With its picturesque setting on Lake Pichola and fringed by the Aravalli hills, Udaipur is justly believed to be one of the most enchanting and romantic cities in India. The Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir palaces seem to float in the centre of the lake and rising from its banks is the majestic City Palace, the largest in Rajasthan. The walled Old City, a knitted network of narrow streets and whitewashed houses, holds some wonderfully elaborate old havelis, such as Bagore-Ki-Haveli where nightly music and dance shows are held. As well as the magnificent central Jagdish Temple there are several smaller ones hidden about the town, such as the Sheetal Nath Jain temple which is covered in coloured mirror-mosaics.
The city has a wealth of bazaars selling everything from silver jewelry to fireworks; specialties of Udaipur include wooden toys, miniature paintings and leather-bound books with handmade paper. Boat trips can be taken on the lake with a stop off at the Jag Mandir palace and passing the captivating Jag Niwas, now the Lake Palace Hotel, an exceptional and exclusive place to have dinner. The role of this palace in the Bond film “Octopussy” is still celebrated by almost every small hotel and restaurant in the old town, which continue to have nightly 7pm showings of the film…
A visit to the City Palace museum is a must, with its complex of several palaces of blended Rajput and Mughal influences. Its idiosyncratic crystal gallery is one of a kind, and from the City Palace you can walk to Sunset Point on the water’s edge. Other sights include the Monsoon Palace perched on a mountain to the north-west of the town, the Fateh-Sagar Lake with Nehru Island Park, the archeological sights at Ahar, and many others. It is also worth exploring the surrounding countryside by foot, in a taxi, or even on horseback. Here the beauty of the Aravalli ranges can be experienced in full, along with its scattered villages, unchanged for centuries.
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