Visit to Jaipur, Rajasthan

Royal Rajasthan

Hawa Mahal

Jaipur - The Pink City of India. Jaipur is famous for its royalties, bangles, delicious kachoris and Ghewar!

Like Udaipur, I have visited Jaipur twice in last 3 years. Personally I loved Udaipur more as Jaipur is very crowded and not well maintained. You will feel something different in the atmosphere. Its an old city, you can get lost in those yesteryear's.

How to reach Jaipur:

From Kolkata you have direct flights to Jaipur. Also, there are multiple trains from Kolkata.

From Delhi, you can go via flight/train/bus/car. If you take bus from Delhi, you can reach Jaipur in 6 hours. There are Volvo/AC sleeper/Non AC buses. Roads are well maintained.

I have visited Jaipur on a road trip from Patiala and journey was comfortable.

Hotels:

~ Stay at Hotel Le Meridien ~

Hotel Le Meridien, Entrance

Hotel Le Meridien, inside view

Pros:

• A very big property with big and spacious rooms.
• Heart warming welcome with garlands and welcome drink. A musician playing Iktara is there to welcome you, playing Kesariya Balam! 
• Breakfast buffet is awesome with lots of varieties.

Cons:

• Very far from the city. It is located in the outskirts of the city.
• Best for wedding ceremonies (destination wedding).
• The cream and body shampoo provided in the toiletries are not so good.

Le Meridien is a Marriot hotel, 5 star property. Per night cost of Villa is around ₹11,000+. We booked it through Booking.com. Our Villa rooms was huge and spacious with Jacuzzi in the bathroom.

Other room tariffs starts from ₹9000.

Another Hotel you can opt for is WelcomHeritage Traditional Haveli, ITC group. It is located in the centre of the city. It is 3 star property and much cheaper with all the facilities. 

Day 1: Jaipur City

Places to visit:

Amer Palace/Amber Fort- 

Amer Palace

It is one the best tourist attraction in Jaipur. I really liked it on both of my visits. There are two gates - Surajpole and Chandpole.

NOTE: In vacations like in the month of December, there will be too much of rush and traffic jam. Take extra time in hand.

TIP: If you are travelling by car, enter from Chandpole. They have parking outside the gate. But during rush, vehicles are not allowed.

TIP: If you have parked your vehicle down the hill, enter from Surajpole. 

NOTE: You can hire battery cars ₹50/person one way, they will take you inside the fort and also will bring you down the hill. It is very convenient as you don’t have to climb high. My mother had to climb up which was very tiring and painful for her legs. ☹️

NOTE:  You can buy mineral water, cold drinks etc inside the fort. Free drinking water is also available.

NOTE: Ticket counter is just inside the fort, once you enter Surajpole. 

Ticket costs around ₹100/person for Indian. Foreign tourists have different ticket price.

TIP: Do hire a guide and bargain with them. 

Without guide, you will not understand the story of the fort and will miss seeing important points. Guides also help to click beautiful photographs. 

Inside Amer Palace

So there are different sections to see like - Diwan-e-khas, Sheesh mahal, Mughal garden, Tunnel to Jaigarh fort etc.

Amer Palace

Mughal Garden, Amer Palace

Diwan-e-khas, Amer Palace

NOTE: It will take at least 2 hours to visit the place.

NOTE: There is a restaurant named - 1135 AD, at the back side of the fort near exit. You can have lunch here. 

Next, you can visit Najafgarh fort & Jaigarh fort.

I have been to Najafgarh fort. We drove our car up the hill. There was a caution to be careful as black panther was spotted there!

NOTE: You can hire jeeps or auto to reach Najargarh/Jaigarh fort.

Najafgarh fort is nice but nothing great. There is a open restaurant also. We had our lunch there. But food was fine, not much variety.

Only plus point is that you can get a spectacular view of Jaipur.

View from Najafgarh Fort

I have not visited Jaigarh fort, but its next to Najafgarh fort.

TIP: Do not miss the light and sound show at Amer palace in the evening. It cost around ₹350+ per person. But it is good to experience.

Jal Mahal-

Though nobody is allowed to go inside Jal Mahal as it is not in good condition, but you can surely enjoy the view and relax in the park area. You will have different options of street foods, elephant ride, and few things to buy. 

