A palace built for the hot months
Before air conditioning, a Mewar prince escaped the summer the only way he could: by going out onto the water, where the breeze off the lake did the work.
Jag Niwas: built between 1743 and 1746 for Maharana Jagat Singh II, who ruled Mewar from the City Palace on the ridge above the lake.
A taste for islands: Udaipur had been the capital for nearly two centuries, and the Maharanas loved island pavilions.
The older island: Jag Mandir, a little to the south, begun around 1620, where the Mughal prince Khurram, the future Shah Jahan, is said to have taken refuge in 1623.
At a glance
- Built
- 1743 to 1746, as Jag Niwas
- Built for
- Maharana Jagat Singh II
- A hotel since
- The early 1960s
- Run by
- The Taj group, since 1971
- Setting
- An island in Lake Pichola
- On screen
- Octopussy, 1983
- Closer to home: Jagat Singh II wanted a pleasure palace he could see from his own windows and reach by a short row across the water.
- Built for the heat: rooms open onto courtyards and terraces, pale walls throw back the sun, and the water lowers the temperature by the few degrees that matter in May.
- In the paintings: Mewar's court painters recorded boat parties, music and evenings on these islands. Some hang in the City Palace museum across the lake.
- Two hundred years a retreat: after Independence, Mewar joined the Indian union in 1949, and the royal families were left with vast buildings and shrinking incomes.
- Maharana Bhagwat Singh: head of the house from 1955, he decided the island palace should earn its keep. In the early 1960s it opened as one of India's first palace hotels.
- 1971: the Taj group took over its management, and it has carried the Taj name ever since.
- 1983, Octopussy: the James Bond film was shot in Udaipur, and the Lake Palace became the island home of the title character. Guests still ask, and staff still smile politely.
- The bigger story: a real Mewar palace, still facing the City Palace it was built to be seen from. Our piece on the Mewar royal family tells it without taking sides in today's dispute over the headship.
Local tip
Visit the City Palace museum and look for the old paintings of boat parties on the lake. They show the Maharanas doing exactly what guests do now: sitting by the water, waiting for the light.
Pichola, the lake that makes the palace
Locals measure a good year by the lake. When Pichola is full after the monsoon, the whole city seems to stand up straighter.
Older than Udaipur: Pichola was first dammed in the fourteenth century.
1559: Maharana Udai Singh II enlarged it when he founded his new capital, drowning the village of Picholi that gave it its name.
Its shape: a long, irregular lake between the City Palace on the eastern shore and the green Aravalli hills to the west.
Facts to know
- First dammed
- Fourteenth century
- Enlarged
- By Udai Singh II, from 1559
- Named after
- The drowned village of Picholi
- Fed by
- The rains, and channels from other lakes
- The island's place: roughly in the middle, close enough to the City Palace to hear temple bells from the old city on a still morning.
- To the east: the long cream facade of the City Palace, with Shiv Niwas and Fateh Prakash at its southern end.
- To the south: Jag Mandir with its stone elephants.
- To the west: the resorts of the far shore and the hills behind, with the Monsoon Palace on the summit.
- At night: the City Palace is lit, and from a lake-facing window it looks like a long lantern laid along the ridge.
- The drought years: in some past droughts Pichola fell so low that the island stood above mud and boats could barely move. Udaipur remembers them with a shudder.
- Feeding the lakes: since then the city has fed its lakes through channels from other reservoirs. The water is now high in most seasons, but a weak monsoon can still lower it.
- What we do: check the level before winter and tell you honestly what to expect. Our page on Lake Pichola explains how the lakes are linked.
Arriving by boat
The most expensive part of a stay here lasts about five minutes. It is the crossing, and nobody ever complains about it.
The palace grows larger as you cross, and then you are stepping out onto its landing stage while someone holds a parasol over you. It is theatre, of course. It is also very good theatre.
No bridge, ever: your chauffeur drives you to the hotel's jetty on the eastern shore, below the City Palace, where your bags are taken and you step into one of the hotel's boats.
- Who lands: because the island can only be reached by boat, the hotel controls access. Day visitors can photograph it from the ghats, but cannot walk in.
- Non-resident diners: the policy has changed more than once, so we check what is possible when we plan, rather than promise a table we cannot guarantee.
- What it means for you: privacy. After dark, when the last boat has crossed, the palace is utterly still.
- Part of your days: the same boats take you to shore whenever you want to go out.
- You will leave less than you expect: most guests do, and we plan for it. With two or three nights, one big morning in the city, one sunset on the water and a great deal of time doing nothing.
Courtyards, fountains and white marble
Walk in from the landing stage and the first thing you hear is water: fountains in the courtyards, and the lake slapping gently against the walls below.
