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Jaipur, India, top 10 things to do (Wimup travel guide)
▶ Video · Jaipur on Foot
Video guide · 32:30
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Top 10AsiaIndia

Top 10 Things To Do in Jaipur

Country
India
Best months
Nov · Dec · Feb
Population
3M
Language
Hindi and Rajasthani (Dhundhari)
Budget / day
$30–90
Quick answer

Three days, split between the ridge and the grid. Give the first morning to Amer, where the fort, Jaigarh above it and the stepwell below are one continuous visit. Spend day two inside the walls on foot: City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal sit within a few hundred metres. Keep day three for Albert Hall and sunset from Nahargarh, or a trip to Ranthambore.

Jaipur on Foot

▶ Video guide

Jaipur is a designed city, which is rare in India and is why it reads so clearly on foot. Sawai Jai Singh II founded it in 1727 on a grid of nine sectors, with wide straight bazaars crossing at public squares. The pink wash came later, in 1876, and was then kept by rule. UNESCO inscribed the walled city in 2019.

The 10 best things to do in Jaipur

Climb through Amber Fort, Jaipur, India
1

Climb through Amber Fort

Fort· Devisinghpura, Amer, Jaipur 302001, India

The court's seat before Jaipur existed, commissioned in 1592 on a ridge eleven kilometres north and UNESCO-listed as one of the Hill Forts of Rajasthan. It works as a sequence rather than a single sight, and the pleasure is the back passages and the terraces nobody queues for. The walk up from the village is the honest way in.

Time3 hours
CostTicketed by the state archaeology department, with a composite ticket sold at the counter covering several other city monuments
Best atAt opening
TipBuy the composite ticket if you plan on Nahargarh
Map↗ Website
Cross the courtyards of the City Palace, Jaipur, India
2

Cross the courtyards of the City Palace

Palace· Jaleb Chowk, Tripolia Bazar, Jaipur 302002, India

Founded with the city in 1727 and still partly lived in by the family that built it, which is what separates it from a museum in a palace shell. Two silver urns made for a maharaja's voyage to England are among the largest silver vessels ever made. The four painted doors of Pritam Niwas Chowk are the photograph everyone comes for.

Time2 hours
CostTicketed
Best atLate afternoon
TipEnter through Atish Pol rather than Jaleb Chowk if the queue is long
Map↗ Website
Read the instruments at Jantar Mantar, Jaipur, India
3

Read the instruments at Jantar Mantar

Observatory· Gangori Bazaar, J.D.A. Market, Kanwar Nagar, Jaipur 302002, India

Nineteen masonry astronomical instruments built between 1728 and 1734 by a ruler who commissioned five observatories and kept the largest here. The great sundial is still legible, accurate to a couple of seconds. It looks like a sculpture park until someone shows you how to read it, which is the argument for taking the guide.

Time1 hour
CostTicketed
Best atLate morning
TipOvercast days empty the instruments of the one thing they run on
Map↗ Website
See Hawa Mahal from the inside, Jaipur, India
4

See Hawa Mahal from the inside

Landmark· Hawa Mahal Road, Badi Choupad, J.D.A. Market, Jaipur 302002, India

Built in 1799 as a five-storey screen of 953 latticed windows, barely a room deep. The point was ventilation and concealment: the women of the court could watch processions below without being seen. Most visitors photograph the facade and leave, which misses the ramps, the coloured glass and the view back down over the bazaar.

Time45 minutes
CostTicketed
Best atSunrise
TipThe entrance is around the back on Hawa Mahal Road
Map↗ Website
Work the length of Johari Bazaar, Jaipur, India
5

Work the length of Johari Bazaar

Bazaar· Johari Bazar Road, Jaipur 302003, India

The jewellers' street, and the clearest surviving evidence of how the 1727 plan assigned trades to lanes. Gem cutting still happens in the workshops behind the shopfronts. Buy stones only from a shop that will put its valuation in writing.

Time2 hours
CostFree to walk
Best atLate afternoon
TipMost shops close on Sunday
Map
Take sunset from Nahargarh Fort, Jaipur, India
6

Take sunset from Nahargarh Fort

Viewpoint· Krishna Nagar, Brahampuri, Jaipur 302002, India

The defensive fort on the Aravalli ridge, and the one place the grid below makes visual sense. Madhavendra Palace inside it is nine near-identical apartments built for the maharaja's queens, connected so each could be visited without the others knowing. The terrace cafe fills an hour before dusk.

