Jaipur City Palace Royal Tour: Experience the Grandeur of Royalty

Ceilings studded with mirrors and gems
Plush cushions on baithaks with velvet hems.
Here – even without the royal couture
You will feel like a queen on the Jaipur City Palace Royal tour.

Experience the inner chambers of Chandra Mahal City Palace Jaipur – which to date,  is the official residence of the royal family of Jaipur. Learn about how you can avail these exclusive City palace luxury tours, what you can see, the prices and timings.

I remember wistfully gazing at the seven stories of the Chandra Mahal during my first visit to the City Palace of Jaipur. More so, because despite being a functional Jaipur Maharaja Palace, it was open for a visit – with the special royal tour of City Palace Jaipur. I so wanted to see the inner glamour on each of those floors – that though constructed centuries back, were still home to the royalty. I must have wished really hard for fate to allow me to return exclusively for the grand Jaipur City Palace Royal tour. And yes, the wait was so worth it!

If you are visiting Jaipur for the first time, there is no missing out on the tour of City Palace. The regular tour takes you through the key highlights of this palace but does not give you access to the inner quarters of the Moon Palace or the Chandra Mahal. To get to these chambers, you need to opt for the special City Palace Jaipur royal tours – and there are two of them. These tours are priced much higher than the regular one and which is why, many hesitate to avail of them. The usual question arises – Is it worth taking this Royal tour of City Palace Jaipur?

This blog post on the Jaipur City Palace Royal tour will help you get an answer to that. Through this blog article, I will be taking you on a virtual tour and sharing my own experience of the Royal Tour City Palace Jaipur. With my pictures of the Chandra Mahal City Palace Jaipur and the descriptions, you will get a fair idea of what you can expect to experience on this luxury tour. I will also, be sharing the City Palace royal tour price, the timings and how to book.

So, let’s begin this royal jaunt through the Jaipur Maharaja Palace.

Disclaimer: This article includes affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, I will receive a small commission if you purchase through my link. Thank you for supporting me with this.

A quick note on the Jaipur royal family

The Jaipur Royal family belongs to the Kachhwaha dynasty. The clan is believed to have descended from Kush – the son of Lord Rama. For several generations, starting with the popular Raja Man Singh, the dynasty ruled from Amer Fort. It was only in the 18^th century, during the rule of Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II that the family moved to a new palace – the present-day City Palace. The new city around it was named after Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh as Jaipur.

The City Palace and Jaipur saw a lot of development under the subsequent rulers of the Kachhwaha dynasty. Prominent personalities like Maharani Gayatri Devi dwelled in this palace. To date, it continues to be the home of this royal family whose current successors are Princess Diya Kumari (a philanthropist and an MLA) and the young Maharaja Sawai Padmanabh Singh who is a very popular Polo player. He is the current Maharaja.

A recap of the Chandra Mahal City Palace Jaipur

Inside the City Palace, Chandra Mahal or the Moon Palace is where the current royal family resides. In my earlier post on the highlights of City Palace, I introduced this seven-storied palace to you. I, in fact, took you right upto Pritam Niwas Chowk with its gorgeous doors that is located within the Chandra Mahal Palace. This is the festive courtyard of the palace and the last place without restriction on all the regular tours.

Besides the Pritam Niwas Chowk, the Chandra Mahal includes the following floors – most of which can be accessed on the Royal tours of City Palace Jaipur.

• Sabha Niwas on the ground floor – is where the Jaipur City Royal tours start.
• Sukh Niwas where the dining hall and the royal bedrooms are. These are not accessible on any of the guided tours. You have to be a special friend or acquaintance of the Royal family to see these
• Rang Mandir, on the 3^rd floor, is named after its colorful mirror décor. It is popular also, called the Sheesh Mahal.
• Shobha Niwas City Palace Jaipur occupies the 4^th floor and is my personal favorite on the City Palace Royal tour.
• Chavvi Niwas on the 5th floor was the monsoon retreat of the Maharaja
• Sri Niwas – forms the 6th floor and was used as a look-out point.
• Mukut Niwas – which literally means the Crown Palace is where the Royal flags are hoisted. There is a great story behind the flags which you should read about in this post.