Courtyards, not great halls: rooms are arranged around open courts, some planted with trees, some holding lily ponds and fountains, linked by colonnades and shaded passages.
Mewar's finest materials: white marble, lime plaster polished until it shines, carved stone screens called jali, and coloured glass set into windows.
- The silhouette: small domed chhatris, as on every Rajput skyline, rise from the roofline and shape the palace's outline from the shore.
- No two rooms alike: built as a royal home, not a hotel. Some face the open lake, some the City Palace, some an inner courtyard. Historic walls dictate their shape.
- The honest trade-off: some rooms are grand and some modest. We explain this before you book rather than after you arrive.
- What matters most: in our experience the view out of the window matters far more than the size of the room.
- The details: painted and mirrored work survives in some old interiors, with family portraits and miniatures that recall the royal past.
- Read more: our guide to reading Rajasthani architecture explains jharokhas, jalis and chhatris, and our piece on what a jharokha is explains the balconies across the water on the City Palace.
Local tip
We always ask for a lake-facing room for our guests. Tell us when you book and we will do the same for you.
What a day on the island feels like
Our grandmother used to say that a good hotel is one you forget to leave. On the island, guests forget all the time.
Early morning
The lake: flat and grey-silver at first light, with cormorants and egrets working the shallows.
- The sounds: washing begins on the ghats of the old city, and you hear it across the water.
- What to do: open the shutters, order tea and simply watch.
- Beat the crowds: a boat can take you to shore in time for the City Palace opening, and you are back on the island before the heat.
The middle of the day
- Shade: in Udaipur the middle of the day is for a book, a long lunch and an afternoon rest, as the Maharanas did before you.
- In the cooler months: a short outing to a painter's studio or the lanes around Jagdish Temple. There is no prize for rushing.
The last hour of light
- Why people come: the sun drops behind the western hills, the City Palace turns from cream to amber, and the lake takes every colour in between.
- Your own hotel from the water: we sometimes book a private boat at this hour. Our boat on Pichola page explains how we time it.
After dark
- Its own small world: when the boats stop, lamps are lit in the courtyards and the City Palace glows across the water.
- The sounds: fountains, and the occasional wedding band far away on the shore. This is the moment most guests remember longest.
Eating on the water
In Mewar the old royal kitchens cooked for hunting parties and festival courts. On the island, that tradition sits alongside menus from much further away.
On the island
Neel Kamal: the place for Indian and Rajasthani cooking.
- Bhairo: European dishes in an open-air setting with the lake around you.
- Menus change: as they should, so we tell you what to ask for rather than what to expect on a given night.
What to order
Safed maas: mutton in a white gravy of cream and ground nuts.
- Maas ke soole: smoky meat skewers.
- Gatte ki sabzi: gram-flour dumplings in spiced yoghurt.
- Dal baati churma: the dish every family in Rajasthan claims as its own.
Vegetarian and Jain
- A deep tradition: Mewar's vegetarian cooking was shaped by its Jain merchant families and the temple kitchens of Nathdwara.
- Tell us before you arrive: if you keep a Jain diet or eat without onion and garlic. The cooks here are entirely used to it.
Dinners elsewhere on the water
What we arrange: private palace dinners on Jag Mandir, dinners on a boat in the middle of the lake, and rooftop tables in the old city facing the lit palace.
- See it from outside: many guests dine on the island one night and elsewhere the next.
- Read more: our food of Udaipur guide covers the dishes in depth.
Local tip
Ask for the Mewari dishes. They are the reason to eat in Udaipur, and the island's kitchens know them well.
Slow hours, spa and rest
The true luxury of an island is that there is nowhere to rush to. Rest is not an activity here. It is the default.
The spa: draws on Indian traditions of massage and oils as well as familiar international treatments.
Not a wellness retreat: space on an island is limited, and the palace was never designed around a spa. Treat it as one pleasure among many.
- When to book: the hot middle of the day, when the city is at its least appealing.
- For a wellness journey: we pair a night or two here with a longer stay at a spa resort such as The Oberoi Udaivilas on the western shore.
- Read more: our spas and Ayurveda page explains the treatments, and our wellness journey builds a whole trip around them.
- The best therapy: a terrace in the late afternoon with nothing planned, watching the boats, the birds and the light on the City Palace. It costs nothing extra, and it is why this palace was built.
What to do from the island
Everything that makes Udaipur special lies within a short boat ride and a short walk. The trick is to do less of it, better.
For a full list of ideas, read our guide to things to do in Udaipur, and for the hours of best light, our journal piece on Udaipur's sunset spots.
The City Palace, at opening time
- Cross early: enter as the gates open, before the tour groups.
