City and Lake Tour
This must be the most romantic city in India! On the various lakes at sunrise and sunset you see the beautiful reflection of the city on the water. In particular, you can admire the Nobel Havelis (palaces) that have been exquisitely restored.
It is a town where you can relax for some days in lovely hotels like the Oberoi, which has a fantastic location on the lake. From the pool you can see the City Palace in the distance. The service is excellent as is the food. The Spa is great. Alternatively, there are very nice havelis (former palaces), now converted into hotels. There are also some other good hotels on the lake, such as the Lila Palace, or on an island in the lake, such as the Taj Lake Palace, constructed in 1754.
First start your visit with a romantic sunset boat ride on Lake Pichola. The lake is artificial and was first built in 1362. Maharana Udai Singh founded Udaipur on the banks of the lake in 1567, which he enlarged, when he escaped from Chittorgarh. Note that the king of Udaipur was and still is a Maharana, not a Maharajah, since the city state was never conquered, either by the Mughals or by the British. The Maharanas of Udaipur over many hundreds of years constructed the enormous City Palace in Hindu style. It is an overwhelming, fairy tale, palace. At night it is beautifully illuminated and looks great from across the lake. Imagine at the time when the court lived in this Palace, its luxurious life. It is easy to imagine the European fascination, especially the British. Think of their first impressions when they were received as special guests by the Maharanas, that always had and still have good relations with them.
Imagine the entertainment, like polo on elephants. Imagine their clothes, both men and women and the servants in their incredible uniforms. The staff that work in the palaces still use today the beautiful uniforms they used in those times. The turbans are impressive. That is one of the things that impresses you when you go to a palace hotel or hotel like the Imperial in Delhi, where you can breathe history, to see these men in uniform.
The boat passes in front of the Lake Palace Hotel, a Taj hotel, still the property of the Maharana of Udaipur. It was constructed as a summer Palace by Maharana Jagat Singh. Today it is very popular for big wedding parties in one of the most romantic spots in India.
Your ride passes in front of the Jag Mandir, an island where the son of Jahangir, future Shah Jahan, sought refuge in his younger rebellious years. It is a small splendid palace, which was built as a summer refuge and for parties and is still used today for the latter activity.
You must visit the City Palace, which is both fascinating and beautiful. It is lots of stairs and narrow corridors, a real rabbit warren of a place. The rooms though are amazing. The palace is in fact consist of 11 palaces, built by different Maharanas. Note particularly the palace of mirrors, the miniature paintings and the Chinese and Dutch ornamental tiles. Below are some pictures of rooms in the palace: stunning.
Well worth a visit is Bagore Ki Haveli, a restored palace on the lakeside, now a museum. It contains an eclectic collection of items and includes a fascinating puppet museum.
Walk around town. You will find some very interesting shops.
Walk through the bazaar along City Palace road, past the big Jagdish Temple, which is worth a look, even if you have to climb many steps to do so. You will find several interesting shops, with very nice merchandise, bags, dresses, fabrics and old embroidered borders cut from old clothes.
Shopping
I recommend the beautiful fabrics from Ravi Arts, wholesaler and exporter of old textiles, old sarees, skirts, dresses, saree borders, coats, blouse, kurtas and bags. There are two young guys that sell in the shop, Ravindra Goyal and Suraj Goyal, who are very kind and friendly. It is a pleasure to talk with them. The selection of things is beautiful, and it was their grandfather that collected them. The shop is in the City Palace Road, near Jagdish Temple (email rajesh.suraj4@ymail.com; tel +919828271216).
One of the Princes of Udaipur has this beautiful shop Aashka, luxury lifestyle boutique in front of the palace, with a very large and good selection of clothes and things for the house, very nice and big variety of cotton dresses and tunics and prices are good for the quality and good taste (address: the Arcade, Manek Chowk, the city Palace; tel +912942423485-6; www.aashkaindia.com ). They also have a shop in Jaipur.
Ganesh Handicrafts Emporium is also in the City Palace Road. The shop just goes on and on. It is full of a huge variety of goods. You could spend hours in it. Well worth a visit. Great quality, not cheap. (email: www.ganeshemporium.com ; tel: +919828585959)
Very good quality, variety and prices in Sapna Saree Emporium, exporters and manufacturers. I bought several beautifully and originally embroidered ruck sacks. They are textile Designers and wholesalers, owner Ramesh Chadha. (Address: City Palace Road; tel +919610433394).
N.F Collections, Manek Chowk, in front of the City Palace, has shawls, textiles, very nice tunics, block printed fabric sold by the metre and tailoring (tel +919571668855). They will make you a dress with the fabric too.
You will find carpets and other Indian objects and cloth in the Indian Treasure gallery, Manak Chowk, in front of the City Palace.
Our tour guide
If you want to have an excellent tour of Udaipur, I recommend Rajendra Singh Chundawat as your tour guide. He is a super nice and knowledgeable, very good company and very proud of his city. We had a very nice time with him. (email: rajendra_chundawat@yahoo.in or rajendrachundawat88@gmail.com )