One of the most romantic cities in India, Udaipur is also known as the Venice Of East. Named after its founder,Maharana Udai Singh II, it is also one of the most famous travel destinations in India.This City of Dawn attracts visitors from all across the world.The city of Udaipur is a lovely land around the Azure water lakes hemmed in by the lush hills of the Aravallis. Udaipur has myriad number of travel places that could be of interest. Here we provide you with some useful information about UDAIPUR.

Best Time To Visit

If you want to enjoy Udaipur in its full glory, it would be better to plan your trip during the winters. The best time to visit Udaipur is between the months of September and March.

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Travel Tips

Collect or exchange as much small change as practical, very few people seem to have change, especially in rural areas.

Take a fair amount of small denomination US money for airport (departure) taxes and when you only need to exchange a small amount of money-like when leaving a country. You can also often get better prices in shops if you pay with greenbacks.

In general, cash is better than traveler's checks. Cash can be easier and quicker to exchange and command a higher rate or the commission can be lower. In some places, the larger the denomination of bills, the better the exchange rate. Many merchants will take dollars and their rate of exchange can be higher than the "official" rate.

Refer to your guide book on the existence of any black market for currency exchange and whether to or how to use it. Some countries are more tolerant of black markets than others.

When you exchange money, exchange as much as you think you will need for some time as it can be a real time consuming task or the banks will have odd (and short) hours. You may not be able to exchange money at all in small towns or in the countryside. Money can also be exchanged in many hotels.

Take a personal check and an American Express card. If you need more money, you can go into an American Express office with your card and write a check for traveler's checks. Cash machines are also more common now in large cities.

Keep money and valuables in a money belt or pouch under your clothes. If you carry a bag for guide books, maps, brochures, etc., use one with a zipper and hang on to it. Leave your wallet and purse at home. Crimes that take place are usually crimes of opportunity, like pickpockets, as opposed to violent crime (unlike in the U.S. According to FBI statistics from more than 80 other countries, only the Bahamas has a higher than the U.S. per capita frequency of robberies and violent thefts).

Unless you have an audience with the head of state, leave all jewelry (and engagement ring) at home.

ALWAYS keep your passport, plane ticket, money and camera with you.

If something doesn't't go right, smile and be persistent in what you want. Getting mad, yelling or fist pounding will only be met with resistance.

As soon as you arrive someplace, arrange your way on to your next stop. trains/planes/("first class") busses tend to get booked up in advance. Travel agencies can usually get reservations for you as they book blocks of seats well in advance.

Arrive early and get aboard early any bus/train/plane etc. They can be oversold and/or fill up in a hurry.

When traveling by regular bus, try to get seated close to the front as they will keep packing people in until there is no room left inside. Additional people then hang on the outside and climb on the roof, when travelling in a ordinary bus.

Always settle on a fare before climbing into an un-metered taxi. If metered, make sure the driver will go by the meter or decide on a price. Make sure the price includes everyone in your party. In some countries, the meters can't be readjusted as fast as the rate of inflation so the fare may be the meter price plus X%. Check your guide book or ask someone if the driver won't go by the meter. Rates are often higher in the middle of the night and between an airport and town.

Reconfirm all airline flights along the way. It is possible to show up for a flight and not have a reservation because you did not reconfirm.

Every time you check in at the airport, check your tickets afterwards and make sure that the agent did not tear out more tickets than she/ he was supposed to.

When you step out the door of an airport, be prepared to become the focal point of dozens of taxi drivers and kids drumming up business for busses. Know what you want to do before stepping through the door. Check your travel guide or ask someone in the airport how much a ride to town should cost and what the choices are.

When you step off the bus or whatever in a new town and need a place to stay, and some kids come up and offer to show you a place, go ahead and use them. You can always take a look and say no. They are just trying to drum up business for someplace and/or a commission for themselves.

When asking directions to someplace, ask several people, and keep asking as you go.

Use a travel alarm clock to wake you up in time for that early morning bus/train/plane.

Medicines of all kinds are usually available in local pharmacies with no prescription necessary. Check expiration dates.

Unless you are in an expensive restaurant, you will be charged for any bread, butter, jam, cheese, olives, etc. on your table that you eat.

Check your guidebook for taxi and restaurant tipping guidelines. In some places the service is included, others it is not, and in still others there is a combination of included service charges and tipping. For tipping 10% of the bill amount is good.

If you wear shoes that can be polished, watch for kids who will sneak up to you, slap some polish on your shoes, then offer to finish the job. Settle on a price first if you decide to proceed.

