Bundi, and Ranthambore for comparison:
- One more night in Udaipur. Two days felt rushed. The town rewards slowness. Redoing this I’d add a day for a boat ride on the lake and a half-day at Kumbhalgarh Fort (about 2 hours from Udaipur, the world’s second-longest continuous wall after the Great Wall of China).
- Skip the elephant ride at Amer. Take the jeep. The animal welfare situation is bad enough that I felt off doing it. Walk the rest.
- Hire a guide at the City Palace in Udaipur. I didn’t. The history is dense and it’s the one place where context makes a difference.
- Don’t try to do everything. This was already a five-day window and I still missed half of Saheliyon-ki-Bari and never made it to Sajjangarh (the Monsoon Palace). Pick four big things per city. Walk the rest.
The numbers
- 5 days, 4 nights
- 2 cities, 1 state
- 1 morning flight, 1 overnight train
- 2 hotels, both walkable to the old city
- 0 tour groups joined
- 1 quilt brought home
Saved map
Hotels, restaurants, forts, temples, and ghats from both Rajasthan trips will eventually live on one shared map. For now, every address above links straight to Google Maps. Save what’s useful.