On the Lake in Udaipur

The first decision in Udaipur is where to sleep beside the water. Lake Pichola sits at the city's centre, and the choice is between waking on the water itself, or on the shore with views across it. Most people have seen the white marble palace that appears to float there: the Taj Lake Palace, built as a royal summer residence on the island of Jag Niwas. It is reached only by the hotel boat, and a night here is a night on the lake, with the City Palace lit across the water.

The palace opened as a hotel in the 1960s and has been run by Taj Hotels since 1971. It was built in the 1740s, during the reign of Maharana Jagat Singh II. Staying here means trading the street life and the short walk to the sights for calm, space, and service on the water. The island is private to hotel guests, though non-guests can sometimes visit by booking a meal, subject to availability and a minimum spend, with the hotel arranging the boat across. It is not a walk-up sight, so arrange it well in advance and expect it to depend on how full the hotel is.

The Oberoi Udaivilas offers a different experience. It stands on the western bank of Lake Pichola on former royal hunting grounds. This is a modern hotel built in the older Mewar style, with some thirty acres of gardens, domes, and courtyards. It features a large pool and offers long views back across the water to the city. Often, it is the quieter, more spacious alternative to the island palace, providing room to breathe away from the close-packed houses of the old city.

The primary decision when visiting Udaipur is whether to base within the old city on the east bank, or on and across the water where the resorts and palaces sit. On the water, one gains calm, a proper pool, and the view everyone comes for, but it means being a boat or car ride from the street life. A haveli in the lanes above the eastern ghats offers atmosphere and walking access to the temple, the ghats, and the bazaars, often with a rooftop restaurant looking across the lake. The trade-offs there are noise and stairs, and streets a car cannot always reach. What drives the rate most are three things: the season, whether the room faces the lake, and whether one is on the water at all. A lake-view palace room in January sits at the top of the range.

March, the tail of the cool season, is one of the better windows for a visit. The days are warm, the nights mild, and the deep-winter crowds begin to thin, though it warms up noticeably by the end of the month. These cooler months are also the busiest and priciest, so book the popular lake hotels months ahead for the winter. If you are aiming for a specific lake-facing room at one of the island or lakeside palaces, confirm directly with the hotel and secure your booking well in advance. The rates swing hard with the season.