Overview
- Features: A night tour visiting the lit up attractions of the pink city of Jaipur
- Opening Times: 6:30pm to 10:30pm, daily
- Best Time to Visit: Late October to early March
- Duration: 4 hours
- Travelled By: RTDC tour
- Cost: Rs 375
- Address: Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
- Type: Activity, Building
Author Reviews[display_rating_item_results rating_form_id=”2″ rating_entry_ids=”1″ show_category_filter=”false” show_options=”true” result_type=”star_rating” preserve_max_rating=”true” show_title=”false” show_count=”false” ]
Total Rating: [display_rating_result rating_form_id=”2″ show_count=”false” show_rich_snippets=true] [accordions load=”1″] [accordion title=”User Reviews” last] [display_rating_item_results rating_form_id=”5″ show_options=”true” result_type=”star_rating” preserve_max_rating=”true” show_title=”false” show_count=”true” show_rich_snippets=true] [/accordion] [accordion title=”Add Review”][display_rating_form show_email_input=”true” show_comment_textarea=”true” show_name_input=”true” rating_form_id=”5″] [/accordion] [/accordions]
Summary
We embarked on a Night Tour of the Pink City with RTDC, a decision which we thoroughly regretted for several reasons. The highlight of the tour was seeing the magnificent attractions of Jaipur beautifully lit up. Hawa Mahal, Jal Mahal and Amber Fort are just a few of the places to visit in Jaipur at night. Taking this tour on Diwali night made it even more memorable. We would highly recommend conducting a private Night Tour of the Pink City rather than taking the government-run RTDC one.
Places to Visit in Jaipur at Night
We decided to join the Night Tour of the Pink City, that is, Jaipur, on the day of Diwali. We thought that this would be the best time to see some of the places to visit in Jaipur at night, as the buildings would be beautifully lit up, people would be out celebrating and lighting fireworks, and the city would be at its liveliest.
The Night Tour is conducted by the government-run, RTDC (Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation) and runs from approx 6:30pm till 10:30pm. It’s fairly easy to organise this tour from overseas as they have a website that allows online booking with a foreign credit card.
When we arrived in Jaipur, I called them to ask about the pick-up location. They informed me that there are a few pick up locations around the city and they make their way around to all of them over the course of the evening from 6pm onwards. They were nice enough to let me know that the closest pick-up point to our hotel (in the new part of town) was Hotel Gangaur. The other big pick-up locations are Hotel Teej and the Jaipur Railway Station.
[box_tip]I would advise any one going on this tour to call a day before to arrange the pick-up location and time with RTDC directly.[/box_tip]Following our pick up from Hotel Gangaur at 6:15pm, we were driven around the city as the bus filled up with Indian tourists till there was no seat vacant. We were lucky to be one of the first people on the bus, so we bagged a nice seat at the front with an unobscured view of the streets. Later on, we realised that some of the other travellers had seat numbers given to them, and were quite annoyed that other people had taken their seats, as they had to sit on the back seat of the bus.
[singlepic id=3121 w=720 h=560 float=center]
The places to visit in Jaipur at night is amazing, especially during Diwali, as the city is lit up like a Christmas tree on steroids. First, we drove through the city, fighting our way through the tangle of traffic jams and people on the street. This gave us time to “people-watch” as everyone was dressed up in their Diwali best. Men were dressed in suits and women were either wearing beautiful silk saris or chiffon salwar kameez, in all sorts of dazzling colours and glittering with gold work.
Many of the buildings were lit up, draped with decorative string lights in wonderful colours. Some of the bigger buildings more richly decorated were the jewellery stores who, of course, have a ton of money to spend on advertising.
Amar Jawan Jyoti
[singlepic id=3120 w=720 h=560 float=center]
As we travelled through the Pink City, there were a few notable places to visit in Jaipur at night.
The first stop for the night was Amar Jawan Jyoti, which was constructed to honor the soldiers and martyrs of Jaipur for their bravery. This structure is beautifully lit up during the evening, showcasing a brilliant transformation of one vivid colour into another.
Hawa Mahal
[singlepic id=3118 w=720 h=560 float=center]
As we headed through the gate into the Old City, the most impressive sight was the Hawa Mahal or Palace of Winds, which was lit up to embellish its most attractive features – the facade. If it looks impressive during the day, it looks even more impressive at night.
