Jaipur: what to see in one day?

During our trip to India, we had the opportunity to visit one of the jewels of the golden triangle: Jaipur. We venture to explore it, and we are going to show you what to see in Jaipur in one day?

Jaipur is the capital of the state of Rajasthan, it is known as The Pink City. This is because it was built with pink stucco to imitate sandstone, and this color is considered a symbol of the city’s hospitality. It was founded in 1728 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh.

If you only have one day in Jaipur

In order to see as many places as possible in one day, it is best to take a tour. But there are many options in terms of conditions, price and duration. Here are some of the available options that you can use to see Jaipur in a day:

• Jaipur half day Tour: these tours are organized by the Rajasthan government and are done by bus. You have to go to the meeting point, but after that everything is done on the bus. It lasts 5 hours. The price is quite accessible.
• Jaipur and Amber Fort Private Tour: this tour lasts eight hours and in this case you are picked up at your hotel and the whole tour is done by car. With entrance to Amber Fort included. Of course, the price is higher, being a private tour.

Of course, there are many other options that will help you in your mission to see Jaipur in one day. In addition to options such as: hiring a taxi driver for a day, to take you to various places or ask at the hotel if you can hire the ride.

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What to see in Jaipur in one day?

In our case we took the half-day option for Jaipur, it seemed like a good compromise considering the budget we had. Here we tell you what we managed to see in Jaipur on a day of visits.

Birla Mandir

Our first stop was the Birla Mandir temple, also known as Lakshmi Narayan. It is dedicated to God Vishnu and Goddess Lakshimi and it is a place that left us speechless due to its dazzling and majestic white color which comes from being made of marble.

Hours: from 8 AM to 12 PM and from 4 PM to 8 PM
Ticket price: best price FREE

Remember that you have to take off your shoes to enter the temple.

Albert Hall Museum

The Albert Hall Museum was built in 1876, King Edward VII laid the foundation stone when he was still the Prince of Wales. In this place you can see ceramic objects, textiles, carpets, murals and an Egyptian mummy, which is one of the great attractions of the museum.

We did not have the opportunity to visit it, since our bus only passed by, but they did tell us when we were passing by so that we would not miss it, since it is very beautiful.

Visiting hours: from 9AM to 5PM and from 7PM to 10PM every day
Price: 300 rupees

There is a combined ticket to visit the following monuments for two days for 1000 rupees: Amber Fort, Albert Hall, Hawa Mahal, Jantar Mantar (Observatory), Nahargarh Fort, vidyadhar garden, Sisodia Rani garden & Isarlat (Sargasooli).

Jantar Mantar (Observatory)

This place was built in the 18th century by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II. It is an open-air astronomical observatory which is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 2010). In the observatory there are 19 huge instruments that serve different purposes, but the most spectacular of all is the Samrat Yantra, which is considered the largest sundial in India. In the information of the place, we are told that the sundial is accurate to 2 seconds.

I have to say that when I arrived I was amazed by the place, that is to say, it took me a while before I got a grip of what a place like this meant. Nowadays an observatory is something common, but we have to put ourselves in the context of the fact that this was done hundreds of years ago.

Hours: every day from 9 AM to 5 PM
Ticket price: 200 rupees

Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Palace and Museum

This palace was built between 1729 and 1732 by the Maharaja that bears the name of the museum today, who is the same man who built the observatory. Over time, sections have been added. There are several rooms to visit, here we could see again the Diwan-i-am which is the audience room that we had already seen in Fatehpur Sikri.

One of the places that I liked the most in this palace is the Peacock Gate (Pitam Niwas Chowk), it is simply spectacular. Although this place is currently a museum and is open to all to visit, it must be taken into account that this palace is still the home of the royal family of Jaipur.

Hours: every day from 9:30 AM to 5 PM
Ticket price: 700 rupees

Overpriced water

Leaving the museum, Vincent was thirsty and went to buy water, I waited for him in the truck. Getting on he told me that he had been charged 20 rupees for a bottle of water, but later he suspected that this was not the price as he saw locals buying the same bottles right after and even if the seller became reluctant to sell having him as he was close by, in the end he had to continue. But of course, with the language barrier, you couldn’t be 100% sure of the scam. There I leave it for you to be cautious.

Hawa Mahal

This place is one of the symbols of the city of Jaipur. It is also known as the Palace of the Winds and was built in 1799 by the Maharaja, who this time was no longer the one with the observatory, Sawai Pratap Singh. The function of this building was to be an extension of the women’s chamber for the harem.

Fun facts about the Hawa Mahal:

• It has five stories and no foundation
• The windows are made in such a way that from the inside you can see the street, but from the outside you can’t. This with the aim of not seeing the women in the rooms.

I have to say that I was left with the desire to visit it inside, it was very sad, since we only passed by in front and I barely managed to take a picture of it. Oh well.

Hours: every day from 9 AM to 5 PM
Ticket price: 200 rupees

Enjoy the flavors

During the visiting day in Jaipur, we had the opportunity to stop to eat delicious and spicy local food. Being adept at spices and hotness we had no problem with food in India in general 🙂 Bon appétit!

Jal Mahal

The Jal Mahal is also known as the Water Palace and is located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. When the lake fills up due to the rains, the palace cannot be accessed except by boat. Unfortunately at this time it is not possible to visit, the palace is closed and inaccessible since the lake is very polluted. The place is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On our Jaipur tour, we saw it from the road and also from the forts we visited in the afternoon. The photo was taken from Nahargarh Fort.

Nahargarh Fort

This fort is located on the Aravalli mountain range, it was built in 1743 by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh and initially carried the name of Sudershangarh. Some time later it changed to Nahargarh which means abode of the tigers.

Two things that I loved about this fort is the terrace and the views of the city. After visiting it, we went to the next fort since they are one after another.

Hours: every day from 10 AM to 5:30 PM
Ticket price: 200 rupees

Jaigarh Fort

This fort was built in 1726 by Maharaja Jai Singh II, with the aim of protecting Amber Fort. It is also known as the fort of victory. It is relatively small compared to the other forts, as it is 3 km x 1 km long.

Because the afternoon was falling, and we still had to visit the Amber fort, we did not last long in it. But no matter how brief the visit to this fort, it is impossible not to see the enormous Jaivana cannon. This is made in the fort’s precincts, and in its time was the world’s largest wheeled cannon.

Hours: every day from 9 AM to 4:30 PM
Ticket price: 85 rupees

Amber Fort

11 km away from Jaipur, we find the famous Amber Fort, which was built in 1592 by Raj Man Singh. Amber Fort is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a place that should not be missed, even if you only have one day. What you should not forget is this is one of those places that you will want to see while in Jaipur.

During the visit we were able to see its patios, of which we find again the Diwan-i-Am and with one of the doors that I liked the most of the visit called Ganesh Pol.

Hours: every day from 8 AM to 5:30 PM
Ticket price: 550 rupees

Some extra stops

This tour, managed by the government of Rajasthan, included some stops in shops, although this practice can be seen even in private tours, as it happened to us in the tour of the Dead Sea in Jordan. After having visited the last place that was the Amber fort, they took us to another store, which I no longer remember what it was, since we didn’t even go in, and we went to a store that was on the opposite side of the street to get some snacks. Thus ended the day where the question of what to see in Jaipur in one day was answered.

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