- The route: climb straight to the hilltop garden of the Badi Mahal, then work down through the glass peacocks of the Mor Chowk. Our City Palace guide walks it court by court.
Jag Mandir, the older island
- Its story: begun around 1620 and linked with the young Shah Jahan, a few minutes south.
- When: a long lunch, or dinner after the day visitors have gone.
The old city and Bagore ki Haveli
- The walk: from the palace to Jagdish Temple, through the painters' lanes to Gangaur Ghat.
- The evening: the folk dance at Bagore ki Haveli, the eighteenth-century mansion of a Mewar prime minister.
The Monsoon Palace at sunset
- In view: Sajjangarh stands on its hilltop to the west of the island.
- Timing: drive up an hour before sunset for the widest view of the lakes, then back to the island for dinner.
Miniature painting in the old city
- Mewar's own school: one of the first Rajput courts with its own school of painting.
- Where we go: working studios where painters still grind their own colours, and where nobody pays our guides a commission.
Who will love it, and who may not
We have sent a great many guests to the Lake Palace, and we have also talked a few out of it. Both were the right advice.
Celebrations: a honeymoon, an anniversary, a proposal or a big birthday.
Slow travellers: if you are happy to let a hotel shape your days, enjoy history in the walls and don't mind that rooms vary.
Lovers of silence: if a still lake at night is your idea of luxury.
Good for
- Best for
- Honeymoons, anniversaries, proposals
- Also good for
- History lovers, older children
- Think twice
- Wanderers, toddlers, limited mobility
- Our usual plan
- Split the stay
- Couples: the obvious match. Our pieces on proposal ideas in Udaipur and Rajasthan honeymoon ideas include it for a reason.
- Wanderers: you may not love it if you like to step out of your door and wander, because every outing starts with a boat.
- Families: small, energetic children sometimes find an island confining, though older children usually adore the boats.
- Limited mobility: talk to us first. Historic palaces have steps, uneven floors and long walks between rooms.
- Space and gardens: if they matter more than history, the western-shore resorts will suit you better. Our guide to luxury hotels in Udaipur compares them honestly.
- Split your stay: two nights on the island and two at a resort or a hill palace gives you the romance and room to breathe.
How the Lake Palace fits our journeys
Udaipur is usually the last or the gentlest stop on a Rajasthan journey, and the island makes a perfect ending.
At the heart of a romance: on our Udaipur romance journey, the island anchors the stay, with a final night in the hills at RAAS Devigarh.
- As a reward: on the Golden Triangle and Udaipur or Royal Rajputana, Udaipur follows the bustle of Jaipur and the desert, and two or three nights on the water feel well earned.
- At the start of Mewar: our Mewar lakes and temples journey continues to Kumbhalgarh, Ranakpur and the noble houses of the countryside.
- A first night: Udaipur's airport is well connected, so the island can be your first night in Rajasthan rather than your last.
Getting to the Lake Palace
Most of the journey is simple. It is the last few hundred metres that are unforgettable.
By air: Maharana Pratap Airport at Dabok, about 22 kilometres east of the city, has direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other major cities. Our airports and flights guide explains the connections.
To the jetty: your chauffeur drives you to the hotel's jetty on the eastern shore, below the City Palace, in under an hour depending on traffic.
Getting there
- Nearest airport
- Maharana Pratap Airport, Dabok
- Airport distance
- About 22 km east of the city
- To the jetty
- Under an hour by car
- From Jaipur
- About six hours
- From Jodhpur
- About five, via Ranakpur
- From Chittorgarh
- About two hours
- By road: Jaipur is about six hours away, Jodhpur about five via Ranakpur, and Chittorgarh about two. Our getting around guide explains how we time the drives.
- By boat, always: every arrival and departure is by the hotel's boat. Tell us your flight times, and we coordinate the car and the crossing so you never wait on the jetty.
- Luggage: carried for you across the water.
Local tip
Pack a small day bag for each outing. You will not want to cross back to the island between every sight.
What we tell friends before they stay
A few small things turn a beautiful stay into a perfect one.
Ask for the view: a room facing the open lake or the City Palace. We always request it, and it is worth more than any extra square metre.
Book early: for October to March, and earlier still for Christmas, New Year and festival dates. Udaipur is also a wedding city, so winter weekends fill fast.
- Think about the monsoon: from July to September the hills turn green, the lake is usually rising and the city is quieter. Our journal on Udaipur in the monsoon explains why we love it.
- Plan outings in blocks: one morning for the City Palace and the old city, one evening for the Monsoon Palace, one day north to Eklingji and Nathdwara.
- Bring a light shawl: in December and January, mornings on the water are colder than you expect.
- Respect the ghats: from the island you can see the bathing ghats of the old city, which are private spaces at dawn, so keep long lenses down.