Udaipur 2 Day Foodies & Sightseeing Itinerary
Relaxed and romantic Udaipur is a city in Rajasthan situated on the banks of Lake Pichola. In Udaipur, it’s a chance to slow down and go for a stroll. The city is home to some of the best sunsets and sunrises which you can view from one of the many rooftop restaurants in the area. Udaipur’s tourist hotspots are concentrated in the old town of Udaipur which is small and walkable so there’s no need to hire a driver for the day!
HOW TO GET TO UDAIPUR:
We travelled to Udaipur from Jaipur and I highly recommend coupling these two cities together. Start with fast paced Jaipur and follow it up with a few days of lazying in Udaipur. Between the two cities, you can either choose from a 7-10 hour drive (full day’s drive) with a stop over at Chittorgarh Fort, a just-as-long train ride, or a 1 hour flight. We opted for the flight and definitely think it was a good decision! The airports in Jaipur and Udaipur are both not too far from the city so it was definitely convenient saving all those extra hours on the road.
HOW MANY DAYS TO SPEND IN UDAIPUR:
We actually stayed in Udaipur for three full days, however after visiting, I think two full days is plenty to explore the tourist areas as everything’s close by and so I’ve condensed our recommended itinerary into a two day itinerary. I’d probably only recommend staying 3 days if you are staying somewhere exclusive like Taj Lake Palace and want to spend time relaxing at the resort, or if you wanted to add on an extra day to do a specific day trip nearby or try more restaurants out. Otherwise, the tourist area around Lake Pichola is really quite small and you can almost see it all in one day.
WHERE TO STAY:
I highly, highly recommend staying on the northern banks of Lake Pichola either in the old city area (the eastern side of the lake) or directly on the opposite side. There are numerous hotels around this lake at various price points so there will definitely be one that suits your travels. We chose Udai Kothi and found the location absolutely superb - we were able to walk to many restaurants of interest and if we couldn’t be bothered walking, everything in old town was only a $2-ish Auto (tuk tuk) ride away.
HOW TO GET AROUND UDAIPUR:
As mentioned, most things should be more than walkable. However, if you’re in the old city area, it’s generally 100INR per trip ($2AUD) for a tuk tuk. If you want to go somewhere out of town, you can also hire a tuk tuk for a half day or full day and negotiate the price with the driver. I can’t remember how much it cost, but from memory it was something like $5-10AUD for a half day or $10-$15AUD for a full day. The prices are already very reasonable here for us so we prefer not to bargain for the sake of it.
UDAIPUR TWO DAY ITINERARY
DAY 1
Morning: City Palace
Udaipur City Palace is probably the busiest attraction here so it pays to go early to skip the crowds. It opens daily from 9:30am to 5:30pm so we went as soon as it opened to check it out. The palace stands on the banks of Lake Pichola and is the largest palace complex in Rajasthan. Everything inside is really well kept and these days functions more like a museum. It’s a one way path throughout the complex with plenty of information plaques to look at to learn more about the history of Udaipur and the palace.
Entry is 300 INR (around $6 AUD) per person. Expect to spend around 2 hours here wandering through the complex.
Lunch @ Khamma Ghani
Khamma Ghani ended up being my absolute most favourite restaurant that we visited during our time in India. It’s right next to the lake and is a double storey restaurant with gorgeous views. We took one of the lake-side tables and ordered tandoori chicken, a chef’s special mixed veg dish (I forgot the exact name but it was soooooo delicious) and a curry. The bread here was SO good that we ordered countless servings.
It was the only restaurant that we went to in Udaipur that wasn’t in the old city, so we took a tuk tuk there for around $1AUD.
Afternoon @ Ahar Cenotaphs
We combined our lunch stop with an afternoon visit to Ahar Cenotaphs as both spots were the only spots we were visiting that were out of Udaipur’s old city area. So we hired our tuk tuk driver for the afternoon so that he could take us to Ahar Cenotaphs after lunch. The Cenotaphs are around 15 minutes drive away and there were only a few other local tourists around when we were visiting. We didn’t have to pay any entry fees, our tuk tuk driver just said that we were free to walk in and have a look around. It’s quite similar to the cenotaphs we saw in Jaipur, but a lot more peaceful. I think we spent around an hour here.
LATE AFTERNOON @ Lake Pichola Hotel
After visiting Ahar Cenotaphs, it’s time to head back to the old town area. Since it’s an easy arvo, you’ve got plenty of time to wander the streets or relax at your hotel. But before heading to dinner, do pop by Lake Pichola Hotel for a half hour to look around because this gorgeous hotel is stunning!
Dinner @ Upre BY 1559AD
Our dinner spot for the night is at Upre. We made a reservation prior to visiting as I read online that it can get busy. It was easy to do - I just sent them an email to reserve and requested one of the cabana tables. The food was okay (Khamma Ghani was better hehe) but the ambience and location here was unbeatable. I think it was one of the prettiest places to see the sunset in Udaipur!
DAY 2
MORNING: Jagidsh Temple
Start your morning off with a stroll to Jagdish Temple. It’s free entry here and opens early in the morning so that you can come by for a peaceful look. Upon entering, you take your shoes off and leave them by the entry area. Locals at the temple found us aimlessly meandering anticlockwise around the temple and quickly stopped us and told us to walk around the temple clockwise to bring good luck!
Gangaur Ghat
This beautiful spot is a popular space for cultural celebrations and is often filled with locals every day watching the sun set! Come by here for a look, the view across Lake Pichola is breathtaking and there are often buskers here as well. Next to it is also Bagore Ki Haveli, a cultural museum. It’s another popular attraction in Udaipur which if you’re interested in visiting, you can fit in during this morning as well.
Lunch @ Jagat Niwas PALACE
After a morning of sight-seeing, we head to Jagat Niwas Palace for some scrumptious lunch. Jagat Niwas Palace is a boutique hotel with a gorgeous restaurant. It was actually one of the places I was planning to stay at however we booked too late and missed out. The rooms here are gorgeous and the courtyard in the middle of the building is filled with beautiful decor.
Head upstairs to the top of the hotel for a relaxing lunch. The view from the restaurant is stunning so I definitely recommend picking a table at one of the many jharokhas (the overhanging balconies) like the one we chose!
Later Afternoon @ Ambrai Ghat
It’s a lazy kind of afternoon again. We went back to our hotel Udai Kothi to relax for a bit as it has a gorgeous rooftop area and pool. Towards late afternoon, we took a short walk to Ambrai Ghat, a little spot by Lake Pichola to marvel at the view just as the sun was starting to set. From here you can see Taj Lake Palace floating not far from you and you can also see a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains.
Amet Haveli
Right next to Ambrai Ghat is a hotel called Amet Haveli which has a restaurant inside called Ambrai. We had a look around the hotel grounds and their beautiful view of Lake Pichola before heading to dinner at Ambrai.
Dinner @ Ambrai
It’s dinner time! The restaurant you see in this picture below is Ambrai, another highly reviewed spot in Udaipur. It was super busy when we visited so we’re glad we were able to get a table. We loved finding all these lakeside restaurants in Udaipur, it was such a nice way to slow down the pace.
DAY 3
It’s time to say goodbye to Udaipur! If you have time to check out one more restaurant, head to Harigarh for a casual meal by the water. It was right opposite our hotel Udai Kothi and served up some delicious food. Head upstairs and of course take a table by the water for the best views!
I hope you enjoyed my guide to Udaipur and find it helpful in planning your future travels!
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