A first trip to Udaipur can look deceptively simple on paper. A palace here, a lake there, a few ghats, walking by the market, enjoying a sunset—and you’ve covered the city. Except Udaipur doesn’t quite work that way.
Most first-time visitors don’t make dramatic mistakes here.
They make small ones: trying to fit too much into a day, choosing a hotel because someone said it was the “right” area, treating every attraction as a separate stop, getting the timing wrong, or assuming that the city will keep buzzing late into the night.
None of these mistakes will ruin your trip. But they can make Udaipur feel more rushed, tiring or complicated than it needs to be.
We’ve put together these nine mistakes not as a list of rules, but as things worth knowing before you arrive.
Some are practical, while others are really about understanding how Udaipur works.
Because once you stop trying to squeeze the city into a checklist, you may find that it becomes a much easier—and far more enjoyable—place to explore.
Trying to See Too Much in Too Little Time
Udaipur is not a city you should rush through. It is easy to arrive with a long list of attractions and turn your holiday into a race from one place to another. You reach City Palace, take a few photographs, look around, and before you’ve really taken it in, you’re already thinking about the next stop.
And that’s when you start missing Udaipur.
When you’re exploring City Palace, slow down and admire the architecture, paintings, intricate wall work and little details. At Lake Pichola, don’t just take a photograph and leave—soak in the landscape, the Aravalli hills and the atmosphere around you. Even in the markets, take time to notice the craftsmanship of the local artisans. And at Fateh Sagar, sometimes the best thing you can do is simply sit by the lake and be there.
During our 12 days in Udaipur, we spent hours at Fateh Sagar, lingered over meals and coffee, and walked several kilometres through the Old City. Yet we never felt rushed. We were deliberately trying to do things slowly, but somehow time seemed to be slower than us.
Don’t experience Udaipur like an Energizer Bunny hopping from attraction to attraction until its battery runs out. See fewer places if you have to, but give yourself enough time to actually experience them. If you’re unsure how much time to allow for the city, our guide on How Many Days Do You Really Need in Udaipur can help you plan a more realistic itinerary.
Udaipur is like poetry, not a web series. You don’t rush through it to find out what happens next.
Assuming There’s Only One Right Area to Stay in Udaipur
One common piece of advice you’ll come across before visiting Udaipur is that you should stay in the Old City. We don’t entirely agree.
Udaipur is a fairly compact city, especially if you’re comparing it with a sprawling metro like Mumbai or even a larger tourist city such as Jaipur.
We stayed in New Fatehpura, a quiet residential neighbourhood away from the bustle of the Old City, and could still get there comfortably when we wanted to explore it.
That doesn’t mean the Old City isn’t a great place to stay—it can be exactly what you want if you’re looking for historic surroundings, walkability and the atmosphere of old Udaipur.
However, other parts of the city offer a quieter or very different experience, and your choice of location can influence how you experience the city.
Rather than assuming there is one “right” area to stay, understand what the different parts of Udaipur offer and choose the one that suits your trip.
Our guide on Where Should You Stay in Udaipur? Choosing the Right Area for Your Trip breaks down the city’s main areas and what each is best suited for.
Treating Every Old City Attraction as a Separate Stop
Looking at Udaipur on a map for the first time can make the Old City seem like a collection of separate attractions that need to be ticked off one by one. But once you’re there, you’ll realise that many of them naturally flow into each other.
City Palace, Jagdish Temple, Bagore Ki Haveli and Gangaur Ghat are all part of one wonderfully walkable stretch. Crossing Chandpole Bridge takes you towards Ambrai Ghat and another beautiful perspective of Lake Pichola and City Palace.
That’s part of the charm of exploring the Old City—you don’t necessarily need to think of each place as a separate stop requiring a ride. Put on comfortable shoes, walk, and let one experience lead you to the next.
It also makes planning easier. Instead of spending time figuring out transport between every attraction, group the Old City sights together and give yourself enough time to explore them at an unhurried pace.
You’ll probably cover more on foot than you expect—and enjoy the journey between the attractions as much as the attractions themselves.
Visiting Monsoon Palace at the Wrong Time
We made this mistake ourselves. We reached Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace around 1:30 p.m., and looking back, we’d have been much better off arriving later in the afternoon.
The heat made the visit unnecessarily uncomfortable, and there wasn’t much reason to linger at the palace during the harshest part of the day. Around 4:30 p.m. would have been a much better choice for us.
The point isn’t that 4:30 p.m. is some magic number, but that you shouldn’t treat Monsoon Palace as an attraction you can squeeze into whatever gap your itinerary leaves you.
