Day trips from Udaipur: which places are worth the drive

Twelve places are usually offered as day trips from Udaipur. They are not equal. Some take half a day, some fill a day and two are long enough that a night away is kinder. This page compares them on one measure, then helps you choose.

Every distance below is by road and measured, not guessed. Hotel figures start from Hotel Rudra Kripa in Sukher, north of the old city.

Day trips from Udaipur at a glance

“How long to allow” is time on site and is a suggestion, not a fixed figure. Add the drive both ways. Jawai is measured to Jawai Bandh village. Published figures for Jawai differ, and many sites do not say where they end.

Which day trip should I choose?

I want the shortest outing

Eklingji and Nagda. They are about 2.4 km apart, so you can see both in a morning or afternoon and be back for lunch.

I want a fort

Kumbhalgarh if you want the wall and the hills, 2 hr 30 min each way. Chittorgarh if you want a much larger hilltop fort and can spend a long day. Both are on the list of Hill Forts of Rajasthan, which is a World Heritage property. Read the Kumbhalgarh Fort guide before you go.

I want temples

Ranakpur for carved marble and a Jain setting, Eklingji and Nagda for carved stone temples, Nathdwara if you want to visit a working pilgrimage town, Sanwaliya Seth if you are already heading to Chittorgarh.

I want history

Haldighati for the battle that gives the place its name, with the Maharana Pratap Museum nearby. Add Nathdwara, which is only 55 min away.

I want water and quiet

Rajsamand and Jaisamand. Neither needs much time, and both fit on the way to or from another stop.

I want a hill town

Mount Abu, but not as a day trip. See the section on overnight stays below.

I have one day and children or older relatives

Choose one stop and one meal, not a loop. Nathdwara with Haldighati, or Eklingji with Nagda, keep the car time under about two hours in total.

Photo: Karora23 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Route logic: the north road

Eklingji, Nagda, Haldighati, Nathdwara, Rajsamand and Kumbhalgarh all lie north of Udaipur. They sit on the same general corridor, so they combine well and you rarely double back. A sensible order runs outward in one direction and returns by another stop rather than the same road.

• Half day: Eklingji, then Nagda. Eklingji is about 23 km, 1 hr from the City Palace and Nagda is 2.4 km further on.
• Full day, pilgrimage and history: Haldighati first, then Nathdwara, which is 19.3 km from Haldighati. Nathdwara is about 47 km, 1 hr 15 min from the City Palace. See the Nathdwara guide for how to approach the temple.
• Full day with a lake: add Rajsamand Lake, about 65 km, 1 hr 40 min from the City Palace, after Nathdwara.

Photo: Soundarya Varadarajan · CC BY-SA 3.0

Route logic: the Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur loop

Kumbhalgarh and Ranakpur are 34 km apart, about 55 min by road in these figures. Published distances between them vary. This is a common pairing, and it makes a full day.

Kumbhalgarh is about 97 km, 2 hr 30 min from the City Palace and Ranakpur is about 90 km, 2 hr 15 min. The loop is long, so start early. Go to Kumbhalgarh first for the fort in the morning light. Reach Ranakpur after noon, because non-Jain visitors are reported to be admitted from about noon. Then drive back to Udaipur.

Photo: plusgood · CC BY 2.0

Route logic: Chittorgarh with Sanwaliya Seth

Sanwaliya Seth is at Mandaphiya, about 88 km, 2 hr 15 min from the City Palace, on the way to Chittorgarh. Chittorgarh is 41 km further, taking 1 hr 5 min. The fort itself is about 119 km, 3 hr from the City Palace.

That is a long day. The drive alone is around 6 hr there and back before you step out of the car. Leave early, stop at Sanwaliya Seth on the way out, and keep the fort for the middle of the day.

The Government of India’s Incredible India site lists Chittorgarh Fort as open from sunrise to sunset. It also lists a light and sound show in English and Hindi at 7 pm to 8 pm. The state tourism page says only “after sunset”. A third-party site gives 9:30 am to 5 pm for the fort. As the sources differ, check on the day. A show at 7 pm would mean driving back in the dark.

Photo: Ssjoshi111 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Mount Abu and Jawai are better overnight

Mount Abu is about 160 km, 4 hr from the City Palace. Jawai is about 125 km, 3 hr 10 min. Each would take about 8 hr or more in the car for a round trip, and Jawai about 6 hr 20 min.

You would arrive tired and leave with little time on the ground. A day trip to either mostly gives you a long drive. It is better to treat them as stays of one night at least, and plan the journey as the start of a trip rather than an outing.

Mount Abu

The Dilwara temples are five temples built between the 11th and 13th centuries, about 2.5 km from Mount Abu town, in white marble (Rajasthan Tourism). They are about 161 km, 4 hr from the City Palace. Hours are reported, not official: Trawell gives Jain devotees 6 am to 12 pm and other visitors 12 pm to 5 pm. We found no official trust site, so check on arrival.

Photo: Brihaspati · CC BY-SA 4.0

Jawai

Jawai is a dam and granite hills in Pali district. We found no official source for visiting arrangements, so plan it through whoever you stay with and ask for current details before you commit.

Photo: Namita07 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Does staying in Sukher help or hurt?

Sukher is north of the old city. That helps with the northern routes and costs a little for everything else. Honest figures, measured by road:

So the gain is real but modest, and mostly on Eklingji, Nathdwara and Kumbhalgarh. The loss is at the station: Udaipur City railway station is about 10.8 km from the hotel against 3.8 km from the City Palace. If you arrive or leave by train for an early departure, allow for that.

If you want a driver for any of these trips, ask at reception whether they can arrange one. We do not list tour prices, and any figure you are quoted should be agreed before you set out.

Before you go

• Temple timings change. For Nathdwara, use the official temple site for darshan times, not a printed timetable.
• Eklingji has no official page that we could open. One guide, Trawell, reports 4:15 am to 6:45 am, 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and 5:15 pm to 7:45 pm. It is undated and the only source we found, so treat it as reported.
• The Maharana Pratap Museum at Haldighati lists 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on its own site, but that page was last changed in July 2022. Reported hours elsewhere differ. Check before you go.
• Fees for Kumbhalgarh and Chittorgarh forts vary between sources, and a draft ASI rule from September 2026 could change them. See the Kumbhalgarh guide and confirm the fee at the counter.
• Check the current road in a live maps app before a long drive, especially after rain.