Jaipur travel blog — The fullest Jaipur travel guide blog for first-timers

Jaipur is the largest vibrant and busiest city in the state of Rajasthan, India. It is also known as the Pink City, the Pink city of India is famous for its a wide variety of magnificent, stunning palaces, bustling in trading, and the busiest airport in the region. And especially, the central train station is always crowded to overcrowded. So, is Jaipur worth visiting and what to do in Jaipur for the first-time? Let’s check out our Jaipur travel blog (Jaipur blog) with the ultimate Jaipur travel guide blog (Jaipur city guide, Jaipur tourist guide, Jaipur guide) from how to get there, best time to travel Jaipur, where to stay, best places to visit, things to do in Jaipur to find out the answer!

From Jodhpur, I took a night train and arrived at Jaipur at 4am but the flow of people coming and going in this early morning was still as crowded and bustling as during the day. Pulling my luggage off the platform with dozens of tuktuk drivers beckoning to bid to the hotel, the advice for you at this time is to never nod.

Just get off the platform, go out into the street and catch another tuktuk, you will be have a much cheaper deal.

I reiterate the previous cities a little bit on my India journey to give you an idea of ​​the itinerary. I’ve visited Jaisalmer (Golden City), Jodhpur (Blue City), Udaipur (White City) and Jaipur (Pink City) are all famous tourist cities not only in the state of Rajasthan but also of India, every year the number of tourists flocking here is huge, contributing to the city’s important budget revenue is tourism.

Jaipur travel blog: The Pink City of magnificent palaces

Jaipur has many spectacular, splendid palaces, all of which are magnificent and unique among the cities of Rajasthan. Why is Jaipur called the Pink City?

Jaipur was officially found in 1727. And to please Prince Albert during his tour of the cities of India, then a British colony, as well as create a close relationship with the British Royal Family. At that time, the Indian leaders then ordered to paint the city in pink color as well as build palaces and lavish meeting rooms to make Prince Albert when he arrive, he would be delighted and curious after a tiring journey through many Indian cities.

On the other hand, terracotta pink is also a color that means hospitality.

Today, in the old town area of ​​Jaipur, all buildings and houses are still required to be painted in this earthy pink color, it has become a local law, which also helps Jaipur to be known more for its unique and signature.

Jaipur blog: When to come?

The city of Jaipur straddles the boundary of two climate zones: hot desert climate and hot semi-desert climate. The average annual rainfall in Jaipur is about 650mm. April to July is the summer with quite hot weather. The average temperature is always above 30 degrees Celsius. Winter lasts from November to February next year, the weather is cooler. The average temperature is only about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius. You should come here in the period from September to March next year.

Jaipur travel guide blog: How to get to Jaipur?

By train: Jaipur is about 280km from New Delhi and tourists often choose the tourist triangle New Delhi – Agra (with Taj Mahal Mausoleum) – Jaipur. You can book train tickets at 12go.asia website from Jaisalmer, Jodhpur or Udaipur, Agra to get to Jaipur very easily.

By plane: Jaipur International Airport (JAI) is about 13km from the city center. From Vietnam you can fly to Jaipur with AirAsia, transit in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) or Don Mueang Airport (Thailand).

By car: If from nearby cities like Jodhpur, Udaipur, Agra… you can also rent a car to get to Jaipur very easily.

Jaipur blog: Where to stay?

Of course, you should find a hotel in the central area even though the attractions are located in the suburbs. It is not necessary to find a room near the airport/train station because traveling by tuktuk is quite cheap and convenient.

Because in the center, you will easily find restaurants with meat (pork, chicken) because most of them are meat-free.

I stayed in Times Flute Boutique Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com) which is quite beautiful, clean and modern design style.

Below we recommend more best budget, mid-range and upscale hotels with good ratings and reviews you can refer to.

• Trident, Jaipur (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• ibis Jaipur Civil Lines (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Clarks Amer (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Hilton Jaipur (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• Holiday Inn Jaipur City Centre, an IHG Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com)
• 5 By OYO Metropolitan Upscale & Luxury (Booking.com)
• ITC Rajputana, Jaipur – a Luxury Collection Hotel (Agoda.com or Booking.com)

Check out more top and best hotels in Jaipur on Agoda.com or Booking.com.

