We spent an amazing 3 days in Udaipur, exploring royal palaces, seeing incredible viewpoints and admiring Pichola Lake. It was one of our favourite cities in Rajasthan and we’re excited to show you why in our 3 day Udaipur itinerary.
Udaipur is one of the most romantic cities in India and is also nicknamed the Venice of the East due to its European feel. We spent our evenings watching the sunset over the lake from some of the many rooftops around the city and we even caught a beautiful sunrise from a temple.
The lake city felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the rush of Jaipur and Delhi, and it’s so easy to reach by train or bus. Udaipur definitely surprised us, we’re so glad we added it to our India route.
Our Udaipur itinerary shows you the best places to visit in Udaipur as well as where to stay, how to get there and our foodie recommendations.
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3 Day Udaipur Itinerary
Try to arrive the night before this 3 day Udaipur itinerary to make the most out of your time. If you only have 2-3 days, you may still be able to achieve everything, but you’ll start day 1 later in the day.
Most of the accommodation in Udaipur is around Lake Pichola, so you’ll need to get a tuk-tuk to this area. We’ll explain more about the different ways to reach Udaipur after our itinerary.
Where to stay in Udaipur – Hostel Mantra for lovely private rooms!
How to get around India – Use 12.Go to browse trains & buses
Travel Insurance: On a long trip? Use Safetywing for flexible insurance!
Simcards – Get a physical sim from Airtel or use Airalo for quick E-Sim’s!
Now let’s jump into sharing our 3 days in Udaipur! If you need any extra tips for Udaipur, scroll to the end of our itinerary.
Day 1 – Palaces, Boat Trips & Markets
Your first day in Udaipur will be spent exploring the iconic city palace, hopping on a boat ride around Pichola Lake and checking out the local markets for anything you might want to buy during your 3 days in Udaipur.
We started our day nice and early to beat the crowds, but you can begin at any time you’d like after breakfast (we recommend Paps Juices for a quick bite)
Visit the City Palace
One of the best things to do in Udaipur is to explore the City Palace Museum. It’s hard to miss in Udaipur, sitting right on the edge of the lake. The Palace was built by Maharana Udai Singh II in 1559 and opened as a museum in 1969.
You can see architectural influences from Europe and China mixing with Rajasthani and Mughal here as you wander through the rooms. We highly recommend getting the audio guide to learn more in-depth about the popular palace.
We visited on a day when only two-thirds of the Palace was open, so they gave us discounted tickets for 250 rupees each, but we couldn’t get the audio tour. The price is usually 400 rupees.
The City Palace is guarded and marked with signs to take you around the museum rooms. They’re incredibly beautiful and well decorated with rooms full of colour and mirrors.
Of course, the views of Pichola Lake are lovely too! We probably should have said yes to a paid guide at the beginning, but we managed to learn some facts online.
As the City Palace is the most important and popular place to see in Udaipur, we recommend visiting early or later in the day.
💰 400
Take a Boat Trip on Pichola Lake
Pichola Lake is the heart of Udaipur and a boat trip is the perfect way to explore! If you’re interested in visiting Jagmandir Island Palace, the daytime is the best time to go. However, a beautiful time for boat trips on the lake (without the island palace) is at sunset. You can choose to do both over your 3 days in Udaipur.
We chose to hop on a boat trip straight after the City Palace as you can buy tickets from a booth when exiting to visit the Jagmandir Island Palace.
As we visited Udaipur in February, it didn’t get too hot in the mornings, so we hopped on a boat and admired Pichola Lake from the water.
The boat trip isn’t very long but you’ll get to see the City Palace from the water and the surrounding area.
💰 600 / 800 (with the Island Palace) or 360 without the Island Palace
Discover Jagmandir Island Palace
Jagmandir Island Palace is one of the beautiful marble buildings in the middle of the Pichola lake. There are no roads, so the only way to get here is by lake. The other building on the lake is the Taj Lake Palace (a 5-star hotel)!
Jagmandir Palace is named after Maharana Jagat Singh in honour of completing the building after Maharana Karan Singh (Maharana basically means Great King). The palace was also a filming location for the 1983 James Bond film, Octopussy.
The boat drops you off at Jagmandir Island Palace for a little browse. There’s a lovely little garden, a cafe and some information about the palace. Most of the people on our boat sat down for a drink at the cafe to admire the Udaipur. If you don’t want a drink, you can spend 20 minutes here before hopping on the next available boat.