Timing can make a real difference to the experience.
There are also a few other things worth knowing before you go, including what you can see from the palace’s different sides and how to make the most of your visit. Our Sajjangarh Monsoon Palace: A Visitor’s Guide covers those details in depth.
Treating Fateh Sagar Lake As a Photo Op
Not every place in Udaipur needs to be treated as a sightseeing stop. Fateh Sagar Lake is a good example. You can walk around, take a few photographs and move on, but we’d suggest giving yourself some unplanned time here.
Sit by the lake, take a walk along the promenade, watch the Aravallis and the water, and simply soak in the atmosphere. During our visit, we found ourselves spending far more time here than we’d originally expected—and that turned out to be one of the pleasures of Udaipur.
The mistake is assuming that time spent doing “nothing” is time wasted. At Fateh Sagar, sitting by the lake for an hour isn’t a gap in your itinerary—it can be the experience itself.
Staying at Badi Lake After Dark
Badi Lake is a lovely place to visit around sunrise or sunset, but don’t mistake a sunset visit for an invitation to stay until it gets completely dark. We visited around 8 a.m. and found the area pleasant, with people around and plenty of space to enjoy the surroundings.
If you choose to visit later in the day, sunset can be a beautiful time to be there, but we’d suggest heading back once the light starts disappearing.
Badi Lake and the surrounding area can become quiet and isolated after dark, and the roads aren’t the sort of place where you’d want to linger simply because you’re waiting for the last bit of twilight.
Enjoy the sunset, take in the view, and leave while there’s still enough light to make the journey back comfortably.
Choosing a Restaurant for the View Alone
Udaipur’s lakeside restaurants are tempting, but a beautiful view doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get an exceptional meal. We learned this ourselves while eating at different restaurants around the city.
Some of our better meals weren’t necessarily at the places with the most spectacular views. So don’t choose a restaurant solely because you can see Lake Pichola or the City Palace from your table—look at the food, reviews, menu and overall experience too.
Our guide to Where to Eat in Udaipur: Top Lakeside Restaurants, Heritage Dining & Local Eats brings together our recommendations if you’re looking for places to eat during your trip.
Relying Completely on GPS
We travelled around Udaipur extensively by Uber and local rickshaws, so navigation was never really our problem. Our drivers knew the city well and rarely seemed bothered about following the route shown on the phone. They simply knew how to get us where we needed to go.
But it did make us wonder: what if we had been driving ourselves?
If you’re visiting Udaipur with your own car, don’t rely completely on GPS and assume that the route shown on your screen is necessarily the easiest one for you to follow.
This is particularly relevant around the Old City, where narrow lanes, busy streets and limited vehicle access can make local knowledge valuable. Google Maps can show you where to go; it can’t give you the instincts of someone who has been driving those roads for years.
If you’re self-driving, use GPS as a navigation aid rather than your only source of judgment. When something doesn’t look practical, don’t be afraid to stop somewhere convenient, park and continue on foot.
Assuming Udaipur Stays Open Late
One mistake first-time visitors can make is assuming Udaipur stays active late into the night.
Most local attractions close around sunset or by 9 p.m., markets generally wind down by 10 p.m., and malls by around 11 p.m. Most restaurants wrap up by midnight, with the notable exception of restaurants within hotel properties that may stay open later.
Udaipur does have a nightlife scene, but it isn’t a city that stays fully active through the night. We also noticed that Uber availability became less frequent after around 10 p.m. during our stay, which is something to keep in mind if you’re relying on app-based transport.
The takeaway is simple: enjoy Udaipur’s evenings, but don’t assume the city will still be buzzing whenever you decide to step out. By midnight, much of Udaipur has already called it a night.
Final Thoughts
Udaipur isn’t a difficult city to visit. In fact, its relatively compact size, abundance of attractions and easygoing atmosphere can make it one of the more enjoyable cities to explore in Rajasthan. But it is also a city where the way you travel can make as much difference as the places you visit.
You don’t need to see everything, stay in the “perfect” neighbourhood, chase every attraction or fill every hour of your itinerary. Give yourself time to walk, sit by a lake, notice the architecture, linger over a meal and simply experience the city. At the same time, pay attention to the practical details—timings, distances, transport and when the city begins to wind down for the night.
Our nine mistakes aren’t meant to tell you how to travel through Udaipur. They’re meant to help you avoid the little things that can make a good trip unnecessarily rushed, tiring or frustrating.
Because Udaipur isn’t really a city you conquer. It’s a city you experience. And the more you slow down and understand it, the more it gives back.
