Udaipur, Rajasthan (The White City)

The drive between Ranakpur and Udaipur was a complete change from what we had experienced so far – gone was the flat, dry, desert-like landscape of northern Rajasthan. Suddenly, we were in sub-tropical surroundings with steep hills all around. Udaipur is called Rajasthan's most romantic city and we would certainly agree. The city is surrounded by hills and its central feature is Lake Pichola with its two island palaces. Our hotel was perfectly located by the lakeside, close to the Royal Palace, and it had a spectacular rooftop terrace where we could watch sunset with a few cold beers.

There are four palaces in Udaipur. The City Palace:

The Summer Palace (front island) and the Honeymoon Palace (back island):

And the Monsoon Palace:

We visited the City Palace – the largest in Rajasthan and second largest in India. We had to admit, it was the most impressive palace we had seen so far. The craft work throughout was beautiful – mosaic peacocks, glass and mirror work, and many wonderful paintings.  

Of course the palace also had great views of the lake and the Maharaja's Summer Palace which is now an exclusive hotel that you can't visit. You may also recognize it as a set from the James Bond movie Octopussy.

The Honeymoon palace is also a hotel now but you can take a boat out to visit the island and get some great views back to the city.

A little side note in the Lonely Planet directed us to the Maharaja's classic car collection. The cars were in pristine condition and many were entirely unique. The collection included multiple Rolls Royce, Mercedes, Morris, and other specimens. One Rolls had even been converted to a “jeep” for hunting while another had been modified for purda, so a woman could drive it. Here's just a small sample.

On tripadvisor.com the number one attraction in Udaipur was a cookery class. Considering the palace is one of the finest in India, we were intrigued and decided to try our hand at some Indian cooking. More on that in our next post.