If you hand out coins to children, you are likely to start a parade.

Above all, use common sense!

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Travel Risks

Things To Remember

On the streets, wear shoulder bags across the body (impossible to snatch), and keep all money and valuables out of sight (never in unzipped pockets).

Beware of being frisked by beggars pretending a friendly hug. Never give anyone your camera, radio or walk man to 'look at',unless you feel quite sure of getting it back again.

On trains, where there is much robbery, use your ruck-sack or bag as a pillow(or stash it under your knees)when sleeping. If going to the bathroom, bolt your bag to a fixed compartment attachment or to a window bar.

On crowded local buses, keep a constant eye on your luggage. You may be asked to put your bags under a seat to make room for other passenger. Don't do it.

In cheap lodging, double-lock the door(with combination padlock) and secure all windows before retiring for the night-thieves are adept at creeping into unsecured hotel rooms.

If leaving your luggage for anywhere, for any reason, padlock it to a pipe, a bedstead, or anything that cannot be moved. Some hotels will remind it for you-but always get a receipt, and always check nothing's missing on your return.

Don't accept any food or drink from total strangers, especially on trains or buses. There are good chances that it might be drugged.

Fear, anger or carelessness all attract theft; calm confidence and alertness deter it. If you become a victim, report your loss to the police by all means(you will need their report for any insurance claim), but do not expect a lot of sympathy. India is for the self-reliant -a quality that some travellers have to learn the hard way.

Health Precautions

Keep a flask of fresh drinking water handy all the times. Top it up each morning before you leave your hotel. This saves you having to drink local (often insanitary) water. Remember most of the diseases out here are water-borne.

Never drink any water (even in restaurants) that has not been filtered, sterilized with water purification tablets or with solution of iodine (made up by a pharmacist),or boiled for at least 10 minutes. Since you will never be sure of this, always take mineral water to drink. Avoid local companies.

With aerated drinks or fruit juices, never drink from the bottle-always ask for a straw. Be especially careful with soda-water:it's often made in somebody's backyard, loaded with typhoid germs.

Always peel your own fruit and vegetables-steer clear of raw vegetables salads, raw sugar-cane or (a big cause of amoebic dysentery) iced cane-juice.

Eat three square meals a day. In hot, dry climates (like Rajasthan) it is common for travellers to go right off solid foods, and to live on a watery diet of fruit salads, curds, and loads of bottled drinks. The inevitable result is diarrhoea. To soak up all that excess liquid, you will have to get back to solids (bananas, breads, biscuits etc.) immediately.

In very dry climates like in Rajasthan remember the best way to quenching thirst is to drink deeply and seldom, not little and often.

When eating with your fingers(indian custom), clean them first-most restaurants have a wash-hand basin. Better, use moistened medicated tissues or (when travelling) orange_skin peeling. You'd be amazed how difficult it is to keep clean in India-though the Indian people themselves are among the cleanest in the world!

Avoid throat and chest complaints-ration visits to (fiercely air-conditioned) luxury hotels and restaurants, and go easy on sun bathing or bathing in cold swimming pools. When travelling in tour buses, always wear a cap or scarf. Walking along the dusty street (cum public spitting!),get in to the habit of breathing through nose, not the mouth.

Keep your medical kit regularly replenished. Before you head off into remote places visit a local pharmacist and stock up on aspirins, diarrhoea tablets, insect cream, salt tablets and other first-aid essentials.

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Tourist Offices

India Tourist Offices Overseas

Australia : Level 2, Picadilly, 210 Pitt St, Sydney, NSW 2000, Tel:-02-9264 4855, Fax:-9264 4860

Canada: 60 Floor St, West Suite No 1003, Toronto, Ontario, Tax:-416-962 3787, Fax:-962 6279

France : 11-13 Bis Boulevard Hausmann, F75009, Paris Tel:-01 45 23 30 45 , Fax:-01 45 23 33 45

Germany: Baserler St 46, 60329, Frankfurt AM-Main 1, Tel:-069-24 29 49 0, Fax:-24 29 49 77

Italy : Via Albricci 9, Milian 20122, Tel:-02-805 3506, Fax:-7202 1681

Japan: Pearl Building, 9-10 Chome Ginza, Chuo Ku, Tokyo 104, Tel:-33-571 5062, Fax:-571 5235.

The Netherlands : Rokin 9-15, 1012 Amsterdam, Tel:-020-620 8891, Fax:-638 3059

Singapore: 20 Kramat Lane, 01-01A United House, Singapore 0922. Tel:-2353800, Fax:-2358677.

