The City Palace complex is one of Rajasthan’s architectural highlights. Its Chandra Mahal is still a royal residence and entry is restricted to the ground floor, which houses the Mahal’s museum and a collection of royal memorabilia. Grand courtyards, lush gardens and monuments dot this architectural masterpiece in the middle of Jaipur’s Old City. Built in the 18th century, the opulent palace includes Mukut Mahal, Maharani’s Palace, City Palace Museum and Shri Govind Dev Temple.

Standing tall along the banks of Lake Pichola are a series of palaces stitched together — all built in different eras starting from the 16th century. There are eleven individual palaces here, filling Udaipur’s skyline and forming the largest palace complex in Rajasthan.

City Palace has several entrance gates known as pols, but you’ll most likely enter through Bara pol, which takes you into a courtyard and the triple-arched Tripolia gate. The courtyard is filled with eight marble toranas (arches), where kings weighed themselves in gold and silver before distributing the riches to their subjects. Constructed in a blend of Rajasthani and Mughal styles in granite and marble, the palaces reveal a network of halls, terraces, courtyards and towers.

The main part of the complex is open as the City Palace Museum. Visit the miniatures at Kishan Vilas, which according to legend, was where Maharana Bhim Singh’s daughter Krishna Kumari drank poison to solve a dispute between suitors from Jaipur and Jodhpur over her marriage— and thus saving the city from invasion.

Head to the Sheesh Mahal (Palace of Mirrors) for art and intricate mirror-work, the Moti Mahal (Pearl Palace) for coloured glasswork, Mor Chowk (Peacock Courtyard) for mosaics and decorative peacocks and the Manak Mahal (Ruby Palace) for porcelain and crystal figurines.