1 Day JODHPUR Itinerary: The Beautiful Blue City of India
Looking for the best places to visit in Jodhpur? In this article, we share our 1 day Jodphur itinerary that will allow you to see the main highlights of this Rajasthani city in just one day. Featuring the most impressive fort, the famous blue city and more – every person travelling through Rajasthan should include Jodphur in their itinerary. Continue reading to find out why!
Jodhpur, the Blue City, is the second largest city in Rajasthan. Sitting on the edge of the Thar Desert, the climate here feels hotter and drier compared to our stops in Udaipur and Jaipur. It’s even suggested that the houses are painted blue to cool the city down against the desert heat.
As there isn’t a huge amount of things to do in Jodhpur, this meant we could fit all of our sightseeing into one day and then take a much-needed day off to recoup. Despite this, we still enjoyed everything we did and the Mehrangarh Fort was actually our favourite fort we saw during our India trip – and we saw a fair few of them.
We stayed at Krishna Prakash Heritage Haveli Hotel which had an excellent rooftop restaurant with a view of the fort that lit up at night. We found the location to be perfect as it was only a short 10-minute walk to the fort and stepwell as well as being surrounded by blue houses for those Instagrammable snaps.
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Contents
Jodhpur: Day 1
Mehrangarh Fort
Price: Rs. 600 (£6.50pp)
The Mehrangarh Fort stands proudly up on the hill with the blue city sprawled beneath. One of the largest forts in Rajasthan, Mehrangarh Fort has a large complex to wander your way around on your visit. This was the highlight of our trip to Jodhpur.
The fort is part of a museum trust and has many artefacts on display. Step inside the palanquin room and marvel at how beautiful these portable beds and seats are. Palanquins are box-like beds on poles used to transport important people using porters or animals, and the ones on display here are fascinating.
From the grounds of the fort, you also have excellent panoramic views across Jodhpur, the blue city and out towards to desert beyond.
Jodhpur Stepwell
Price: Free
Toorji Ka Jhalra Bavdi, otherwise known as the Jodhpur Stepwell, is an 18th Century well that was built by Royals to provide a public water system to the people of Jodhpur. The walls of the well are lined with steps and beautiful carvings into the red sandstone, leading you down to the cool waters below.
We really enjoyed the stepwell. We found that with this stepwell you could sit amongst the locals, take a breath and people-watch. Some kids chose to dive into the pools, volunteers swept the steps before fishing debris out of the water and people came to throw bits of bread for the many fish living in the well itself.
Check out the Stepwell Cafe too for some lunch and light refreshments with the best view of the stepwell.
Tour Jodhpur’s Blue City
Price: Free if self-guided
If like us, you thought all of the houses in Jodhpur would be blue then you’re mistaken. There is a part of the city named the “Blue City” that lies behind the Mehrangarh Fort. Many hotels and tuk-tuks will offer you a tour (we were quoted Rs 1,200 for two) or you could try and find the houses yourself.
We found that walking back from the fort to our hotel there were many blue houses so it was easy to capture some pictures. The ones we found also had some cool graffiti. We have also heard of the “blue corridor” as being part of the tour so add that to your map and head on over.
Clock tower and Sadar market
Price: Free
Ghanta Ghar, the clock tower, seems to be the meeting point of the whole city and signals the start of Old Jodhpur. Standing six tiers tall it looms over the bustling market below. Apparently, you can go inside and climb to the top for a view over the city to the fort but we did not do this ourselves.
The market itself is a hive of activity with stalls of flowers, clothes, jewellery, fruit and vegetables.
Even if you are not buying anything, it is still fun to pass through the market and witness the bustling scenes.
Further Jodhpur Recommendations
There were more things we would have liked to have done in Jodhpur if time and energy levels had permitted it. Here are just a couple of the things from our list:
Flying Fox
Price: Rs. 1,900
One of the things we wished we had the chance to do was the Flying Fox zip line tour. For Rs.1900pp you can fly your way past the fort, over lakes and through the eco-rock park – we couldn’t think of a more thrilling way to experience the best of Jodhpur.
Mandore Gardens
Price: Free
Just five and a half miles out of Jodhpur are the Mandore Gardens. These gardens contain ruins of tombs, temples and terraces of the ancient town that once served as the capital to the Kings of Jodhpur before it was shifted to Mehrangarh Fort for better protection.
Thank you for reading our post on Jodhpur. Why not check out our other India posts for more travel inspiration:
- The Best 10 Things To Do in Mumbai, India
- 3 days in Mumbai, India: The Ultimate Itinerary
- Our 2-day Itinerary in Beautiful Udaipur, India
Let us know in the comments box below if you have any further suggestions 🙂