Information on the Royal tour, City Palace – types, prices and timings

As I mentioned earlier, if you opt for the regular guided tour that costs INR 300 for Indians and INR 700 for foreign nationals, you will not be able to go beyond the Pritam Niwas Chowk of Chandra Mahal. There are two other guided tours that you should consider if you want to explore Chandra Mahal in Jaipur City Palace. Both these VIP tours include all the attractions of the regular tour and in addition to that cover the restricted areas of the Jaipur palace. These tours, their prices and inclusions are as below –

• Jaipur City Palace Royal Grandeur tour – this cost INR 1500 per person for Indians and INR 2000 for foreign nationals. The tour takes you through Sabha Niwas, Shobha Nivas and Rang Mandir. It does not include the other three sections of the Chandra Mahal.
• Royal Splendour tour – This Chandra Mahal City Palace tour includes all the sections minus the Sukh Nivas which is a private residence. This City Palace royal tour price is INR 3000 per Indian adult and INR 4000 for a foreign adult.

Both these special tours of City Palace include a guide as well as refreshments. They are available between 10 am to 6 pm on most days. However, if there is an occasion or festival that the Royal family is busy within the City Palace, these tours may not be available. It is better to call ahead on + 91-141-4088888 on the day you plan to visit to confirm if the Chandra Mahal royal tours are available. Also, note that 5 pm is the last admission to the palace.

Embarking on my City Palace Royal tour

Yes, no doubt the pricing is quite steep but that is what makes the Royal Grand Palace Tours so exclusive. Given that this part of the Jaipur Maharaja Palace is still used by the royal family, it definitely makes sense to restrict it from the general public. I for one, would definitely not want a crowd visiting my personal space.

I chose to go with the Royal Grandeur tour option and skip the Chhavi Niwas in Chandra Mahal Palace Jaipur. Trust me when I say that I was quite satiated by the end of this visit.

Sabha Niwas City Palace Jaipur

The first stop on my City Palace Royal grandeur tour was the Sabha Niwas on the ground floor. This is the only place in the Chandra Mahal tour where photography is not permitted. The hall is used for diplomatic and business meetings by the Princess and the Maharaja.

A plush Pashmina carpet covers the floor lined with royal red velvet chairs for the dignitaries. Gorgeous crystal Chandeliers procured from Czechoslovakia highlight the otherwise plain ceiling of the room. There are several gorgeous marble and glass artifacts that add to the décor of the room.

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The one significant thing to see in Sabha Niwas are the Rajasthani miniature paintings. These paintings are a part of the traditional art practiced in the kingdom from days unknown. What makes the ones in the City Palace special is the fact that they are over 300 years old. The colors are still as rich as ever as these paintings have been done on rice paper. No retouching has ever happened to these masterpieces.

Shobha Niwas City Palace Jaipur – my favorite part of the Chandra Mahal Palace

Shobha means attractive and the name totally lives up to the place. It was absolutely love at first sight in my case. The palace has also, earned another name – the Sunhera Mahal or the Golden Palace. One step inside it and you will know why this place was my favorite on the City Palace royal tour.

The entire room is covered with 24k Gold paint. The walls and ceilings are further embellished by what seems like rubies and emeralds. However, these are actually colored glass brought in from Italy. The center of the room has the traditional baithak with plush velvet seats. In its heydays, the Maharaja would sit in the center and the guests on either side. Meals would be served on bajots to them – essentially making this place a royal dining area.

You can sit on these baithaks and pose for your memorable portraits. As you can see, I have done the same too. While here, notice the golden fabric coverlets. These are made with actual gold threads. And that will add to your royalty quotient.

The alcoves on either end of the room have two beautiful brass lamps that were brought from Arabia. The design of the lamp is inspired by the crown of Arab princes. It even has an inscription in Arabic. Initially, these lamps were candelabras – designed to hold candles. However, later they were modified to their current electric form.

