Where to stay in Udaipur
Here the view is the product, so it comes down to which side of Lake Pichola you wake on: quieter, cheaper Hanuman Ghat for the postcard angle, or Jagdish Chowk to walk to the sights.
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In short
Where to stay in Udaipur
For a first Udaipur trip, base yourself on the Hanuman Ghat (west) side of Lake Pichola unless you have a reason not to. It gives you the postcard view back at the City Palace and the floating palaces for less money and far less noise than the bazaar opposite. Choose Jagdish Chowk in the old city if you want to walk to the sights and don't mind the crush, Lal Ghat for the cheapest lake-facing rooftop rooms, and the Taj Lake Palace or Oberoi Udaivilas only as a one-night splurge, not a base.
The short version
- Best all-rounder: Hanuman Ghat, the quieter west bank with the best-value lake view.
- Best value: Lal Ghat, the backpacker strip with cheap lake-facing rooftops.
- Best atmosphere: Jagdish Chowk in the old city, on the doorstep of the City Palace.
- Best for a romantic splurge: the lake hotels — Taj Lake Palace or Oberoi Udaivilas — for one big night.
- Avoid booking on the airport/UDR side or the modern New City as your hotel filter; you'll lose the lake — the entire reason to come.
Best areas to book
Hanuman Ghat (west bank)
££ mid-rangeThe quieter old-city side directly across the water, where rooftop guesthouses and cafes look straight back at the City Palace and the Taj Lake Palace. You get the city's best-value lake view and calmer nights than the bazaar opposite, at the cost of a five-minute footbridge walk over the Daiji or Chand Pol bridges to reach the main sights.
Best for: First-timers, couples, lake views, calmer evenings
Jagdish Chowk / Old City (east bank)
££ mid-rangeThe tight knot of lanes right by the City Palace gate and Jagdish Temple, with the most restaurants, shops and walkable sights of anywhere in town. It is the easiest base for getting around on foot, but it is also the loudest — temple bells, tuk-tuks and persistent touts in narrow streets — and not every room here actually faces the lake.
Best for: First-timers wanting to walk to everything
Lal Ghat
£ valueThe strip of lake-facing guesthouses just north of the City Palace, long popular with backpackers and budget travellers for its cheap rooftop rooms and easy access to the Rameshwar Ghat boats. The trade-off is small, plain rooms and crowded lanes in winter season; pay for an actual upper-floor lake view rather than a windowless room a tariff card calls 'deluxe'.
Best for: Value lake-view stays near the boats
Gangaur Ghat
££ mid-rangeThe atmospheric stretch of ghat and stepped waterfront between Lal Ghat and the Bagore Ki Haveli museum, where the evening Dharohar folk-dance show runs and the sunset crowd gathers. Mid-range heritage-style rooms here put you a short walk from both the boats and the old-city restaurants, but the ghat itself gets busy and music carries late.
Best for: Sunset access, heritage feel, short walks to the boats
Fateh Sagar Lake
££ mid-rangeThe second, larger lake to the north, ringed by a breezy lakeside drive, Nehru Garden island and a more local, residential feel. Rooms are quieter and often roomier here, and it is handy for Sajjangarh (the Monsoon Palace) and Saheliyon Ki Bari gardens, but you are a ₹100-150 tuk-tuk ride from the City Palace and the Lake Pichola view that draws most people in.
Best for: Quiet, more space, travellers with a couple of nights
The lake islands and luxury hotels
£££ premiumThe Taj Lake Palace and the Leela floating on the water, with Oberoi Udaivilas spread across the far bank, are the splurge tier — proper heritage-hotel territory where a single night runs into many hundreds of pounds. They are spectacular and worth one night for an anniversary, but they cut you off from the old-city lanes, so budget for the boat or car transfer every time you want to leave.
Best for: A one-night heritage-hotel splurge
The simple choice
Filter for an upper-floor, lake-facing room on the Hanuman Ghat side first, then compare Lal Ghat if the price looks high. That single rule keeps first-timers out of the two common traps here: paying old-city rates for a windowless room that doesn't see the water, or saving a few pounds by staying out near the airport or the modern New City and missing the Lake Pichola view that is the entire reason to come. A mid-range lake-view double sits around £30-60 a night; the splurge in Udaipur is always the room, never the day-to-day.
Compare Udaipur lake-view staysSafety and noise
Udaipur is one of Rajasthan's gentler cities, but GOV.UK still flags pickpocketing and bag-snatching in crowded tourist areas across India, along with commission-hungry touts, so a calmer Hanuman Ghat or Fateh Sagar street usually beats a room right on the busiest old-city lane especially if you're arriving jet-lagged off a Delhi or Mumbai connection. Noise is the real variable: temple bells start early near Jagdish Chowk, and the Gangaur Ghat folk show and rooftop restaurants run music into the evening. Ask for a room set back from the lane, and use the Ola or Uber app rather than hailing a street tuk-tuk when you transfer in.
The floating Taj Lake Palace is a hotel, not a sight — you can visit it only as a guest or with a confirmed dinner booking. As a base it isolates you from the lanes, so most people enjoy it as the view from a Hanuman Ghat rooftop instead.
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