Jaipur Ocean Hotels & Resorts

Since the founding of Jaipur in 1727, its artisans and craftspeople have sold their respected creations and still use traditional methods to craft items today. Meet your local guide at Hawa Mahal, or ‘Palace of the Winds’, and walk through the bazaar as you chat to locals and try authentic street food. Taste freshly made pakora, samosa and traditional sweets and observe jewellers and silversmiths as they work at their craft.

Join a walking tour of UNESCO-listed Jaipur to learn about its architectural jewels. The tour starts at 8.30am when it’s peaceful, before the bazaars and markets take over. This is when locals go to worship and you can join them at one of the city’s oldest temples, which is known for its 300-year-old fresco painting and set in a private family home. This begins a discussion about religion and architecture in Jaipur; where at a junction in the city, you get to see a Jain Temple, a mosque and a Hindu temple.

Continue the walk at Broad Road, which was once used by the royal family, so it’s lined by grand houses. As you enter the winding by-lanes you’ll hear about Jaipur’s history as the first planned city in India, the vastu shastra and shilpa shastra architecture and havelis owned by artists, craftsmen and traders. You’ll get to meet some of these characters when you visit the metal-beating community who still work without technology, in the same way they have for 200 years. It’s fascinating to see how everything has been hand-created. Other key architectural sights on the tour include the City Palace, the Ayurvedic hospital and two huge, 10-foot-tall silver jars which belonged to a king of Jaipur. Guests love visiting a local family in their haveli to chat about life in Jaipur and meeting traditional bangle makers.

You will end the tour with an immersion into some of Jaipur’s hectic markets. There’s the spice market with over 300 shops which draws buyers from far and wide, followed by the vegetable and flower markets. The flower market is always busy with people shopping for weddings and festivals. This tour is a great orientation of Jaipur; you’ll discover its architecture, religion and crafts and meet the locals, learning the stories and legends behind our city.