Famous for its blue houses and delicious street food, Jodhpur is a popular place in Rajasthan featuring Glorious Palaces, Traditional Havelis, Old Bazaars, Hidden Step Wells and Cultural Experiences.
At first glance, Jodhpur seems to be a bustling city, you need to go deeper into it to experience its real charm.
We experienced village life, went in search of blue houses, savored on delicious Jodhpuri Street food along with visiting its traditional architectures.
If you also want to plan an amazing trip to Jodhpur, this 8 minute read will help you.
Table of Contents
How to reach Jodhpur
By Train – Jodhpur is well connected to major Indian Cities, by train. We took an overnight train from Delhi (10:10 PM) to Jodhpur (9:00 AM) (Rajasthan Sampark Kranti Special) and reached Jodhpur in the morning.
By Flight – Jodhpur has its own airport. The airport is well connected to major Indian Cities. You can take a direct flight from Delhi to Jodhpur.
Best time to visit Jodhpur
Lower temperatures between October to March make it an ideal time to visit Jodhpur. We visited Jodhpur in the month of February. While mornings and evenings were pleasant during this time, the afternoons were warm.
Getting around in Jodhpur
If you are staying in the city, most of the sites are 15-20 minutes away. You can rent a taxi, scooty or even use auto-rickshaws to roam around in Jodhpur.
We rented a scooty for 2 days in Jodhpur. It made our trip very convenient and economical. We booked the scooty from a shop near the Railway Station. It costed us INR 400 per day + fuel.
Where to stay in Jodhpur
From luxury hotels to backpackers hostels, Jodhpur has something for every budget.
We stayed in Taj’s Hari Mahal. It is a heritage property with luxury rooms and peaceful ambiance. If you want to book a luxury stay in Jodhpur, you will not be disappointed with this one.
Food in Jodhpur
Gypsy
Indique
Jhankar
Step Well Café
Shri Mishrilal Hotel Lassi
Janta Sweet Home
Chaturbhuj Gulabjamun
Shahi Samosa
Day by Day breakdown for a trip to Jodhpur
Day 1 Reaching and Exploring Jodhpur
- Reach Jodhpur early in the morning and check in your hotel. We stayed in Taj Hari Mahal.
- We went to Jhankar Restaurant for breakfast. The food is nice and what we found most enticing was the view of Jodhpur from its terrace.
- If you want to explore Blue Houses in Jodhpur, visit Rani Mahal Restaurant. The narrow lanes opposite to Rani Mahal Restaurant leads to blue houses. After you are done exploring these traditional houses, have lunch at Rani Mahal Restaurant. We loved their North Indian Food.
- Rajasthan is famous for its step wells. The most prominent one in Jodhpur is known as Toorji Ka Jhalra. It is the Labyrinth of stairs. Watch your step while climbing down as the well is very deep.
- For some snacks and beer, you can visit Step Well Café. This cafe overlooks the step-well and has nice ambiance and extensive Indo-Western menu.
- For sunset, visit any of the rooftop cafes in Jodhpur. Jodhpur with its magnificent fort and blue houses, looks magical at sunset. The fort illuminates at night with lighting. We visited Indique Restaurant in Pal Haveli. We had an amazing evening watching the sunset and colorful sky of Jodhpur.
- For authentic Rajasthani food, visit Gypsy for Dinner. Gypsy is a casual Rajasthani Restaurant that serves authentic Rajasthani Thalis. We had their Unlimited Thali and it had most of the traditional Rajasthani/ Jodhpuri dishes. It is suggested not to eat alteast 4 hours prior to visiting this Restaurant if you want to enjoy to the fullest, the delicacies served in this huge Thali.
Day 2 Bishnoi Village Safari and savoring Jodhpur’s delicious street food
- If you are a morning person, visit sunrise view point near Mehrangarh Fort. Just ask any local about the sunrise point.
- After breakfast at the hotel, we went for Bishnoi Village Tour. Bishnoi is a local community in Rajasthan. During the tour we met craftsmen such as rug makers, potters and block painters, who are doing their work since generations. We saw a few migratory birds, Reindeer and Chinkaras during the Safari, visited a Bishnoi family and attended one of their tradition called Amal Sabha, followed by lunch. The Safari started around 9:00 AM and we came back to our hotel around 2 pm. We totally recommend this experience.
- Visit Jaswant Thada which is a beautiful white marble architecture and is royal Cemetery of kings. It is also known as the Taj Mahal of Mewar. We loved the place and its ambiance. It is a few minutes ride from Mehrangarh Fort.
- Visit Mehrangarh Fort. The fort was built in 17th century and is one of India’s largest forts. It is visible from almost everywhere in Jodhpur. Explore Fort’s Sheesh Mahal, Phool Mahal and Moti Mahal.
- After that we went street food hopping in Jodhpur. We went to a shop named Shahi Samosa to try their Samosa and Mirchi Vada. Had mouth drooling Mishrilal Lassi followed by famous Chaturbhuj Gulabjamun. We also got packed some aloo pyaaj Kachoris and Mirchi Vada from Janta Sweet Home for our train journey back home. It was all so good that we were more than full but still could not stop ourselves.
- Explore Ghanta Ghar/ clock tower and local markets. It is the busiest and the nosiest place of the city but if you love shopping, you will find clothes, Jewelry, footwear and bags here.
- In the evening, we boarded overnight train to Delhi.
You can also explore Mandore Gaden and Umaid Bhawan Palace Museum if you have more time in hand.
Budget for a trip to Jodhpur
Accommodation
We stayed for 1 night in Taj’s Hari Mahal in Jodhpur. It cost us around INR 13000 per night (including breakfast). We were there to celebrate our anniversary, so we splurged. If you are on budget, you can easily book a good stay in the range of INR 2000-3000 per day. If you are a backpacker, get yourself a bunk bed in a hostel like Moustache or zostel for INR 500-900 per day.
Transport
You can hire a taxi, rent a bike/scooty or use autorickshaws for roaming around in Jodhpur. We hired a scooty and it cost is around INR 400 per day. For 2 days we paid INR 800 + fuel (around INR 200-300).
Food
As Jodhpur is famous for its street food, most of the time you will find yourself indulging in the street food only. And it hardly cost more than INR 100-200 per meal to overfill you. If you love exploring cafes/ restaurants expect to spend around INR 700-1000 per meal for two people. Gypsy’s Thali cost INR 500 per person.
Others
We did Bishnoi Village Safari. It cost around INR 1200 per person (including Lunch). There is a ticket price of visiting a few historical places in Jodhpur including Mehrangarh fort and Jaswant Thada. It cost a total of INR 120 – 150 per person.
Virtual Tour to Jodhpur
If you want a visual experience of our trip to Jodhpur, checkout our Jodhour Travel Video on youtube.
Hope you find this guide useful for planning the trip to Jodhpur. Also do let us know in the comments some more locations in Jodhpur that one can visit during their trip there.