Unfortunately, we were not allowed to get off the bus and only got to admire the attraction from a distance as we drove past in the bus. Given that the redeeming feature of the Hawa Mahal is its facade, we shouldn’t be too disappointed.
Jal Mahal
[singlepic id=3127 w=720 h=560 float=center]
We continued driving north, up the Jaipur-Amber Road, first stopping off at Jal Mahal. At this site, we were allowed to get off the bus to view the attraction and take photos.
About halfway along the Jaipur-Amber Road is Man Sagar, an artificial lake created in the early 17th century by Raja Man Singh I of Amber. The Jal Mahal, or Water Palace, is located in the middle of the Man Sagar Lake. So, you can imagine how beautiful this building would look at night, lit up, with its reflection on the water. Simply stunning!
The Jal Mahal Palace was built by Maharaja Sawai Pratap Singh, who intended it as a pleasure resort and shooting box to hunt waterfowl. The Palace, built in red sandstone, is a five storied building, out of which four floors remain under water when the lake is full and the top floor is exposed, as can be seen in the picture above. This gracious island pavilion is considered an architectural beauty, built in the Rajput and Mughal styles of architecture. Its bangla-topped pavillons and corner chhatris overlook the lake.
Amber Fort and Palace
[singlepic id=3117 w=720 h=560 float=center]
As we drive further north, the Jaipur-Amber Road proceeds to the mountain pass in the Aravalli Hills, at which point we get to the great Amber Fort and Palace. Here, we are allowed to alight the bus to get a better view of the Palace.
The Amber Palace is an exquisite specimen of Rajput architecture, established by Raja Man Singh early in the 17th century, and completed by Sawai Jai Singh, nearly a hundred years later. The Palace crowns a rocky hill amidst picturesque surroundings. Its terraces and embattled ramparts are reflected in the pretty Maota Lake below, making it look like a magic castle in a fairyland.
Nahargarh Fort
[singlepic id=3128 w=720 h=560 float=center]
Towards the end of the tour, we stopped at the Nahargarh Fort, not just to admire the views from the top of the mountain, but also to have a vegetarian dinner buffet at the Durg Cafeteria.
Durg Cafe is an open air restaurant with a remarkable backdrop of Jaipur City at night. The views can be viewed from the restaurant inside, however, we decided to sit outside as the windows inside are dirty and don’t open quite so well.
The buffet contained rice, dal, pappadams and a selection of vegetables curries including a mixed vegetable curry and a salad. The dinner was pretty mediocre with the focus on quantity rather than on quality.
To celebrate Diwali, they served us rice pudding for dessert. The rice pudding contained raisins and cashews and had a good flavour.
[singlepic id=3129 w=720 h=560 float=center]
The highlight of the dinner at the Fort was not the dinner itself, but the views from the battlements outside the closed off section of the Fort. Since we had been around the Nahargarh Fort that day (click here to read our review of Nahargarh Fort), we knew the area well and wandered outside ourselves to catch the amazing view of the Jaipur City below us. And what a view it was! There were fireworks going off every second from every corner of the City. The colours were spectacular from both the bursting fireworks as well as the buildings surrounding the Fort.
[singlepic id=3116 w=720 h=560 float=center]
To round off our Night Tour of the Pink City, we were really disappointed in taking this tour with RTDC. The Night Tour is recommended by Lonely Planet, however, we will not recommend this tour at all.
The bus was very basic, with no air-conditioning. This was fine for us as we were travelling in the middle of winter, in the evening, and it was chilly. We were the only Western tourists on the bus as the rest were local Indians.
What was not acceptable was the lack of any guide whatsoever. We pulled up to some of the sites mentioned on the website, however there was no one to inform us of what the attraction was or any information regarding it. Most of the big attractions we had seen pictures of before, however there were attractions like the Albert Museum (picture above) and Birla Mandir or Laxmi Narayan Temple (picture in overview section) that we hadn’t seen before and we had to look up their details online later.
Last but not the least, we were dropped off near our hotel around midnight when the tour was expected to finish at 10:30pm.
If we were to do it again, we would hire an auto rickshaw or taxi with a basic English speaking driver who can provide enough information about the places to visit in Jaipur at night, and then have a nice dinner locally. It would probably cost us the same price if not less and take us less time at the end of it all.