Sweden : Sveavagen 9-11 1st Flr, s-III 57, Stockholm 11157, Tel:-08-21 50 81, Fax:- 21 01 86.

Switzerland: 1-3 rue de Chantepoulet, 1201 Geneva, Tel:-41-227321813, Fax:-7315660.

Thailand : 3rd Flr, KFC Bldg, 62/5 Thaniya Rd, Bangkok 10500, Tel:-662-2352585, Fax:-2368411

UK : 7, Cork St, London W1X 2AB, Tel:-0171-437 3677/ 01233-211999 Fax:-0171-494 1048.

USA : 3550 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 204, Los Angles, California 90010. Tel: 213-417 3824, Fax: 380 8855;
30, Rockerfeller Plaza, Suite 15, New York, NY 10112, Tel:-212-586 4901, Fax:-582 3274

Government of Rajasthan (Tourism Sector)

Ajmer : Tourist Reception Center, RTDC Hotel Khadim, Tel:-0145-2627426

Alwar : Tourist Reception Center, Opposite Railway Station, Tel:-0144-221868

Banswara : Tourist Office, Near Bus Stand, Tel:-02962-241081

Bharatpur: Tourist Reception Center, RTDC Hotel Saras, Agra Road, Tel:-05644-222542

Bikaner : Tourist Reception Center, Hotel Dhola Maru, Tel:-0151-2544125

Bundi: Tourist Office, Circuit House Campus, Tel:-0747-222697

Calcutta : Tourist Office, 2, Ganesh Chandara Avenue, 1st Floor, Commerce House, Tel:-033-2379051,                Fax:-033-22159740

Chennai : Toursit Office, 28, Commander-In-Chief Road, Tel:-044-28272093

Chittorgarh : Tourist Reception Center, Janta Avas Grih, Near Railway Station, Tel:-01472-241089

Jaipur : Tourist Reception Center, Tourist Hotel (Govt. Hostel), MI Road, Tel:-0141-2365256/2370180

Jaisalmer : Tourist Reception Center, Station Road, Tel:-02992-252406

Jodhpur : Regional Tourist Office, RTDC Hotel Ghoomar Campus, Jodhpur. Tel:-0291-2545083

Kota: Tourist Reception Center, RTDC Hotel, Chambal, Tel:-0744-2327695

Mount Abu : Tourist Reception Center, Opposite Bus Stand, Tel:-02974-243151

Mumbai: Tourist Office, 230, Dr. D.N.Road, Tel:-022-2074162, Fax:-022-22075603

New Delhi : Tourist Reception Center, Bikaner House, Pandara Road, Tel:-011-23389525/23383837
                 Fax:- 011-23382823/23381884

Udaipur : Tourist Reception Center, Fateh Memorial, Surajpol, Tel:-0294-2411535,1364

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In Emergency

Emergency Contact Numbers (Udaipur)

Local Telephone Directory
Police Control Room
Ambulance
Fire Brigade
Railway Enquiry
Rail Reservation (Computerized)
Roadways Bus Stand
Foreigner Registration Dept
Jet Airways
Indian Airlines
General Hospital (Government)
Superintendent of Police
Tourist Reception Centre
WZCC Tourist Bureau

197
100
102
101
131
135 (Computerized), 2483979
2484191
2410202
2561105
2410999
2528811
2413949
2411535
2422567

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Weather

Rainfall

Monsoons arrive in the month of July heralded by dust and thunderstorms. The city annually receives around 637 mm of rainfall. This scanty amount of rainfall makes Udaipur more humid. The humidity reaches to the extent of 90 % during the months of Monsoons.

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What To Wear

Considering the weather in mind, Udaipur is sited amidst the lakes in Rajasthan. Being a desert land, Rajasthan observes extreme type of climate and Udaipur, being situated in a desert land and that too with lakes, observes tropical climate. The weather is usually humid and sticky. So, light cotton clothes are preferable in Udaipur. If you are going in summers or monsoons, you can take comfortable cotton based clothes that can absorb sweat and dried up easily. If touring in winters, you can take light woolens along with to cope up with the weather of Udaipur. The traditional dress of Rajasthani men is angarakha (an upper garment) and dhoti or pajama (a lower garment) for men. For women, kurti or top and a Ghaghra (skirt) make their dress, yet it is not compulsory to wear the conventional dresses of Rajasthan in Udaipur. You can always wear decent attire of modern times, which is totally endurable in the city of Udaipur.

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