India: Jaipur

Jaipur, known as the Pink City, is full of incredible sights and vibrant energy! I stayed for three nights, which felt like just the right amount of time to see everything I wanted—though you could easily spend longer and go slower while exploring. The city is home to several UNESCO World Heritage Sites, fascinating museums, colorful bazaars, and restaurants.

Despite its bustling atmosphere, Jaipur feels surprisingly “orderly”, and getting around is easy enough with Uber (I ordered motorbikes). I stayed at The Hosteller in the city center, which made it convenient to reach all the main attractions. Next to the hostel there is a nice boutique called The Raw India and the best restaurant that I kept coming back to was The Peacock Rooftop Restaurant.

Overall, I’m glad I visited Jaipur, though it’s not a place I feel the need to return to. The city is somewhat more orderly than others in India, yet it still feels chaotic and isn’t very walkable. It’s also quite touristy — interestingly, most of the visitors I saw were Indian. At the main attractions, there were many people asking for money or trying to sell tours, which distracted from the beauty of the sites. At times, it felt like I was simply hopping from one landmark to another, taking photos rather than really experiencing the city. Still, Jaipur has no shortage of stunning architecture and picture-perfect walls. My favorite places were the City Palace and Amer Fort.

Top Things to Do:

• The City Palace

  • I took the tour that was just on the outside, rather than the private tour, as it is quite expensive.

  • Take time to admire the grounds and pop into the gift shops or cafes.

  • You can visit Jantar Mantar, which is next door and also walk over to Hawa Mahal. Across the street there is Wind View Cafe, which you can get a better picture of the structure. The area is pretty touristy and crowded and so many shops around that it wasn’t a pleasant experience and I didn’t stay long.

• Amer Fort

  • On the way you can stop at Jal Mahal.

  • The walk up isn’t too hard, so don’t listen to the people out front that will try and take you by jeep up.

  • Not far from Amber Fort, you can also visit Meera Mandir and Panna Meena ka Kund.

• Nahargarh Fort and closeby Gaitor Ki Chhatriyan

• Restaurants

  • Peacock Rooftop Restaurant

  • Bar Palladio Jaipur - a little overpriced but the ambience is quite aesthetic and the pasta was surprisingly very good! The decor itself does need some repainting and updating but overall was an experience.

Other things to Do:

• Albert Hall Museum

  • I would say this museum is less a priority than the other things you can do in the city.

• Shop the Bazaars

  • They were quite hectic and lots of people trying to get you to come into their store so I mostly avoided the bazaars.