Prasad Gaude, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The City Palace, Udaipur
A quarter of a kilometre of facade above Lake Pichola, grown by twenty-two rulers of one house over four centuries.
Four centuries, one house
This is not a palace so much as a range of them, built onto each other by successive Mewar rulers from 1559 onward and never demolished to make room. The result is a single unbroken elevation above the lake and, inside, a route that keeps changing century every few rooms.
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Through the complex
The visitor route runs upward and inward through courtyards, so the sequence is roughly chronological whether or not anyone tells you so.
Mor Chowk
- The peacock courtyard, with three birds set into the wall in coloured glass mosaic — several thousand pieces each, and the detail that most people remember.
The mirror and glass rooms
- Successive rulers added rooms in mirror, coloured glass and Chinese and Dutch tilework. They are small, dense and best taken slowly.
The lake windows
- At intervals the route opens onto Pichola, with the Lake Palace and Jag Mandir out on the water. These are the best views in the city and they are free with the ticket.
The crystal gallery
- A separate collection of cut crystal furniture ordered in 1877 and famously never unpacked in the buyer's lifetime. Ticketed separately and worth deciding on before you start.
Getting there
It is the centre of the old city and everything in Udaipur is arranged around it.
On foot
- From anywhere in the old town below the palace, five to fifteen minutes uphill through the lanes. The Jagdish temple stands at the top of the approach.
By road
- Vehicles reach the outer gates. The complex itself is walked, and the route is long — allow for that rather than for the drive.
The boat jetty
- The Pichola boats leave from a jetty within the palace grounds, so the sunset boat and the palace are usually the same ticketed afternoon.
When to go
The route is long, largely enclosed, and much better early.
Season
- October to March. Udaipur is milder than the desert cities but the palace interiors are unventilated and get close.
Hour
- At opening. The route is single-file in places and by mid-morning it moves at the pace of the slowest group in front of you.
How long
- Two to three hours, more with the crystal gallery. It is the longest single visit in Udaipur.
Worth knowing
A long visit with a few decisions in it.
The route is one-way
- You cannot easily double back, so decide about the separately ticketed galleries at the entrance rather than when you reach them.
Stairs and narrow passages
- Constant, with low doorways. There is no step-free route through the complex.
Do the boat the same day
- The jetty is inside the grounds and the sunset boat past Jag Mandir is the natural end to the visit rather than a separate expedition.
Photography
- The lake windows are the pictures, not the rooms — interiors are dim and mostly restricted, and the openings onto Pichola are what you will actually keep.
Nearby
The rest of the lake city.
Frequently asked
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