💰 600 / 800 (included in the Boat Trip Ticket)
After a busy morning, grab some lunch from one of many restaurants nearby! The closest one being The Sunset Terrace, Fateh Prakash Palace, which is next to the Palace and is very expensive for India! We recommend heading to Millets Of Mewar or Neelam Restaurant for an affordable bite to eat.
➤ Join an Indian cooking class in Udaipur and cook with a local family. We recommend Rekha’s Cooking Class on GetYourGuide!
Admire Jagdish Temple
Whilst you still have some energy left, take a quick visit to Jagdish Temple. This is Udaipur’s most popular Hindu temple and is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The architecture is beautiful with many in-depth carvings on the stone work.
You’ll have to walk up some steep but short steps to reach the temple, and if it’s too busy, you can simply admire the temple from the outside.
Browse the Markets
Now relax for the evening and wander the beautiful little streets! Even though Udaipur is less chaotic than other cities in Rajasthan, there’s still lots of scooters and tuk-tuks whizzing by so it’s not totally peaceful. But it’s still much more chill than other Rajasthani cities on our trip.
Udaipur has lots of shops selling handicraft items, bags, postcards, paintings and many clothing items. You can find even more shops by heading up to the Clock Tower Area.
If you need somewhere to chill during your 3 days in Udaipur, we recommend Mavi Cafe for their drinks (plant milk options)!
See the Views from Gangaur Ghat
Ghats are very common to find in India, especially around lakes! We lost count of the ghats we found in Pushkar. There’s quite a few in Udaipur too!
Gangaur Ghat is the most famous, located right on the main strip. It’s perfect to visit any time (although it’s a heat trap), but we highly recommend seeing sunset here at some point during your 3 day Udaipur itinerary.
Find a Rooftop for Sunset
There are many rooftops offering incredible views of Pichola Lake and the sunset. You can either choose a rooftop for a drink or have dinner! We went to Yummy Yoga Restaurant twice for dinner and the sunset, although it’s quite obstructed, we just loved the food!
Dreamyard Hostel have an amazing view of the sunset from their rooftop, although it may be private for guests. You can book your stay here!
This is also the best time to do a sunset boat cruise if you’d like to see the colours of the sky turn pink from Lake Pichola. You’ll also have time on day 3 of this Udaipur itinerary.
Day 2 – Sunrise Temple, Art School & an Evening Show
After a pretty packed day yesterday, we chose to get up super early for sunrise! It’s worth it though, so now we’re recommending it for you! Day 2 of our 3 days in Udaipur will be very chill for the rest of the day, yet still busy enough. Let’s jump into more things to do in Udaipur!
See the Sunrise at Karni Mata Temple
One of the best things we did on our 3 day Udaipur itinerary is wake up for sunrise. Honestly, we wish we did this every day, but we also love our late evenings!
The day before, check when the sunrise is for you and make sure you arrive at the base of Machla Magra Hill at least 1 hour before sunrise. The earlier the better to watch the beautiful city light up!
We managed to find a tuk-tuk to drive us from our accommodation near Gangaur Ghat to the trailhead for 100 rupees, which saved 30 minutes of walking.
The hike to the top of the Machla Magra Hill where you’ll find Karni Mata Temple is only 20 minutes and well paved, so it’s achievable for sunrise or sunset! There’s an optional cable car, but it’s definitely not open for sunrise.
Karni Mata Temple was under construction during our visit, but it’s lovely like most Hindu temples in India. It’s an important place of worship for locals as they believe that Karni Mata blesses and protects Udaipur.
The main reason for our hike was for the impressive sunrise views and to watch the sunrise over the city. We loved watching the birds, chipmunks and nature surround us as the day came to life. It was a truly beautiful moment on our 3 day Udaipur itinerary.
Walk around Dudh Talai
At the base of Karni Mata Temple we came across Dudh Talai, a smaller lake in Udaipur. It instantly reminded us of Lake Como (specifically from the Star Wars scenes), even though we’ve never been!
We chose to take a quick stroll around the lake before heading for some much needed food.
Reward yourself with a big brunch
Although we packed some bananas and almonds to snack on during our sunrise watch, we were starving when we arrived back in the main centre.
There’s lots of places serving breakfast in Udaipur from Indian food to international cuisines. We chose to fuel up at Mavi Cafe with avocado toast and banana pancakes, plus they do chai with soy milk. We don’t regret a thing! After lots of Indian food in Rajasthan, we indulged in a couple of western dishes!
Take an Art Class
One of the most unique activities we did in Udaipur was to learn how to draw traditional Indian miniature art. We chose to take a class with Indigo Art School, which was 600 rupees per hour (we needed three hours). It wasn’t the most budget-friendly activity in India, but it was an amazing experience and you get to keep the photo!