Jaipur tourist guide: What to eat?

It’s quite a headache with eating because I’m used to eating meat, so it’s difficult to find a restaurant with meat that’s convenient on the way to places of interest. So, I almost have to eat vegetarian dishes with curry, pizza with roti or fried rice.

It is also difficult to find a minimart or supermarket.

Jaipur guide: Where to go and what to do in Jaipur?

Hawa Mahal

Address: Hawa Mahal Rd, Badi Choupad, J.D.A. Market, Pink City, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 9AM–5PM

This is the first place of my Jaipur journey. In the early morning, I took a tuktuk from the hotel to Hawa Mahal in the cold of 10 degrees Celsius in Indian winter, the fog was still lurking, the sun was rising and the heart was very excited because of the reputation of Hawa Mahal, also known as the Palace of winds castle, magnificent, beautiful and full of expectations.

I came at 7:00 am, choose the cafe opposite Hawa Mahal to admire all its beauty from afar, while waiting until 9 am to open to go inside.

There are 2 cafes with the best views of Hawa Mahal: Wind View Cafe and The Tattoo Cafe. Follow a small, old building, you will climb to the terrace of these two shops.

Order a cup of hot coffee, a pizza for about 200 Rupees for breakfast and watch the Hawa Mahal shining brightly in the morning, absolutely stunning.

At around 9 am, buy a ticket of 200 rupees/person to access inside to visit the palace of the empresses in the past. Hawa Mahal was built in 1799, with 5 floors, height of 15m, in Mughal, Rajput architectural styles, with many small windows to let the wind into the palace to cool off in the hot summer of Jaipur.

On the other hand, letting the Royal women see the bustling streets and markets below without fear of being seen by commoners, it was taboo.

City Palace

Address: WRGF+8F7, Tulsi Marg, Gangori Bazaar, J.D.A. Market, Pink City, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 9:30AM–5PM
Architect: Vidyadhar Bhattacharya
Construction started: 1727
Architectural style: Mughal architecture
Opened: 1727

City Palace is the Royal palace of the former rulers of Jaipur. It is a complex of large architectural works, including many different parts such as the palace of the empresses, the garden, the meeting room… and now are used as a luxury restaurant, the museum of fabric, pictures, weapons… for visitors to visit.

The entrance ticket price is 700 Rupees/person, which is quite expensive. With this ticket, you will be allowed to visit a complex of other structures, not far away. However, in my opinion, those places were not very beautiful, so I skipped them.

Notably when visiting City Palace, you will be introduced to a very beautiful isolated area called Chandra Mahal, and to enter here, you have to buy a ticket again of 3,500 Rupees to visit and a light drink. Too expensive!

In the City Palace there is a very beautiful area, called Pritam Niwas Chowk. This area has 4 gates painted with elaborate peacock motifs, each gate has its own color. This gate is called Peacock Gate, so don’t miss this place!

Jantar Mantar

Address: Gangori Bazaar, J.D.A. Market, Pink City, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 9AM–4:30PM

Jantar Mantar is also one of the world heritage sites recognized by UNESCO. This is an ancient observatory built by King Maharaja Jai Singh II. In addition to the Jantar Mantar observatory, he also built all 5 observatories in New Delhi, Ujjain, Mathura and Varanasi. Here you will understand because after ancient times without computers, people could still calculate extremely high things.

Hanuman Temple

Traveling to Jaipur without visiting the Hanuman temple is a pity. This is a very special temple because in the past, the monkey “tribe” made this temple their home. Therefore, when visiting Hanuman temple, you will see there are many naughty monkeys.

Amber Fort

Address: Devisinghpura, Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302001, India
Hours: 8AM–5:30PM, 6:30–9:15PM
Opened: 1592

Amber Fort is located on a high hill, overlooking Lake Matao. This fortress includes many beautiful inner palaces for you to visit. From the city center to get here is about 15km.

You should spend a whole day from early morning to late evening just going to this group of attractions including Amber Fort, Sheesh Mahal, Palace Mahal, Nahargart Fort, these attractions are very beautiful and almost next to each other, you can walk or hire a electric car, very convenient.

One interesting thing is that you can go into Amber Fort by an elephant. The giant elephants stagger up the slope to bring visitors inside to visit and leave along the road full of stinking dung fields.

