When we started planning our India trip at the end of last year, the city I was most excited to visit was Jaipur. I’ve always been intrigued by Rajasthan. The folk music, the outfits, the jewelry, and the bandhini print (I love it so much my entire wedding lehenga was bandhini), but more than anything, I’ve felt drawn to the architecture. Those beautiful mahals (palaces) that always caught my eye in Bollywood films and travel photographs – they’ve been calling my name for years.
The Pink City was amazing, more than my words can really describe. From the awe-inspiring Amer Fort, to the little galiyan (lanes) where we got to know the actual kaarigar (craftsmen) of Jaipur, to the modern marvel that is the World Trade Mall, it was everything I expected, and nothing like I expected. (Helpful right? But really all of India was like that for me!)
You could probably see Jaipur in one day, but if it’s your first visit, I would say try to book at least 2 days here. We spent a day and half, and I sort of wish we had another half a day to shop!
PS: In case you missed it, we arrived in Jaipur after visiting Amritsar & Agra, you can catch up on those cities first if you like!
Jaipur Travel Guide:
I have to give a shout out to our most amazing hotel The Fern. It was such a great place; the food was delicious, and the staff was super helpful. I would definitely stay again!
Amer Fort/Amber Fort:
This is the star attraction in Jaipur and a must see. It’s actually 4 km’s outside of the city in a town called Amer, and took about 1/2 an hour to reach from our hotel. Having just visited the Agra Fort a day before I felt like I knew what to expect – wrong. Amer fort is known for it’s Hindu style elements. If you’ve seen Jodha Akhbar, you’ve seen glimpses of Amer Fort.{Of course I wore pink bandini in Jaipur!}{Playing peek-a-boo in the shish mahal/hall of mirrors}
You can choose to take an elephant ride to the top of the fort, but we opted to make the trek up the stairs by foot. We also skipped out on a tour guide and decided to wander around on our own. For me it was just one of those places you really had to experience on your own time. There is so much detail and design to take in, and it’s a huge place, so give yourself a good two hours to really see it all.
City Palace:
I’m not sure if it was the heat, or the forts we had already seen, but personally I was kind of under-whelmed by City Palace. I’d seen so many pictures of the famous Peacock Gate on Pinterest, that my expectation was to be really wowed by this palace. It’s pretty much in the city centre and not hard to get to, but if you are pressed for time, you can totally skip it.{Hawa Mahal above, shopping finds below}
Hawa Mahal/Shopping:
I’m combining the famous wind palace with shopping, because I didn’t actually go inside Hawa Mahal (all ‘mahaled’ out at that point – which is why I think two full days in Jaipur would have been a good idea), but thought the shopping options around Hawa Mahal were awesome!
That entire bazaar had a real authentic India feel, and it was the only place that I actually really shopped on our trip. I bought some bags, a few bandhini dupattas, some bangles, and really awesome Jaipuri skirt. If time permits, plan to wander the bazaar between Hawa Mahal and City Palace, we found some amazing bargains here!{It takes an entire day to pound that little piece of silver or gold into one sheet of vark}
Panigaron ka Rasta
This little known area is loud! Pannigars are a sect of Jaipuri tradesmen that specialize in making chandi ka wark (that lovely silver foil that adorns sweets and paan). These men spend their entire day pounding out pieces of real silver and gold until it becomes so thin it can be spread on sweets and delicacies. The sound is obnoxious, and it’s unbelievable that they work with it every single day, yet they take so much pride in their work.
This isn’t the kind of stop you’ll hear about on most travel guides. In fact, locals were extremely surprised that we actually wanted to find this place! But, it is a really unique experience to go and talk to these people. This is a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation and is in danger of dying out because of machine made vark, like so many other Indian trades.
Chokhi Dani
I’ve written in depth about the Chokhi Dani experience here, and it really is a must visit in Jaipur. It’s a mock Rajasthani village with an amazing dinner, live performances, and craft bazaar. It was definitely in my top 5 places in India and I would go again.
I wish I had food recommendations for Jaipur, but we were just recovering from feeling sick in Agra and really played it safe. The food at our hotel The Fern was amazing, so we stuck to breakfasts there, and even had lunch there one afternoon. We also loved the dinner at Chokhi Dani, and had some really good dessert and coffee at a place called the The Chocolate Room inside the World Trade Mall.
If I only had 24 hours in Jaipur, I would visit Amer Fort, do some shopping in the city centre, and then spend my evening at Chokhi Dani. If we’d had one more day, I would have liked to visit Jantar Mantar, and maybe do some more shopping, but all in all, Jaipur was an amazing experience, and I’d love to visit again.
PS: You can also read about Where to Eat in Amritsar, and my experience at the Taj Mahal here.
Amazing pictures. really great shots, and looks like you had a lot of fun.
Jaipur is amazing. I loved our time in Jaipur. Here is my trip.
http://mezba.blogspot.ca/2011/03/south-asia-diaries-jaipur.html
This post belongs in a travel magazine. You captured the heart, looks, sounds, and tastes of the city so well. Love all your travel photos and looks like a trip of a life time!
Thanks Kamana – it really was an amazing trip!
Looks amazing. I really wanna visit Jaipur someday. When we visit India, we usually just end up hanging out with family, and it’s sad not seeing other places. Really good post.
Thanks Nisha! It really is an amazing city, I hope you make it soon:)
Hello, Thanks for sharing such a fantastic blog.I really appreciate your blog to share information about Jaipur …Visiting in Jaipur is amazing experience. Jaipur is a place with a glorious past and a very rich historic background. People come from far off places just to get the taste of its beautiful monuments and their architecture.