How to Explore Udaipur at Minimum Cost

To explore Udaipur at a minimum cost, travellers must stay away from expensive boat rides, avoid taking a camera into palaces, skip the day trips, stick with the cheapest transportation, eat at the local food streets and stay at a hostel. However, you are already on the lucky side as Udaipur is one of the cheapest places to travel solo in India. 

But when it comes to travelling, sketching plans to save money takes the frontline. Extensively, female travellers are known to show expertise in this field. If that is true, you are already familiar with ways to save money, such as booking tickets early, travelling off-season, purchasing event tickets online, and using coupons. However, these things always work for a person who has already been to Udaipur. It falls on me to help you even more in minimising the cost in Udaipur. So, follow the tips I have mentioned above to explore Udaipur cheaply in the best way possible. Continue reading to know the alternatives for expensive experiences in Udaipur.

1. Say ‘No’ to boat rides at City Palace Udaipur

In the beginning, when I said expensive boat rides, I meant the ones in City Palace Complex. There is more than one reason why you should not take a boat ride at the City Palace Complex. First, not only the boat rides but the places ( lagoon palaces) where these boats take you are super expensive. Considering your motive of planning cheaper, you can’t afford to stay at five-star hotels.

If not staying, you can still make a reservation for lunch or dinner in these hotels, like the popular candlelit dinner at the Jagmandir Palace. The boat ride to these palaces costs between Rs.400 to Rs.500 from morning to evening. Late evening an extra 200 is charged, making it Rs.700. So much money for just a 20 to 40-minute ride! Therefore, avoid expensive boat rides in the City Palace Complex. Instead, you can take boat rides for just Rs.30 in Fateh Sagar Lake, Badi Lake, and Tiger Lake.

2. Avoid paying camera charges in tourist places

Camera charges are an additional expense on your travel. From palaces to gardens, no matter where you go, you will see a sign stating cameras are allowed, followed by the shocking entry fees. For instance, in the City Palace Udaipur, if you take a normal camera, they charge Rs.50. And for a video camera, it is Rs.500. Even in gardens, there is an entry fee for a camera. Compared to the palaces, the camera charges are low in the garden and other places, ranging between Rs.50 to Rs.100. Therefore, as part of our minimum budget mission, you should avoid taking a camera into tourist places. 

3. Skip the day trips and shrink your travel plan

So, the next strategy for minimising costs is to skip the day trips near Udaipur. Usually, travellers in Udaipur visit nearby locations such as Kumbhalgarh Fort, Eklingji Temple, Chittorgarh Fort, Devigarh Palace, and Ranakpur Jain Temple, to name a few. Supposedly, the con in taking day trips is you will have to spend a lot of money on transportation, let alone other charges. So, by avoiding day trips, you can save a lot of money.

That said, if needed, you can cut down your travel plan. Since day trips are out of the list now, you can tightly pack your day with the attractions of Udaipur alone. That way, you can reduce your travel time in Udaipur. 

One day is more than enough to explore Udaipur if it makes it any better. You can cover the most popular tourist spots of Udaipur within a day. So, shrinking your solo travel time in Udaipur is one promising way to save money. If you need help in planning one day in Udaipur, click here.

4. Choose a cost-effective mode of transportation

Transportation charges are a nightmare for solo travellers. Most of the time, transportation charges surpass the entry fees to tourist destinations. Given this, you should choose the best mode of transportation in Udaipur. In the old city of Udaipur, you can always walk to the places, but they are time-consuming. So, you can either rent a bike or hire an auto. However, remember that when you rent a bike, you should see the parking amenities. Similarly, when exploring the new city of Udaipur, cabs cost cheaper than autos.

5. Stay at an affordable hotel or cheap hostel 

Turning next is choosing the best accommodation. For a solo female traveller in Udaipur, hostels are the safest and cheapest choice of accommodation. It is a simple equation. If you can spend Rs.10,000 for a day, five-star hotels like Taj Palace and Leela Palace will welcome you. Likewise, three-star hotels such as Lake Pichola and Hotel Panorama Haveli are ideal if you have a budget of Rs.1000. Although these are some affordable hotels in Udaipur, hostels are even cheaper. Yes! The cost of a hostel in Udaipur is only Rs.100 per day. So, undoubtedly, hostels are the best for exploring Udaipur at a minimum cost. 

6. Eat delicious at the food street

At last, to explore Udaipur at minimum cost, you should eat at the local restaurants or in one of the food streets. Chetak circle and Bombay Bazar are amazing places to eat delectable street foods cheaper. That said, some local restaurants in Udaipur also come on the inexpensive side. For example, Santosh Bhojnalaya restaurant offers a Rajasthani Thali for Rs.160, and Natraj restaurant offers unlimited Thali for just Rs.240. So, you have numerous cheap options to eat umpty in Udaipur.

So, use these tips to reduce your travel expenses. If you have any additional suggestions for exploring Udaipur on a budget, please leave them in the comments section. I would be delighted to read them. Together, we can assist our fellow solo female travellers in making their trip remarkable!