Udaipur Is Rajasthan's Most Beautiful City

After 12 days in Rajasthan, eyes glued out the window during all of my long drives, I'm confident in saying that Udaipur is the state's most beautiful city. From my conversations with locals and tourists alike, this seems to be an agreed-upon truth.

As one of the southernmost cities in the desert state, it is greener and more vibrant. Its beauty is mostly derived, though, from the seven artificial lakes. The first and largest, Lake Pichola, was created over a period of 15 years in the 15th century, and the town was born about a hundred and fifty years later.

Cleverly built, the seven lakes vary in size and are all connected by channels so that when one becomes over-filled the locks can be opened so that water can flow out to the others. The old town surrounds Lake Pichola, where the floating palace rests on the water. However, only the second-smallest lake has a ring road that circles the whole perimeter. It's worth a drive in this newer section to get out of old town and see where the locals stroll. It's also the way to the Princess Gardens, which are small but a definite highlight.