Udaipur city day: City Palace, the gardens and Lake Pichola
Udaipur · 9 hrs · Cab included · Pickup from your stay
From ₹2500 for the whole vehicle, up to 8 people. The price is per car, not per person.
Vehicles
- Swift Dzire: Sedan. Best for a couple or a small family. ₹2500 for the vehicle.
- Tata Sumo: Rugged 8-seater. The most room for the money. ₹2850 for the vehicle.
- Innova or Ertiga: The comfortable one on a long hill day. ₹4000 for the vehicle.
The whole lake city, in the order the timings allow
Udaipur's sights sit close together and that is exactly why a day here goes wrong. The City Palace needs two hours and most people give it forty minutes. Jagdish Temple shuts in the middle of the day. Saheliyon ki Bari is at its best when the fountains are running and the light is low. The Pichola boat has a fixed last departure, and the sunset slot fills first.
This is the whole city in one run, in the order the timings allow rather than the order the map suggests. The car and driver stay with you from pickup to drop, so the afternoon is spent moving between sights instead of standing on the road negotiating an auto.
Entry tickets and the boat are bought on the day and are yours to pay. We do not mark them up and we do not pretend they are included.
Your day, stop by stop
1. City Palace complex
The Mewar royal residence above the lake, built across four centuries. The Mor Chowk peacock mosaics, the Zenana Mahal courtyards and the long terrace views over Pichola. Two hours, and worth every minute.
Entry ticket, a separate ticket for the Crystal Gallery, and a camera fee
2. Jagdish Temple
The 1651 Indo-Aryan temple a short walk from the palace gate, on a carved plinth with elephants at the steps. Shoes off, and the carving on the outer walls is the reason to come.
3. Saheliyon ki Bari
The Garden of the Maidens: lotus pools, marble pavilions and fountains that run with no pump, fed by the lake above. This is the fountain garden, and it is the quietest half hour of the day.
Entry ticket
4. Lunch beside Lake Pichola
A table on the water at Ambrai or Gangaur Ghat, with the City Palace on one side and the Lake Palace in the middle. Billed to you, and the driver waits.
Your bill
5. Gulab Bagh and the Vintage Car Museum
The old rose garden, then the Mewar royal garage: the Rolls-Royces, the Cadillac convertible from the Bond film, and the original Shell pump. Dropped if the morning ran long.
Museum entry ticket
6. Lake Pichola boat ride
From Rameshwar Ghat inside the palace complex, out past Jag Mandir with the city turning gold behind you. The sunset departure is the one to take and it fills first.
Boat ticket, per person, and higher for the sunset slot
7. Gangaur Ghat at dusk
Back on the steps as the palaces light up. Ten minutes, no ticket, the best photograph of the day.
In your price
- Private vehicle with driver for the full day
- Pickup and drop at your stay in Udaipur
- Fuel, tolls, driver allowance and parking
- The route sequenced around the temple and boat timings
- GoExplorer support number for the day
Not included
- Entry tickets and the photography fee
- The boat ticket
- Guides
- Meals
- Anything personal
What you pay on the day
- City Palace entry ticket, with a separate ticket for the Crystal Gallery
- Camera or phone photography fee at the City Palace
- Saheliyon ki Bari entry ticket
- Vintage Car Museum entry ticket
- Lake Pichola boat ticket, priced per person and higher for the sunset slot
- A licensed guide at the City Palace, if you want one
- Lunch and anything personal
Who this suits
Anyone comfortable on their feet for a couple of hours at a stretch. The City Palace is stairs end to end with no lift, and that is the one part of the day that cannot be made easier. Everything else is level or a short walk. The sedan seats four, the Sumo eight and the Innova six, each at one flat price for the car.
What to bring
Shoes you can slip off at Jagdish Temple, knees and shoulders covered for the temple, a hat and water for the palace terraces, and cash for tickets and the boat. The boat jetty has a bag check, so travel light in the afternoon.
The boat is the weather risk
The Pichola boat stops running in high wind and in years when the lake is low, and the level drops fast after a weak monsoon. If the boat is not running on your day you are told at pickup, the rest of the day runs, and the boat ticket is simply not bought. From April to June the palace terraces are brutal by noon; the route still runs, and an earlier start helps.
Cancellation
- More than 24 hrs before: Full refund
- Within 24 hrs: 50% refund
- After the start time: No refund
Safety and the operator
Licensed commercial vehicle, a driver who runs these routes regularly, and a GoExplorer support number live for the duration of the booking. Seat belts fitted in all three vehicle classes.
Questions
Is the City Palace entry included in the price?
No. The palace ticket, the Crystal Gallery ticket and the photography fee are bought at the gate on the day and are charged per person. The price on this page is the car and driver for the whole day, flat, whatever the size of your group.
Can we do the boat ride at sunset?
That is what the day is built around. The route puts you at Rameshwar Ghat for the golden hour departure. It is the most popular slot of the day, so the driver gets you there with time to buy tickets rather than arriving at a sold out counter.
We only have half a day. Can we shorten it?
Take the Udaipur heritage half day instead. It covers the City Palace, Jagdish Temple and Saheliyon ki Bari in five hours for less. The sunset and folk evening runs as its own four hour booking, so a half day plus the evening covers nearly all of this at two separate times.
Is Jagdish Temple open all day?
No. It closes between the morning and evening darshan and the exact window shifts. The route visits it late morning, which is inside the window on a normal day. On a festival day the timings move and the driver reorders the stops around it.