The Shobha Nivas is still used by the Royal family during Diwali. This is where the Laxmi Puja is held. The place where the king used to sit earlier is where the idol of Goddess Laxmi is placed.

If you have to appropriate the time on this royal tour of City Palace, make sure you keep aside maximum time for the Shobha Niwas. Trust me, you will not tire of clicking your own photos here. And if you are an Instagrammer, then add the videos and reels to this mix of your royal City Palace tour!

Rang Mandir City Palace Jaipur

While the Shobha Niwas was the ornate and ostentatious part of the Jaipur royal palace, the Rang Mandir was more of an elegant display of aristocracy. The section is also, called the Sheesh Mahal or the Mirror Palace.

The Sheesh Mahal was not a novel concept for me. Having been to the famous Agra Fort and the Amer Fort in Jaipur, I was privy to how thousands of mirrors or glasses decorated every inch of the chamber. There are many tales of how these tiny pieces of convex glass would reflect the luminous candles and transform the room into a magical cavern.

However, I have only seen the other mirror palaces from the outside. This was the first time I entered one. What is more is that on this City Palace Jaipur luxury tour, I even got to see a brief demonstration of how the candles create that surreal ambiance.

The Rang Mandir of Jaipur Maharaja Palace was used as the winter palace and is comparatively newer as compared to the other Sheesh Mahals. It is said that it took over a year to build this chamber of mirrors. And the fact that I finally got to experience it definitely made this City Palace Jaipur royal tour even more special for me.

Chhavi Niwas or the Blue Palace of City Palace Jaipur

Chhavi Niwas is one of those places that has been popularized by the Instagrammers. You would have seen the stylized Instagram photos of this gorgeous Jaipur blue room that was used as a Monsoon retreat by the Maharajas. There once used to be a swing to enjoy the rainy ambiance during the season. Though it does not have any of the gemstone or mirror adornments, it still looks amazing.

I, however, did not get to this palace as it was not a part of the City Palace Jaipur special tour that I had opted for. To get access to this palace, you need to opt for the tour called Royal Splendour City Palace Jaipur.

The view from the Chandra Mahal terrace

The Sri Niwas and Mukut Niwas were not a part of my tour. However, I did get some spectacular views of Jaipur city from both the Rang Mandir and Shobha Niwas. The terrace in front of these chambers opens to the gorgeous royal gardens of the City Palace Jaipur. You can even get a glimpse of the famous Govind Dev Temple that is behind the Palace – which to date is highly revered by the locals. The temple existed even before the City Palace and Jaipur city came into existence.

Beyond this, you can get a glimpse of the Nahargarh Fort on the Aravalli hills that surround the pink city. It is actually quite easy to imagine how peaceful and surreal the place would have been two centuries ago – when the city was still not so populous and the birds could have been heard more clearly.

With that, this special royal palace tour ended for me. Back down in the Baradari restaurant for refreshments, I sat down and reminisced about my experience by scanning through my City Palace photos. I definitely found myself satiated after seeing the inner and exclusive settings of this lovely palace. So if you are an art, history, or architecture aficionado, you just might find the City Palace royal tour worth the money and time.  

Common FAQs about the Jaipur royal palace tours

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Ami

Popularly referred to as a Restless Ball of Energy. My Mom refuses to entertain my complaints about my equally restless daughter & assures my husband that I was born with a travel bug.

I am a Post-Graduate in Marketing by qualification and a travel blogger by passion. Besides travel, I enjoy photography and if you don’t find me at my desk, I would be out playing badminton or swimming or just running. I believe in planning for every long weekend through the year. And when I cannot travel physically, I travel virtually through this travel blog. My travel stories have also, got published on various websites and magazines including BBC Travel, Lonely Planet India and Jetwings. I have recently published my first book – When Places Come Alive – a collection of stories that are based on legends, landscapes, art and culture of a place which is available in both ebook and paperback format.

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