Time2 hours
CostTicketed
Best atAn hour before sunset
TipCome back after dark if you have a driver
Map
Spend a morning in Albert Hall Museum, Jaipur, India
7

Spend a morning in Albert Hall Museum

Museum· Museum Road, Ram Niwas Garden, Jaipur 302004, India

Rajasthan's oldest state museum, its foundation stone laid in 1876 and opened in 1887. The Indo-Saracenic shell is the first exhibit, and the collection runs from Rajasthani miniatures to a Persian garden carpet and one of the few Egyptian mummies in India. It reopens after dark, which is when the courtyards are at their best.

Time2 hours
CostTicketed
Best atAfter dark for the lit building
TipCheck the day's closing time at the counter
Map↗ Website
Walk up to Jaigarh and the Jaivana cannon, Jaipur, India
8

Walk up to Jaigarh and the Jaivana cannon

Fort· Devisinghpura, Amer, Jaipur 302028, India

The military half of the pair above Amer, connected to the palace below by a fortified passage. Its foundry cast Jaivana, long one of the largest wheeled cannon in the world, never fired in a battle. Fewer people make the climb, so the ramparts are usually yours.

Time90 minutes
CostTicketed separately from Amber Fort
Best atStraight after Amber
TipA car can drive up from Amer village
Map↗ Website
Find Panna Meena ka Kund in Amer, Jaipur, India
9

Find Panna Meena ka Kund in Amer

Stepwell· Amer, Jaipur 302028, India

A sixteenth-century stepwell minutes from the fort, built as the village water source and a place to sit out the heat. The symmetry is the draw: criss-crossing flights on all four sides, with a single set of stairs that never lets you cross back to the side you came down.

Time30 minutes
CostFree
Best atEarly morning
TipIt sits behind Amber Fort rather than on the main road
Map
Go out to Galtaji at first light, Jaipur, India
10

Go out to Galtaji at first light

Temple· Galta Ji Road, Jaipur 302031, India

A temple complex in a gorge on the eastern edge, built around springs that fill a chain of kunds where pilgrims bathe. It is a working pilgrimage site rather than a monument, busiest at dawn. Keep food and loose bags out of sight, because the macaques are practised.

Time90 minutes
CostFree
Best atSunrise
TipTake the ridge path from the Surya Mandir side for the view down into the gorge
Map

8 of the 10, mapped

Jaipur · 8 spots
AllLandmarksMuseumsFoodFree

Jaipur travel FAQ

How many days do you need in Jaipur?+
Three. One for Amer (the fort, Jaigarh and the stepwell below), one on foot inside the walls for the City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal and the bazaars, and one for Albert Hall, the museums and sunset at Nahargarh. Two works if you skip the third day, and four lets you add Ranthambore or Abhaneri without cutting anything.
What is the best time of year to visit Jaipur?+
November to February. Days sit in the mid-twenties and the evenings are cool enough for a jacket, which is why the festival calendar clusters in January. April to June regularly passes 40C, and the monsoon runs July to September, which greens the Aravallis and closes Ranthambore's core zones.
Is Jaipur walkable?+
The walled city is, and that is where most of the sights are: City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Hawa Mahal and the main bazaars are within a fifteen-minute walk of each other. Everything outside the gates is not, including Amer, Nahargarh and Albert Hall, so budget for autos or a car with a driver for those.
Can you visit Jaipur as a day trip from Delhi?+
You can, and it is a poor trade. The fastest trains cover the roughly 270 kilometres in under five hours each way, which leaves about six hours in the city and forces a choice between Amer and the walled city. Two nights is the minimum that makes the journey worth taking.
Should you ride an elephant up to Amber Fort?+
No. Animal welfare organisations have campaigned against the Amber rides for years over working conditions and the health of the animals, and the alternatives are straightforward: the walk up from the village takes about ten minutes, and jeeps run the same route for those who cannot manage the climb.
Beyond the headline three

Best forts & palaces in Jaipur

Six more royal buildings, from a palace standing in a lake to the garden retreats the court used to escape the walled city.
All 6 forts & palaces →
Jal MahalAmer Road

Jal Mahal

Lake palace

A five-storey palace standing in a lake on the Amer road, four of its floors submerged when it is full. A stop on the causeway rather than a visit.