We spent the afternoon drawing and painting an elephant and a camel with our art teacher! Even though I (Amy) love art, I never spend any time with physical art and the painting was tough! Everything takes longer than you think.
We also found Lucky Art School, which was offering drawing classes on postcards for 400 rupees per hour. You might not need as long to draw these postcards either.
Watch a Rajasthani Traditional Dance
One of the best things to do in Udaipur is to watch a Rajasthani cultural show. It lasts about an hour and you’ll see many folk traditions of Mewar with dance performances, puppets and lots of singing! The show starts at 7pm every day.
The Lok Dharohar Cultural Show is located at Bagore Ki Haveli near Gangaur Ghat. You’ll need to get your tickets at 6pm and try to find a seat before 6:30, it starts filling up at 6pm.
You can also visit the Folk Museum in the daytime if you’re interested in learning more!
On this day you’ll likely miss sunset as the show starts at 7pm, so make sure you’ve seen a sunset on day one or two!
💰 250
Admire Lake Pichola from Ambrai Ghat
The perfect way to end the day is by sitting on the steps at Ambrai Ghat. It’s one of the most romantic spots in Udaipur and you can watch the City Palace glow and reflect on the lake. We visited both day and night and it’s perfect either way!
Now rest up for your last day of your 3 days in Udaipur!
Day 3 – Udaipur’s Nature & Animals
Although the romantic city of Udaipur is a lovely area to chill and relax, we recommend exploring a few more places outside of the city!
If we’re being honest, we were pretty tired on day 3 of our Udaipur itinerary, the busyness of Rajasthan caught up to us. Luckily we still managed to see a few more sights. Here are more things to do in Udaipur!
We chose to rent a scooter to visit these three locations on our third day. It cost 400 rupees for the rental and 230 for some fuel. You can easily get a tuk-tuk driver to take you to all of these locations and it’ll be much easier.
We’re very used to renting scooters and have an international driving license. We recommend getting tuk-tuks if you’re not comfortable on scooters.
Visit Animal Aid
The first stop of the day during our 3 days in Udaipur was a hardworking animal sanctuary. Animal Aid is a welfare centre that helps injured, sick and unowned animals so that they can continue living in the world.
They always try to release the animals back where they found them, unless the situation is too dangerous.
We’ve visited a few animal welfare centres before, including volunteering in Thailand and Animal Aid does a really good job at helping all the animals in need. As vegans, we care so much for animals and it’s often difficult to see so many strays in India.
Thankfully Animal Aid is helping Udaipur just like many other sanctuaries around the country.
Find out more about Animal Aid here.
On our visit at Animal Aid, we joined a tour where the host shared information on how many animals they are currently treating and how they manage to keep so many animals at once. They had dogs, cats, tortoises, birds, sheep, horses, cows, goats and more!
We were visiting at the feeding time for the motherless calves and they let us feed a cow named Tofu. It was a wholesome experience. You can donate online, which is one of their main funding sources.
💰 Free (recommended to donate)
See the Bahubali Hills
Next on our 3 day Udaipur itinerary, we visited a place that made us say ‘How is this India’! Bahubali Hills are one of the most beautiful places we visited in Udaipur. They’re located on Badi Lake just outside of Udaipur and there’s a short hike to a viewpoint where you can see a beautiful panoramic view.
It’s another destination that will be impressive at sunrise or sunset, but there isn’t enough time in the day for that!
There’s a good amount of parking spaces and there’s a few food stalls selling Maggi and water, even during the 15 minute hike.
💰 10
Admire the Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace
Before you head back to the centre of Udaipur, pass by Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace to see the incredible building up on the hills. This Palace was also featured on the James Bond Movie, Octopussy.
The Palace sits on top of a large hill and we’ve heard that the sunset views are amazing! We only viewed the palace from ground level, but it was still beautiful. The ticket prices are quite high at more than 500 rupees for essentially a viewpoint.
You can also book a tour on GetYourGuide that will take you there, but it’s a little pricey.
💰 505+
When we arrived back into Udaipur, we had dinner again at Yummy Yoga Restaurant and reminisced on our 3 days in Udaipur. We’ve got some more suggestions below if you need some more inspiration.
Alternative Ideas for 3 days in Udaipur
- Yoga – like most places in India, Udaipur has some great Yoga studios to start or end the day.
- Join a local Indian Cooking Class in Udaipur!
- Ahar Cenotaphs (Museum) – a group of cenotaphs commemorating the Kings of Merwar.
