I had always wanted to do a road trip to Udaipur, the close proximity of this lake city to Ahmedabad made for an ideal weekend getaway. This IDay weekend we finally decided to do it. The road itself is a joy ride, Udaipur lies on the NH8C highway, distance from Ahmedabad is 265 Kms, the entire stretch is a four lane very well maintained toll road . This is one of the best roads to drive in India. The scenic views start once you are 80 Kms out of A’bad, the Aravali ranges just before Udaipur and the greenery around due to the monsoon will make it more adventurous. The ghat section road is really a pleasure to drive on. As there is very less traffic through out this highway, makes it one of the safest roads.
The route…. A’bad-Himatnagar-Ratanpur Border-Udaipur.
One can easily cruise at 110-120 Kms/Hr and with two stops you can easily cover the stretch in 3.5 to 4 hrs.(took us 3.5 Hrs in a Chevy Optra). We had booked at Hotel Mewar Haveli this is a traditional hotel at Lal Ghat facing the lake Pichola. Actually this is rated as the best hotel on trip advisor and this prompted me to book instantly. Although access to this hotel requires a lot of driving skill and patience, as there is a steep climb through very narrow by lanes within the old city, which most of the time witness heavy traffic jams. But once you are there you really don’t regret it. The hotel has two beautiful restaurants roof top & open terrace, both offer spectacular views of the lake Pichola, and the famous lake palace hotel. The lake view rooms are very moderately priced @ Rs. 1, 500 Per Night. You can check out more details at https://mewarhaveli.com. The hotel is always full with foreigners who love staying in this part of the city.
On reaching Udaipur you can first visit the City Palace(open till 5 PM, entry Rs.50), the Jagdish temple(this is walkable from the palace) in the evening you can drive to the new city and visit Sukhadia Circle Fountain & Fateh Sagar Lake for some boating, both these places are close by. Later for dinner do visit the famous Ambrai restaurant. Where one can enjoy a romantic candle light dinner just besides the lake, the Lake Palace, Jagmandir island illuminated at night with fireworks going off in the backdrop is definitely an unforgettable sight. The second day in the morning you can head to the Monsoon Palace, this is atop a hill about 15 Kms. For lunch you can drive to the Garden Hotel, also known as the Palace Hotel, the hotel lawn houses a rare collection of vintage cars of the maharaja. The lunch package comes with a visit to this fascinating car museum @ Rs. 150 Per head. Just opposite is the Gulab Bagh, which has a train ride through a small zoo. In the evening you can explore the market for traditional Rajasthani items.
While coming back we also visited the famous Shrinathji temple at Nathdwara 47 Kms from Udaipur, on the way you visit Eklingji(this is a 738 AD heritage temple) also midway you can see the Devigarh Palace Resort where the film Eklavya was shot.
All in all Udaipur is an enjoyable weekend getaway if you drive down from Gujarat