By road
~270 km from Delhi
North India · Rajasthan
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The pink city of forts and bazaars · ~270 km from Delhi
Getting there
By rail
Jaipur Junction (JP), in the city
By air
Jaipur International Airport, in the city
Best time to visit
October to March — festival season and bearable sun
Don't miss
Amber Fort
Hawa Mahal
City Palace
Jantar Mantar
Nahargarh sunset
Things to do
Hot-air ballooning
Block-printing workshops
Bazaar crawls
Where to eat
Sources: wikimedia, Photo: Chainwit. · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Comfortable shoes for fort ramps, scarf, bargaining patience
A quieter corner
Panna Meena ka Kund stepwell near Amber, minus the crowds
Questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Jaipur?
October to March, when the sun is bearable and the festival season is on.
How do I get to Jaipur?
Jaipur Intl is in the city, as is Jaipur Jn. From Delhi it is about 270 km, roughly five to six hours by bus.
What should I bring?
Comfortable shoes — the fort ramps are long — a scarf, and patience for bargaining.
What is the quieter alternative to the big sights?
Panna Meena ka Kund, a stepwell near Amber, without the crowds that Amber itself draws.
What should I eat in Jaipur?
Laxmi Misthan Bhandar and Rawat for kachori, Suvarna Mahal if you want the grand version, and Tapri Central for an afternoon.
About Jaipur
- Inland
Where it is
Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, in north-western India, spread across a dry plain framed by the rugged ridges of the Aravalli hills, south-west of Delhi.
History
Sawai Jai Singh II, the Kachwaha ruler of Amber, founded Jaipur in 1727 as a planned city laid out on a grid, moving his court down from the old hill capital. The walled city was painted its famous pink for the visit of the Prince of Wales in 1876, and after independence Jaipur became the capital of the new state of Rajasthan.
People
Jaipur's people speak Hindi and Rajasthani, especially Dhundhari, the dialect of the surrounding region. The old city's bazaars have long been home to jewellers, block printers and blue-pottery makers, and the festivals of Teej and Gangaur bring processions through its streets.
Known for
- Amber Fort above Maota Lake
- Hawa Mahal, the Palace of Winds
- The City Palace and Jantar Mantar
- Block prints, blue pottery and gem-cutting
- The Jaipur Literature Festival
Did you know?
The walled city of Jaipur was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, and the Jantar Mantar observatory built by the city's founder has been on the list since 2010.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.