You can spend 15 to 30 minutes at Jal Mahal park.

Jal Mahal

City Palace-

City Palace - Jaipur

Jaipur’s City palace is similar to the Udaipur’s one. One part of the palace has been converted to a museum, and other part is where the royal family still resides. They also rent city palace for weddings.

It will take at least 30 minutes to visit it. 

Hawa Mahal-

It is simple beautiful. Though I have never been inside but clicked lots of pictures from outside. One can also go inside the Hawa Mahal. 

Places to Shop and Eat:

Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar-

So starting with food, the most famous food joint in Jaipur is Laxmi Misthan Bhandar. You can ask anyone and each of them will tell you to visit LMB. It is a pure veg restaurant.

You can have Ghewar, jalebis, kachoris etc.

Bombay Mishthan Bhandar-

Second best sweet shop. BMB is also very good. You can buy both variety of Ghewar - With rabdi and withour rabdi. 

NOTE: Ghewar without rabdi can stay longer for up-to 1 week to 10 days. 

For shopping, you can visit Bapu Bazar, Tripolia market and Johari bazar.
It is best to walk and shop, because it will be very difficult to park your car anywhere. 

You can buy Bandhni dupattas or sarees, varieties of chudis (bangles), kurtis, and black metal or silver jwellery. You will get beautiful collection and varieties of silver jwelleries.

NOTE: Jaipur is famous for its Lakh chudis (Bangles). Don’t forget to buy one set.

NOTE: Jaipur is also famous for light weight quilt which you can fold like a hankerchief. Price costs around ₹1500+. You can buy these items from Maharani Gayatri Devi’s Emporium also.

Last year, we had a very bad experience in Jaipur. I had booked a cab - Innova for 1 whole day. I got his number from online website (I don’t remember from which website exactly). We called him around 9 AM in the morning but he came around 11 AM. Driver name was Subhash and was an old man. First he was being very nice. We first stopped at Amer Palace, where he parked the car even though we were requesting to take us near Chandpole as my mother couldn’t climb stairs and we were not aware of Battery Cars then.

But he didn’t listen. Then he stopped us at a restaurant for lunch. We were fine with that as it was lunch hour. 

Moving on he stopped in random shops he had contacts with, even though we strictly asked him not to stop at till we ask for.

Then came, the main city area where traffic started. We asked him to stop at Johari bazar as we wanted to shop. But to our surprise he denied and said that your booking time is finished and that he was not there for shopping, his package only included sight seeing. (Although we only visited Amer Palace and time was only around 3 PM).

Then his boss called and we were able to listen him shouting that - why didn’t you stop at the shops etc. Following which, he asked us to get down in the middle of the road and also to pay him ₹5000 or else he will bring ‘Gundas’. We were so scared. Worst experience ever!!

Most probably it was Metro Cabs.

TIP: Guys, please hire a cab from a trusted travel agent or from your hotel. And do tell them about your day plan. Or you can also hire Ola/Uber

TIP: Do not google cab driver numbers online. Be very careful, especially during peak seasons.

This is a big reason, we felt the Jaipur people are not helpful.

DAY 2: Pushkar - Ajmer

Lord Brahma Ji Temple, Pushkar

Next day, we hired a cab from our hotel and left early morning around 8 AM to visit Pushkar. It takes 3 hours to reach Pushkar. 

Pushkar is the only place in whole world, where Lord Brahma ji’s temple exist. It is a small village, with basic amenities.

There is small Pushkar lake and temple.

Pushkar Lake

Ajmer Sharid Dargah

At Dargah

Next we visited famous Ajmer Sharif Dargah at a 40 minutes of distance from Pushkar. There are many stories of wishes coming true after visiting Ajmer Sharif. Visit Dargah with pure heart.

It is crowded and has at least 10 Gates. You have to walk 1-2 km from the parking area. 

Outside Ajmer Sharif's Dargah, you can find lots of restaurants and hotel. Also, you can have yummy Biryani in lunch. We tried it and it was good.

Or else, you can look for Dhabas/restaurants on the way.

Ajmer

So, this was my experience in Jaipur!

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