Map↗ Website
Agra Road

Sisodia Rani ka Bagh

Garden palace

A terraced garden palace built in the 1720s for a queen from Udaipur, with painted murals along the pavilion walls and water stepping down the hillside.

Map
Madhavendra Palace, NahargarhNahargarh ridge

Madhavendra Palace, Nahargarh

Palace inside a fort

Nine matched apartments inside the fort, one per queen, linked by corridors that let the maharaja reach any of them unobserved. Painted ceilings survive.

Map
Rambagh PalaceBhawani Singh Road

Rambagh Palace

Palace hotel

The maharaja's residence until the 1950s and a hotel since. Non-residents can book afternoon tea on the marble verandah, which is how to see the interiors.

Map
Samode PalaceSamode

Samode Palace

Heritage palace, 40 km north

A sixteenth-century haveli forty kilometres north, now a hotel. The Sheesh Mahal carries some of the finest surviving wall painting in Rajasthan.

Map
Hotel Diggi PalaceHospital Road

Hotel Diggi Palace

Townhouse palace

An 1860s townhouse kept as a hotel by the same family, and known as the long-time home of the Literature Festival. The lawns are open to anyone taking a coffee.

Map
Where the trades still sit

Best bazaars & crafts in Jaipur

Five markets and craft quarters, each one an assignment from the 1727 plan that the guilds never gave up.
All 5 bazaars & crafts →
Bapu BazaarWalled city, south

Bapu Bazaar

Textiles and footwear

The textile and footwear run between two gates, and the easiest market for a first-time visitor: mojari slippers, printed cotton, quilts and scarves.

Map
Off Tripolia Bazaar

Maniharon ka Rasta

Lac bangles

The lac bangle lane, where bangles are shaped over open flames in one-room workshops. Ask before photographing anyone at a flame.

Map
Kishanpole BazaarWalled city, west

Kishanpole Bazaar

Block prints and blocks

The western arm of the grid, historically the timber and textile street, and today the place for block-printed cottons and wooden printing blocks.

Map
Chandpole

Khajane Walon ka Rasta

Marble carving

The marble and stone carvers' lane, where statues and lattice screens are cut in open yards. The most active craft street, and none of it aimed at visitors.

Map
Outside the city

Sanganer and Bagru

Block-printing villages

The two block-printing villages, one working fine floral prints on white grounds and the other mud-resist and natural dyes. Both run workshops.

Map
Where to eat

Best restaurants in Jaipur

Six tables that cover the range, from a palace dining room to the kachori counter people queue at on the way to the station.
All 6 restaurants →
Suvarna MahalRambagh Palace

Suvarna Mahal

Royal Indian, fine dining

The former royal dining hall at Rambagh Palace, done in gilt and mirrors, serving the court kitchens of Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Awadh.

Map
MI Road

Handi

Rajasthani, tandoor

A long-standing MI Road institution built on tandoor and slow-cooked mutton. The queue outside at nine in the evening is the accurate review.

Map
Johari Bazaar

Laxmi Misthan Bhandar

Vegetarian, sweets

Known to everyone as LMB, a vegetarian dining room and sweet counter on Johari Bazaar. Order the thali upstairs and buy ghevar on the way out.

Map
Station Road

Rawat Mishthan Bhandar

Kachori counter

The pyaaz kachori benchmark, on Station Road, sold hot from mid-morning until they run out. Standing room and a mawa kachori for afterwards.

Map
MI Road

Niros

Multi-cuisine

An MI Road fixture since 1949, air-conditioned and mid-century in a way nothing else here is. Reliable rather than exciting, and useful in April.

Map
Tonk Road

Chokhi Dhani

Village resort, thali

A recreated Rajasthani village twenty kilometres south, where the ticket covers folk dance, puppetry and an unlimited thali eaten on the floor.

Map
Above the street

Best rooftop cafes & bars in Jaipur

Four places to sit out the middle of the day or the end of it, two of them with the monument in the frame.
All 4 rooftop cafes & bars →
Narain Niwas Palace

Bar Palladio

Cocktail bar

A blue-and-gold garden bar inside Narain Niwas Palace, and the most photographed room in Jaipur that is not a monument. Worth booking at weekends.

