Hi, I'll be spending a few days in Udaipur next year and was curious if anyone has taken the trip to Ranakpur. Given about 2 + days in Udaipur, is Ranakpur a good use of time or are there enough attactions in Udaipur? Any other excursions worth the limited time? Thanks for your insights.

Udaipur needs quite a bit of time if you want to enjoy the lake and the different things to do in town. Ranakpur is worthwile though as well. I would try to do 1.5 days in Udaipur and take out a day to go to Ranakpur. I would definitely not try to squeeze in something else though. Where are you heading from Udaipur? Direction Bundi/Kota?

Hi Cram, actually I'll be doing an individual extension to Udaipur after a 17-day tour throughout northern India, Jaipur to Varanesi. Udaipur got my attention and thought I'd try and do it before heading home. I hope this doesn't sound like heresy! Thanks for your insights.

Richard,
Will be in India myself in Feb, touring places in Rajastan I haven't been to yet. Just for my inspiration, may I know how your itinerary is?

Hi again Cram, I will be on a commercial tour of 17 days. Rather than clog up this site with the itinerary, let me refer you to the OATtravel site (Overseas Adventure Travel). The detailed itinerary is spelled out in their "Heart of India" tour.

I would recommend Ranakpur, as much as for the countryside between Udaipur and Ranakpur as for the temple complex itself. Lovely farms and small towns in the mountains. The main temple in Ranakpur is by far the cleanest and most serene temple I saw in 21 days in Rajasthan. I found Udaipur to be oddly more "western" than most other Rajasthan tourist stops. The queen's garden in Udaipur is a nice quiet stop. It's a shame the lake is so far down. I loved seeing the Lake Palace, but when I was there, tour groups of all nationalities were stuffing their faces in the buffet. It was set in the restaurant which had walls of carved marble, and did detract from the beauty of the place.