In front of Amber Fort, there is a very beautiful pigeon area, don’t forget to visit here!

Sheesh Mahal

Address: XVP2+77J, Devisinghpura, Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302028, India

Sheesh Mahal is located inside Amber Fort, ask passersby, they will show you the way to this palace. Sheesh Mahal or the ‘Palace of Mirrors’ was built by Emperor Maharaja Narinder Singh (1845-1862). The palace was built in a forest with terrace, garden, fountain and an artificial lake.

The king drew great painters from Kangra and Rajasthan to paint the walls of Sheesh Mahal with many images related to literature, myths and legends that are very unique and impressive, especially the door leading to the inside with extremely beautiful sculptural motifs.

Nahargarh Fort

Address: WRP8+W6C, Krishna Nagar, Brahampuri, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 10AM–10PM

Nahargarh Fort, perched on the high rugged Aravali hill overlooking the city of Jaipur. The fortress was built in 1734 to help defend the city. It became famous in 2006, after many scenes in the movie Rang De Basanti were filmed there.

From Nahargarh Fort, you look over the city in a beautiful sunset. I had to go here twice just to watch the sunset, so majestic.

From Amber Fort, follow the steep rocky path, you walk up to Nahargarh Fort, quite far. If you do not want to climb the slope, you can buy a round-trip electric car ticket of 350 Rupees / person, remember to keep the ticket for the return trip.

Albert Hall Museum

Address: WR69+PRF, Museum Rd, Ram Niwas Garden, Kailash Puri, Adarsh Nagar, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302004, India
Hours: 9AM–5PM, 7–10PM
Opened: 1887

It’s an old museum, looking old and especially with countless pigeons. They swooped down in swarms to eat and then hovered around the building like an abandoned palace.

You can buy tickets to go inside, however, taking pictures with pigeons outside seems more reasonable.

Maharaja Ki Chhatri

Address: 309B, Mangala Rd, Bada Akhada, Krishna Nagar, Brahampuri, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 6AM–6:30PM

Is a unique architecture combining Hinduism and Islam, located about 7km from Amber Fort. This is the cremation site of the Royal Maharajas who once ruled Rajasthan. A beautiful architecture you should visit when visiting Jaipur.

The Great Wall of Jaipur

This is the structure that impressed me the most. Just imagine how the Great Wall of China is, in Jaipur, there is also a building similar to the Indian architectural version and is much smaller and shorter. Early in the morning, climb up here to watch the sunrise and the view of Amber Fort from here is very beautiful.

Jal Mahal

Address: XR3W+9CQ, Amer Rd, Jal Mahal, Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan 302002, India
Hours: 12–10:30PM
Architect: Pratap Singh of Jaipur
Opened: 1799

Jal Mahal is a floating palace in the middle of Man Sagar lake in the city of Jaipur. On your way from the city center to Amber Fort, you will pass by the lake and see this palace.

You can request the tuktuk driver stop for 30-minute to take pictures and admire it from afar, especially in the early morning when the sun rises, Jal Mahal emerges as beautiful as a canvas.

Patrika gate

Address: RRR2+JGQ, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India

Patrika gate is a colorful gate with bold Hindu imprint, located in front of Jawahar Circle Garden.

This circular park includes a complex of gardens, fountains, walkways… but the most prominent is the Patrika gate.

There is no entrance fee, but to take pictures without bride and groom couples or other tourists, you should tip a little money to the gatekeeper, 100 Rupees for example.

Jaipur travel blog: Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in, from and to Jaipur you can refer to

• Jaipur Wax Museum Ticket
• Jaipur Sightseeing Day Tour
• Jantar Mantar Ticket in Jaipur
• Hawa Mahal Fast-Track Ticket
• Amber Palace Fast-Track Ticket
• Private City Transfers between Jaipur and Agra, Delhi, Udaipur & More
• Private City Transfers between Delhi and Jaipur/Agra
• Jaipur Walking Tour
• Jaipur City Heritage Tour (Half Day/Full Day)
• Jaipur instagram Tour
• Jaipur Private Day Tour from Delhi
• 3D2N Golden Triangle Private Tour from Jaipur
• Cultural Walking Tour Of Jaipur

Read more India guide here.