Map
C-Scheme

Tapri Central

Tea house, rooftop

A rooftop tea house above Central Park, serving masala chai by the pot with parathas, and full of students from late afternoon. The best value in the new city.

Map
Wind View CafeHawa Mahal Road

Wind View Cafe

Rooftop cafe

One of several rooftops facing Hawa Mahal, and the reason the facade photograph works at sunrise without standing in traffic. The terrace is the product.

Map
BaradariCity Palace

Baradari

Cafe, palace courtyard

A restaurant set into a colonnaded pavilion in the City Palace courtyard, with a contemporary fit-out inside a heritage shell. The one good lunch inside the walls.

Map
Collections worth the hour

Best museums in Jaipur

Four museums beyond Albert Hall, covering hand printing, contemporary art, jewellery and the city's own domestic history.
All 4 museums →
Anokhi Museum of Hand PrintingAmer

Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing

Textile museum

A restored haveli in Amer given over to block printing, with carvers and printers working on site. It closes on Mondays and for maintenance in early summer.

Map↗ Website
Jawahar Kala KendraJhalana Doongri

Jawahar Kala Kendra

Arts centre

Charles Correa's arts centre, laid out as nine interlocking squares in direct quotation of the city's own plan. Architects detour here for the building.

Map
Museum of LegaciesKishanpole Bazaar

Museum of Legacies

City crafts and history

A small, well-edited museum in a restored haveli on Kishanpole Bazaar, showing Jaipur crafts and textiles in a building that justifies the ticket alone.

Map
Amrapali MuseumAshok Marg

Amrapali Museum

Jewellery museum

Two floors of Indian tribal and antique silver jewellery, collected over decades. The natural companion to a morning among the gem cutters.

Map
Where to base yourself

Best neighbourhoods in Jaipur

Four districts and what each one is actually like to stay in, from inside the walls to the bungalow streets of the new city.
All 4 neighbourhoods →
The walled cityInside the gates

The walled city

Old city, monuments

The 1727 grid inside the gates, nine sectors of bazaars with the palace at the centre. Loud until late and unbeatable for walking to monuments.

Map
New city

C-Scheme

Design shops, cafes

The planned district south of MI Road, and where the design shops, galleries and cocktail bars are. The easiest base if you want to walk in the evening.

Map
AmerNorth

Amer

Old capital, under the fort

The old capital eleven kilometres north, a village of stepped lanes and havelis under the fort. Staying here puts you at the gate before the first coach.

Map
Northwest

Bani Park

Guesthouses, quiet

A residential grid of mid-century bungalows northwest of the station, with most of the good mid-range guesthouses and gardens instead of traffic.

Map
Out of the city

Best day trips in Jaipur

Five trips within a morning's drive, from a tiger reserve to the deepest stepwell in Rajasthan.
All 5 day trips →
Ranthambore National ParkSawai Madhopur

Ranthambore National Park

Tiger reserve, 160 km

Rajasthan's tiger reserve, 160 kilometres southeast, built around a tenth-century fort inside the park. Book through the Forest Department portal rather than an agent.

Map↗ Website
Pushkar and AjmerAjmer district

Pushkar and Ajmer

Pilgrimage town, 145 km

A pilgrimage town on a lake ringed by ghats, with one of the few Brahma temples anywhere. The camel fair in November turns a quiet town into a fairground.

Map
Chand Baori at AbhaneriDausa district

Chand Baori at Abhaneri

Stepwell, 95 km

A ninth-century stepwell descending thirteen storeys on criss-crossing flights, one of the deepest in India. Twenty minutes on site.

Map
Bhangarh FortAlwar district

Bhangarh Fort

Ruined town, 85 km

A ruined seventeenth-century town abandoned in the eighteenth, carrying a reputation as the most haunted site in India. Entry is prohibited after sunset.

Map
Sambhar Salt LakeSambhar

Sambhar Salt Lake

Salt lake, 80 km

India's largest inland salt lake, worked commercially since long before the city existed. Flamingos arrive in numbers in a good monsoon year.

Map
What's on

Festivals & annual events in Jaipur (2026)

Time your trip around the city's biggest dates.
Jan

Makar Sankranti kite festival

The harvest festival on 14 January, and the day Jaipur takes to its roofs. Kite fighting runs from first light to dark.