- Saheliyon Ki Bari – a beautiful garden with a museum.
- Fateh Sagar Lake & Moti Magri – a lake and a viewpoint with a statue on top.
- Gulab Bagh – a free smaller garden closer to Udaipur main area.
Visit these lesser-known places on a E-bike tour on GetYourGuide!
Where to stay in Udaipur
You’ll want to base yourself near Pichola Lake in Udaipur. There are so many places to stay from homestays to hostels and luxury hotels (like Taj Lake Palace)
We stayed at Black Pepper Homestay for a few nights in Udaipur, and whilst the rooms were okay. We didn’t really feel like it was a homestay, although it is very affordable! You can do cooking classes here!
Dreamyard Hostel – One of the best hostels in the city for socializing and incredible rooftop views – Find it on Booking.com here!
Hostel Mantra – If you want private rooms on a budget, Mantra has more amazing views and lovely rooms – Find it on Agoda here!
💤 Find more places to stay in Udaipur on Booking.com!
Best Restaurants in Udaipur
- Mavi Cafe – the go-to cafe in Udaipur with a coffee machine, avocado toast & vegan options!
- Yummy Yoga Restaurant – incredible Indian food with friendly staff & rooftop views.
- Smokey Jo’s Cafe – serving pasta, sandwiches, pancakes & more (all vegan).
- Paps Juices – smoothie bowls, muesli bowls and juice!
How to get around Udaipur
The best way to get around Udaipur is by walking! The main tourist area isn’t too big and there are lots of accommodations around Lake Pichola.
Scooter – We rented a scooter for one day to get to Bahubali Hills and Animal Aid. The road conditions were okay and we had no problems!
Tuk Tuk – You’ll need to grab a local tuk-tuk from the bus or train station. We also caught one to Karni Mata temple for sunrise as there were loads on the main street.
How to get to Udaipur
Bus – On our 6 week India itinerary, we caught a 5-hour bus from Jodhpur to Udaipur. We booked the bus online and reserved our seats for free. The bus was great! From Mumbai, the journey is around 15 hours by bus.
Train – There was no direct train route from Jodhpur to Udaipur, but you can catch trains from Mumbai and other destinations in North India. Book your tickets in advance as they can sell out quickly!
Flight – As we didn’t book our train tickets to Mumbai quickly enough, they did sell out, so we either had to catch a 15-hour bus or catch a 1.5 hour flight. Prices can vary for flights in India!
➤ Book your train tickets on 12.Go or create an IRCTC account to use Ixigo.
Best Time to Visit Udaipur
The best time to visit Udaipur is between the months of October to March when it’s not too hot! Rajasthan can reach 45 °C from May to August, which includes Udaipur! Even the winter days in October to March are very warm, so be careful when you visit.
The winter months can also get a little chilly in the evenings, so don’t forget a jacket! We visited in February and there is no heating in most budget accommodations. Udaipur also has a dry, dusty climate similar to other destinations in Rajasthan.
What to do in Udaipur at Night
As Udaipur is known as India’s romantic city, exploring at night feels even more romantic! The lake is a lovely area to walk around with our favourite place to sit being the Ambrai Ghat. Most of our evenings were spent dining on rooftops and not rushing! Here’s some of the things to do at night in Udaipur:
- Spend the evening on a rooftop
- Visit the cultural show
- Admire the lake from Ambrai Ghat
- Watch the sunset from beautiful spots all over the city
How many days to spend in Udaipur
We highly recommend spending 2 or 3 days in Udaipur as there are quite a few things to do! With only 2 days in Udaipur, you’ll have to skip either the Art School, Bahubali Hills or Animal Sanctuary as this may take up too much of your time.
After spending a few days in Udaipur, our itinerary combines the best ways to enjoy the city whether you’re on a budget or not.
Is Udaipur worth visiting?
Yes! Udaipur was one of our favourite cities in Rajasthan and we would go back again! Udaipur exceeded our expectations! We loved ending our day with a sunset on one of the many rooftops in the city. There’s an artsy atmosphere and lots of diverse things to do! We would recommend Udaipur to anyone visiting India.
That’s the end of our 3 day Udaipur itinerary and if you need any more help planning – send us a message on Instagram (@thesunrisedreamers) or check out more of our India Travel Guides:
We’ll be sharing more India Travel Guides throughout 2025, for now here’s some of our Sri Lanka posts:
- Incredible 3 Week Sri Lanka Itinerary
- 3 day Ella Itinerary, Sri Lanka
- 7 Amazing Places to Visit in Colombo
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