Two full days in Udaipur on the Mewar Express: City Palace, the lake at golden hour, Dharohar, Ambrai Ghat at dawn and Kumbhalgarh Fort, with real buffer before the 18:30 train.
Quick summary
Udaipur is about 660 km from Delhi NCR, roughly 13 hours by road, so most two-day trips run on the overnight Mewar Express: you board on a Friday evening, arrive in Udaipur in the morning, spend two full days, and take the evening train back. This plan covers the City Palace, the lake at golden hour, the Dharohar folk show, Ambrai Ghat at first light and Kumbhalgarh Fort. It leaves you at the station with time to spare, not sprinting from a taxi.
Before you go: trains, hours and light
- Outbound: 12963 Mewar Express runs daily, leaving Hazrat Nizamuddin at 18:25 and reaching Udaipur City at 07:30.
- Return: 12964 Mewar Express leaves Udaipur City at 18:30 and reaches Hazrat Nizamuddin at 06:50. Timetables change, so check both trains on NTES or IRCTC when you book, and plan to be at the station by 5:45 pm.
- Opening hours that shape the plan: City Palace 9:30 am to 5:30 pm (ticket sales stop at 4:45 pm). Ranakpur Jain Temple admits non-Jain visitors from 12 noon to 5 pm. The Monsoon Palace (Sajjangarh) gate closes around 6 pm, with last entry around 5:30 pm. Dharohar starts at 7 pm.
- Season: September to February is the best window. Sunset is around 5:45 to 6 pm from November to January and closer to 6:30 pm in late September and February. Sunrise is around 6:30 am in October and about 7 am or later from December to February. See the best time to visit Udaipur for month-by-month detail.
Day 1: City Palace, the lake and Dharohar
7:30 am: arrive and drop your bags
Take an auto from Udaipur City station to the old town and leave your bags at your guesthouse. Rooms a lane or two back from the ghats are quieter and cheaper than those on the waterfront. If the room is not ready, ask the guesthouse to hold your luggage and head out.
8:15 am: Jagdish Temple and breakfast
Start at the 1651 Jagdish Temple near the palace: climb the marble steps past the brass Garuda to the black-stone Jagannath, and take in the carved plinth. Then have kachori and chai from the stalls in the lanes around it.
9:30 am: City Palace
Be at the gate when it opens (₹300 for Indian adults). Take the audio guide and give it about three hours: the Mor Chowk peacocks, the Badi Mahal garden courtyard, the zenana galleries and the balconies over Lake Pichola. Skip the Crystal Gallery if you are short on time.
12:30 pm: optional boat to Jag Mandir
Only the HRH boats from Rameshwar Ghat, inside the palace complex, land on Jag Mandir, and you already hold the palace ticket that gets you to the jetty. The published tariff is ₹600 per adult for the regular excursion, which runs until about 2 pm in winter. Allow 1 to 1.5 hours with time on the island. If you take this boat, you can skip the evening boat below.
2:00 pm: lunch and a proper rest
Have a Mewari thali in the old town (lunch at 12:45 pm if you skipped the boat), then get off your feet for two hours. You were on a train last night.
4:30 pm: Lake Pichola and the Ghats at golden hour
Walk from Gangaur Ghat to Lal Ghat as the palace front turns gold. If you did not go to Jag Mandir, take a short public boat from Lal Ghat: about 25 minutes, recently around ₹250 per person. It passes Jag Mandir and the Lake Palace without landing. Time it for the last light before sunset.
6:30 pm: Dharohar at Bagore ki Haveli
Bagore ki Haveli is right on Gangaur Ghat, so you are already there. Buy your ticket and take a seat in the courtyard, because seats go to whoever arrives first. The show runs from 7 pm to about 8 pm, with Rajasthani folk dances and a puppet segment.
8:15 pm: dinner and an early night
Have dinner on a rooftop with a view of the floodlit palace. Keep it early, because tomorrow starts at first light.
Day 2: Ambrai Ghat, Kumbhalgarh Fort and the evening train
First light: Ambrai Ghat
Cross to the west bank for the classic view back to the City Palace and the Lake Palace on still water. Give it 30 to 45 minutes. That is around 6:30 am in October and closer to 7 am from December to February.
8:00 am: check out and leave for Kumbhalgarh
Check out and load your bags into the taxi you booked the evening before. The cab carries them all day and drops you at the station. The fort is 85 to 100 km north, depending on the route, about 2 to 2.5 hours on winding hill roads. Stop for breakfast at a dhaba on the way.
10:30 am: Kumbhalgarh Fort
Walk up through the gates to the Badal Mahal at the top, where the 36 km wall runs away over the ridges in every direction. Then look at a few of the fort's 360-plus temples on the way down. Allow 2.5 hours.
1:00 pm: lunch, then head back
Eat near the fort and be on the road by about 1:45 pm. The drive back has you in Udaipur around 4 to 4:30 pm, with an hour of slack for traffic.
4:30 pm: a slow last hour
Use the slack: an evening walk on the Fateh Sagar promenade, or an early dinner. Pick up food for the train if you want it.
5:45 pm: Udaipur City station
Be on the platform with time to find your coach before the 18:30 departure.
Prefer not to spend Day 2 in a car?
Swap Kumbhalgarh for a city day and stay within half an hour of the station:
- First light: Ambrai Ghat.
- 8:30 am: Badi Lake, about 12 km out, for the 17th-century dam with its three chhatris and the short walk up the Bahubali Hills.
- 11:30 am: Fateh Sagar and the fountains of Saheliyon ki Bari, then lunch.
- 2:30 pm: Monsoon Palace (Sajjangarh) for the view over the lakes. Go up by the shared jeep from the sanctuary gate and be back down by 4:30 pm. Sunset there only works on a day you are not catching the train.
- 5:45 pm: station.
Why Ranakpur is not on Day 2
The Ranakpur Jain Temple only opens to non-Jain visitors at noon, and the full Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur loop is roughly 230 km of hill roads. Doing both on departure day brings you back to Udaipur at around 6 pm at best, which is too close to an 18:30 train. If Ranakpur matters to you, add a night and give the loop its own day. The Udaipur 3-day itinerary makes room for it.
If you can stretch to a third day
- Morning to afternoon: the Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur loop. Leave at 7:30 am, spend the morning at the fort, reach Ranakpur after it opens at noon, and be back in the evening.
- Or a slower day: Eklingji and the 10th-century Nagda temples, 22 km north, in the morning. Then the Monsoon Palace (Sajjangarh) in the late afternoon. From November to January the sun sets before the gate closes.
- Night train on the third evening instead.
What it costs and how to get around
- Autos cover the station, the old town and Ambrai Ghat. Agree the fare before you get in.
- Taxi for Kumbhalgarh: local operators charge by the kilometre (around ₹11 per km for a sedan), with tolls and parking extra. For the 200 km round trip, budget roughly ₹2,500 to ₹4,000 for the car, and confirm the price before you book.
- For train fares, stays and tickets in one place, see the Udaipur trip cost guide.
- Driving instead: 660 km each way adds a day of travel at each end. Estimate fuel with the fuel calculator.
Packing
- Light layers. Mornings on the ghats and at Kumbhalgarh are cool from December to February, and afternoons are warm.
- Walking shoes for the fort climb and the palace ramps.
- Covered shoulders and legs for the temples, and no leather if you are going to Ranakpur.
- Cash for autos, boats, Dharohar tickets and street food.
- Water and a hat for Kumbhalgarh.
For more sights to swap in, see the best places to visit in Udaipur, or plan the whole trip with the Udaipur trip planner.