Jan

Jaipur Literature Festival

Five days of talks and readings in mid-January. General entry is free, but pre-registration online is mandatory.

Mar

Holi

The colour festival, played hardest in the walled city and the residential colonies rather than at any organised venue.

Mar / Apr

Gangaur

Rajasthan's own festival, eighteen days after Holi. The procession leaves the City Palace with elephants and palanquins.

Mar

Rajasthan Diwas

The state's founding day on 30 March, with folk performances and craft fairs. The city puts on culture for itself, not visitors.

Jul / Aug

Teej

The monsoon festival for Parvati, when a procession leaves the City Palace on two successive afternoons.

Aug / Sep

Ganesh Chaturthi at Moti Dungri

The Moti Dungri temple is the centre of the city's Ganesh festival, with queues stretching down the hill.

Oct / Nov

Diwali

Jaipur takes lighting seriously: the walled-city markets compete for the best-decorated bazaar.

Getting around

Jaipur transport & airports

How to arrive and move around the city.
JAI

Jaipur International Airport

About 13 kilometres south of the walled city, with two terminals a short distance apart, so check which one your airline uses. The run into the centre takes 30 to 45 minutes.

Map
Rail

Jaipur Junction

The main station is the practical way in from Delhi, with the fastest services covering 270 kilometres in under five hours. Book well ahead: the good departures sell out.

Map↗ Website
Pink Line

Metro

One line, 11 stations, running into the middle of the walled city. Clean, air-conditioned and useful on exactly one axis, which happens to be the axis into the bazaars.

Map
Road

Autos, taxis and buses

Auto-rickshaws are the default for short hops and the meter is rarely used, so agree the fare first or use an app. E-rickshaws work the walled-city lanes for very little.

Map
Traditional food

Must-try dishes in Jaipur, India

The classics to order before you leave.

Dal baati churma

Baked wheat balls cracked open and drowned in ghee, with a five-lentil dal and a sweet crumble.

Laal maas

Mutton in a gravy of Mathania red chillies and yoghurt, and the hottest thing on most menus.

Pyaaz kachori

A flaky fried pastry filled with spiced onion, eaten hot with tamarind chutney.

Ghevar

A disc of lattice-fried batter soaked in syrup, plain or topped with mawa, and the sweet of the monsoon.

Gatte ki sabzi

Gram flour dumplings simmered in a spiced yoghurt gravy, invented for a desert with no fresh vegetables.

Ker sangri

Desert berries and dried beans cooked with chilli and asafoetida, sour and salty and unlike anything else.

Mirchi bada

A whole green chilli stuffed with spiced potato, battered and deep fried.

Lassi

Thick sweet yoghurt served in a fired clay kulhad that gets thrown away after.

Jaipur fact sheet

Jaipur at a glance

The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
India
Region
North India, capital of Rajasthan, on the eastern edge of the Thar desert
Population
3,046,163 in the city at the 2011 census, 3,073,350 for the urban agglomeration
Founded
1727, by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, on a grid plan drawn by Vidyadhar Bhattacharya
Nickname
The Pink City, after the wash applied to the walled city in 1876 and kept by rule since
Language
Hindi is official, Dhundhari (Rajasthani) is the local speech, and English is used across tourism
Currency
Indian rupee (INR, ₹)
Time zone
India Standard Time, UTC+5:30, no daylight saving
Calling code
+91, with 141 as the Jaipur area code
Airports
Jaipur International (JAI), about 13 km south at Sanganer
Power
230V, 50Hz, type C, D and M plugs
Emergency
112 is the single emergency number, with 100 for police and 108 for ambulance
Ideal length
3 days
Getting around
Walk the walled city, autos and ride-hailing apps everywhere else, the Pink Line metro on one corridor
Tourism board
Official site

Interesting facts

  • The walled city was UNESCO-listed in 2019, only the second Indian city listed as a city rather than a monument.
  • Jantar Mantar holds 19 masonry instruments built between 1728 and 1734, and its great sundial is the largest stone sundial in the world.
  • Hawa Mahal has 953 latticed windows across five storeys and is barely one room deep.
  • The pink wash dates to 1876, applied for a royal visit and later fixed by municipal rule.
  • Jaivana, cast at the Jaigarh foundry in 1720, was long one of the largest wheeled cannon in the world and was never fired in a battle.

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