It is no secret that I love Jaipur. It’s a city that helped me find my creativity again and is now the cornerstone of this business. Jaipur is the home of block printing as well as so many other crafts and having just arrived back from a trip there I thought I woul’d give you all a round up of my recommendations.
I have blogged previous trips too and you can find my 48 hours in Jaipur post here.
One very quick point, Jaipur is a busy city but is walkable in places, loosely on a grid structure and tuk tuk drivers are always around. Always ask for the price before you get in and feel free to haggle!
Sleep
I always stay at the Alsisar Haveli in the older part of town. It is on the slightly more expensive side (for Indian hotels) but it is a gorgeous heritage hotel with really friendly staff and a resident dog called Stella. The food is delicious if you want to have dinner at the hotel, buffet breakfast is extensive with Indian options as well as western and a waffle station!
The outdoor pool is unheated but perfect for cooling off after a day of sightseeing, shopping or meetings (if you’re also there for work).
The location is tucked just off one of the main roads through Jaipur and once you get into the internal courtyard there is barely any traffic noise, bar the beeping. Because of this location it is always easy to pick up tuk-tuks and the hotel is more than happy to organise taxis for you.
Other places I have heard good things about but haven’t stayed at myself are :
Eat
I adore food from India, whether I am in the country or back at home in the UK, so trying lots of different dishes is something that I really love doing. I am a little cautious of street food and usually avoid green salads (especially if I am travelling around a lot on a trip) but other than that I’ll try most things.
We had some delicious food in Jaipur this time, going back to places that I’ve been before and also trying somewhere new with my suppliers.
- Dagla – The Rooftop, Indira Bazaar Road. I’ve eaten here before and once again dinner on this rooftop, overlooking the city, didn’t disappoint. They serve traditional Rajasthani dishes with lots of choice for meat eaters and vegetarians (the aubergine dishes and dahl makhani are amazing). Great gin and tonics as well.
- LMB – Johari Bazaar Road. A great lunch spot, particularly if you’ve been shopping or visiting the City Palace. LMB is an institution and sells sweets from its counters as you enter and in the back room serves delicious Rajasthani dishes and their famous thali which comprises of lots of little bits to try. I have it on good authority that the cheesecake and milkshakes are great too.
- Anokhi Cafe – Prithviraj Road. We had delicious tea and cakes here but their salads, mezze plates and sandwiches also looked really good (and I would trust salad from here). This cafe is situated in the Anokhi store which also means you do shopping before or after your snacks! Perfect
- Handhi – Mirza Ismail Road. This was a new one for me but boy the food was good! Serving food since 1987, the peanut masala to start was incredible, worth going for alone. We also loved the Malai Chicken Tikka and the Butter Chicken
Shop
Jaipur is great for shopping. There is of course the cheap and cheerful markets but also really lovely more high end boutiques. This is not an exhaustive list but they are places that I have either shopped at on this trip, have shopped at before or had a really lovely browse in.
- The PDKF Store – City Palace – Based at the City Palace this is a delightful shop supporting the female artisans employed by the PDK foundation and is perfect for gifting. I can never leave the shop without one of their cute block printed elephants but they now have clothing and accessories too.
- Anokhi – Prithviraj Road – The original block printed brand that travelled beyond India. Vintage Anokhi from the 70’s is highly prized (and priced) in the UK but don’t let that put you off purchasing when in India. The quality is incredible for the price and the clothing styles vary from traditional kurtas through to bias cut cami tops and everything in between. The homewares are also gorgeous.
- Hassans – Johari Bazaar Road – Two brothers run this business in the bustling Johari Bazaar and it is a love letter to indigo. I love their printed indigo shirts but they also do homewares, dresses, pj’s and so much else. Always a must stop for me.
- Fab India – Krishna Marg – This is a countrywide brand in India so not something you need to necessarly hunt out in Jaipur itself. I always love a mooch round here though as they do great printed summer dresses, tops and shirts.
- Ratnavali Jewels – Brahmpuri Road – I didn’t visit here this time but have done in the past and if you’re in the market for jewellery it is a treasure trove. You can even choose your stone and setting and they will make it for you and deliver to your hotel.
- Nicobar – Prithviraj Road – A new brand for me, we discovered it on the walk from Nila House to Anokhi and I loved their edit of contemporary Indian clothing, pretty ceramics and homewares. Could have bought a lot if I had the space in my case!
See
I’ve written quite indepth articles on visiting Jaipur before, with lots of lovely pictures so I am going to be more succinct here with links and recommendations of places to visit. You can find the full archive of India journal posts here for reference.
- City Palace – This is a must see when you are in Jaipur. Stunning architecture, beautiful decoration and now a really comprehensive museum. We paid to visit the Royal parts of the palace too, which is well worth doing. Since I last visited in 2020 there has been a huge amount of investment in the museum areas and we could have spent so much longer looking at the art collections, learning the history of Jaipur and studying the vast amount of artefacts. We were there from 9am-2pm and started with a guide before then exploring by ourselves.
- Amer Fort – Roughly a 30 minute drive from the centre of Jaipur the Amer fort is also a great trip. Either walk or drive up to the fort istelf (avoiding the elephants) and you’ll be treated to a series of courtyards with, once again, amazing architecture and design work in the spaces. My particular favourites are the Ganesha Pol (gate) and Sukh Niwas with it’s cool marble and decorative niches in a pale blue.
- Jaigarh Fort – Further up the hill from the Amer Fort is the Jaigarh Fort. It’s main claim to fame is for having a giant cannon but you also get fabulous views across the city and countryside. When we visited there was also a lovely sculpture exhibition amongst the old walls.
- Panna Meena Kund – If you’ve driven over to Amer then this stepwell is worth popping to as well. It is not the largest but is still impressive and photographic with its “Escher” style steps.
- Nila House – This was a real highlight. Near the Anokhi store and with it’s own beautiful shop, Nila house is a collection of studios and artist in residence workshops. Founded by Carole Bamford (of Daylesford) it is designed to help keep the arts of Jaipur alive but in a contemporary way. A lovely renovated building, it’s a dream to just wander around but you can also book workshops here to learn for yourself.
- Anokhi Museum of Block Printing – This is one I still haven’t got to but it is firmly on my list for my next trip so thought I would share here.
- Flower & Vegetable Market – This is the second time I have done this morning walking tour and it was even better this time as the vegetable market was open. So many veggies that I hadn’t seen before and it doesn’t matter where I am in the world, a wander around a market is always good. We did book through Air Bnb but this is the link to their own business website, would thoroughly recommend
So there we have it, my Jaipur recommendations. If you’re going soon let me know if it is useful and if you’ve been before and have your own recommendations to add, please pop them in the comments.