Jaipur Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Jaipur

Reach Amber Fort before the coach groups

By mid-morning, tour groups crowd Amber's courtyards and the doorway of the Sheesh Mahal, so arrive close to opening, on foot up the paved ramp or by jeep. Our Amber Fort experience brings a car from your hotel and a government-approved guide for the two to three hours most visits take.

Spend a day in the walled city with a guide

Inside the old walls, the main sights are a short walk from one another. Our Jaipur city tour gives you a private, government-approved guide and a car for the day, on a route planned around heat and crowds: the Hawa Mahal's latticed front in the early light, the City Palace's courtyards and museums, then the giant stone instruments of Jantar Mantar next door.

Shop the old city's bazaars

Each bazaar has its specialities: jewellery and textiles in Johari Bazaar, mojaris and camel-leather shoes in Bapu Bazaar, bangles in Tripolia, carved marble in Chandpole. Sunday is the day most of them shut, and it pays to settle a price before you buy. The Royal Rajasthan Circuit opens with a guided evening walk through the jewellers' lanes, ending on a rooftop above the lit City Palace.

Cook and eat a Rajasthani thali

Our Jaipur cooking class starts with the spices; then you cook dal baati churma and gatte ki sabzi, plus laal maas if you eat meat, beside a local host, and everyone sits down to the thali. Beginners and supervised children are welcome, and vegetarian, Jain, vegan or allergy menus are agreed in advance. Classes run indoors, all year, from late morning into lunch.

Try hand block printing

Jaipur's block prints include the Sanganeri, Bagru and Dabu styles; for the background, visit the Anokhi Museum of Hand Printing, which occupies a restored haveli at Amber. On the Golden Triangle Tour — 6 days and the Rajasthan Grand Tour, a free half-day here can become an optional block-printing workshop.

See the city after dark

Amber Fort stages a sound-and-light show in English or Hindi, its start moving with the seasons. In town, the Albert Hall is floodlit and keeps its museum open into the evening, and Masala Chowk's food stalls in Ram Niwas Bagh do their best trade. Nahargarh's closing time differs between official sources, so confirm it before driving up.

Celebrate a festival

Our Diwali in Jaipur experience walks you through the bazaars as the lamp sellers, sweet shops and marigold garlands arrive, then books a rooftop or haveli courtyard for the main evening's lights and fireworks; allow two or three days. Kites fill the sky around 14 January for the Kite Festival, the Jaipur Literature Festival comes in January, and Teej and Gangaur bring royal processions out of the City Palace.

Stop at Abhaneri's stepwell

About 90 km out on the Agra road, Abhaneri's Chand Baori is a 9th-century stepwell whose narrow steps drop down three of its sides. Our Golden Triangle tour notes that the long drive between Agra and Jaipur is often broken here or at Fatehpur Sikri.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

Each experience does one thing: the Amber Fort visit takes a morning, the cooking class a few hours with lunch, and Diwali in Jaipur two or three days. Find them among our heritage, food and festival experiences in Jaipur. Our tours bring a guide and car for longer. The city tour fills one day inside the walls, and the Jaipur day trip from Delhi is a 14- to 16-hour day built around Amber Fort and the Hawa Mahal; if you can spare a night, take one. Longer routes such as the 5 Days Jaipur Udaipur Tour are on our Jaipur tour packages page, and the Jaipur travel guide describes each sight.

When to go for these

Walking weather runs from October to March. Winters are mild by day and sharp at dawn: at IMD's Jaipur station, January averages about 22°C in the afternoon and 8°C at night (1991–2020). May, the hottest month, averages about 41°C by day, which leaves summer for early starts, the indoor cooking class and the museums. Most of the year's rain comes in July and August. Diwali falls in October or November, and the City Palace shuts on Dhulandi, the second day of Holi.

Planning tips

Give Amber and the walled city a day each if you can, or see Amber at opening and the old city after lunch. Dress modestly for temples and the City Palace. The state's booking portal lists a composite ticket for several monuments, Amber and the Albert Hall among them.