How to Travel Udaipur

Getting around Udaipur

Udaipur is the easiest city in Rajasthan to get around, because the old city is compact and walkable in a way Jaipur and Jodhpur are not. The lake, the City Palace, Jagdish Temple, the havelis and most guesthouses are all within 2 km of each other. You need transport for the outskirts, not the centre.

🚶 Walk the old city

Gangaur Ghat to Jagdish Chowk to the City Palace is a fifteen-minute walk along lanes that are too narrow for cars anyway. The lake-side ghats, the rooftop restaurants and the shopping streets are all on foot. Do not take a taxi inside the old city — you will be dropped at a lane mouth and pay for the privilege.

The lanes are uneven, stepped and shared with scooters that do not slow down. Real shoes, not flip-flops, and take care after dark when they are unlit.

🛺 Auto-rickshaw

The default for anything beyond walking distance: ₹50–150 for most in-city trips, ₹300–500 to the railway station or the airport, ₹150–300 to Saheliyon ki Bari or Fateh Sagar. Meters are not used; agree the fare before you get in, and check what a comparable trip costs on Uber or Ola first. Udaipur's auto drivers are less aggressive than Jaipur's or Agra's, but the quoting still starts high.

Uber and Ola operate in Udaipur and are cheaper and more predictable than autos for longer hops. Availability thins out in the early morning and late evening.

🚗 Car with driver and scooter

A full-day car with driver runs ₹1,800–3,000 and is the right choice for the day trips — Ranakpur, Kumbhalgarh, Eklingji and Nagda, or Chittorgarh further out. For the city itself it is unnecessary.

Scooter rental is about ₹400–800 a day and works well here: the roads are better than Goa's, the distances are short, and you can park at the lake. You need a valid licence and a helmet.

🚤 Boats are transport, not just tourism

Lake Pichola boats leave from Rameshwar Ghat inside the City Palace complex, and they are how you reach Jag Mandir island. Fares are set by the palace trust:

• Daytime boat — ₹400–600 adult, ₹200–400 child
• Sunset boat — ₹700–900 adult, ₹400–600 child
• Boating hours 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and the lake itself is accessible 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
• There is no entry fee to Lake Pichola — you pay only for the boat

Fateh Sagar Lake boats are far cheaper, ₹30–50, and the lake has a small island garden worth the crossing. It is also where the drive around the lake — the best free activity in Udaipur — runs.

✈️ Arriving

Maharana Pratap Airport at Dabok is about 25 km east, 45–60 minutes. Taxi ₹600–1,200 to the old city depending on app or prepaid. Flights are limited and connect through Delhi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Ahmedabad — check the schedule before assuming a direct flight exists, and note that Dabok has had service interruptions during upgrade works.

Udaipur City railway station is central, about 2.5 km from the lake, and is where trains from Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Mumbai arrive. Auto ₹100–200 to the old city. Mavli Junction is a separate station further out — check which your ticket says.

By road: Jaipur is about 390 km and 7–8 hours; Ahmedabad 260 km and 5 hours; Jodhpur 260 km and 5–6 hours; Mount Abu 165 km and 3–4 hours. The roads are good and this is a pleasant self-drive region.

There is no metro in Udaipur and none planned.

🌞 Day trips

• Ranakpur Jain temples — 90 km, 2–2.5 hours, the 1,444-pillar marble temple. Combine with Kumbhalgarh.
• Kumbhalgarh Fort — 85 km, and the second-longest continuous wall in the world after the Great Wall of China.
• Eklingji and Nagda temples — 22 km north, a half-day
• Chittorgarh Fort — 115 km, India's largest fort, a full day
• Haldighati — the 1576 battlefield, on the way to Kumbhalgarh
• Mount Abu — 165 km, the only hill station in Rajasthan

⚠️ Practical

Udaipur's street selling is milder than Agra's or Jaipur's but it exists, concentrated around the City Palace gate, Jagdish Chowk and the ghats at sunset. Boatmen quoting above the palace-trust rate, 'guides' at the palace entrance, and shops offering commission to drivers are the three moves. Buy boat tickets only at the official counter inside the City Palace complex — not from anyone on the ghat.

The old city is a maze and maps are unreliable. Ask for a landmark rather than a street: 'Jagdish Temple', 'Gangaur Ghat', 'City Palace'. Everyone knows those.

Monsoon (July–September) fills the lakes, which is when Udaipur looks its best — but the ghat steps get slippery and the boat service can suspend in heavy rain.

For what all of this costs, see the Udaipur budget guide.