Staying Near Badi Lake & Bahubali Hills: A Local's Guide to Udaipur's Quiet Side

Where exactly are Badi Lake and the Bahubali Hills?

Badi Lake sits about ten to twelve kilometres north-west of Udaipur's city centre, near the village of Badi. Depending on traffic and where you start, it is a twenty-five to thirty-five minute drive from the City Palace and Lake Pichola. That short distance makes all the difference — you are close enough to visit the famous sights whenever you like, but far enough that the noise, the crowds and the tour buses simply do not reach you.

The lake is officially called Jiyan Sagar, though almost nobody uses that name; to locals it has always been Badi ka Talab, the big lake. It is a man-made reservoir, cradled by the low green folds of the Aravalli Hills, with a small stone island near its centre and a long earthen embankment along one side. On the western edge, a rocky ridge climbs up from the water — that ridge is what everyone now calls the Bahubali Hills, and it has quietly become one of the most photographed viewpoints in Udaipur.

A little history: why a desert kingdom built a lake here

Badi Lake is not an accident of nature. It was built — deliberately, and for a very practical reason. Mewar is a dry land, and its rulers learned centuries ago that survival depended on water. When famine struck the region in the eighteenth century, Maharana Raj Singh II commissioned the lake partly as a relief project, giving work to people who had none, and partly to secure a supply of drinking water for the city downstream.

That combination of beauty and purpose is very Udaipur. Almost every lake you see here — Pichola, Fateh Sagar, Jaisamand, Badi — was engineered by the Maharanas as part of a connected system of dams and channels, so that in a good monsoon the water would cascade from one lake to the next. Badi sits high in that chain, which is one reason its water tends to be cleaner and clearer than the busier lakes closer to the city. Knowing that history changes how the place feels when you stand beside it: this is not just a pretty view, it is three hundred years of careful engineering that is still doing its job.

The Bahubali Hills viewpoint — and the truth about the sunrise

If you have seen a reel of someone sitting on a rock with a lake and green hills spread out below them, hair moving in the wind, there is a good chance it was filmed here. The Bahubali Hills viewpoint is the reason a lot of younger travellers now find Badi Lake at all. The name, by the way, has nothing to do with any local legend — people simply started calling it that after the film, because the sweeping, cinematic scale of the view reminded them of it. The name stuck.

The climb itself is short and genuinely easy — fifteen to twenty minutes up a rough path from the road near the lake, no special fitness or gear required. There is no ticket counter and no entry fee; it is open land. What waits at the top is a wide, uninterrupted panorama: the lake below, its little island, ridge after ridge of the Aravallis fading into the distance, and — on a clear morning — a horizon that turns every shade of pink and gold.

Here is the honest part, because most guides won't tell you: it can get busy, especially at sunset on weekends, when groups of college students and photographers arrive together. If you want the view the way it looks in your imagination — silent, empty, all yours — go at sunrise. In winter that means being on the rocks by around six-forty in the morning; in summer, closer to five-forty-five. It is worth the early alarm. At that hour you will often have the whole ridge to yourself, with nothing but birdsong and the light coming up over the water. Sunset is beautiful too, but it is a shared experience; sunrise is a private one.

How to get to Badi Lake

Getting out to Badi is simple. From the city centre you can take an auto-rickshaw, a taxi, or a booked cab; the drive winds gently uphill through the outskirts and into greener country. If you are staying nearby, it is a five to ten minute hop.

• By cab or auto: the easiest option. Agree the fare beforehand for an auto, or use a metered/app cab. Ask for "Badi Lake" or "Bahubali Hills view point" — both are well known.
• By two-wheeler: renting a scooter is popular with younger travellers and gives you the freedom to catch the light at odd hours. The roads are quiet once you leave the city.
• By bicycle: the fittest visitors cycle out from Fateh Sagar Lake — the Fateh Sagar to Badi trail is a scenic ride of around twelve kilometres, mostly through open, breezy country. Do it in the cool of the morning, not the afternoon heat.

The best time to visit — and why the monsoon is a secret

Udaipur's main tourist season runs from October to March, when the days are clear and mild. That is the easiest time to visit Badi Lake: comfortable weather, full lake, good light. If you only have those months to work with, you will not be disappointed.

But if you can choose, consider the monsoon. Between roughly July and September the Aravallis turn a deep, improbable green, low clouds drift across the ridgelines, and the lake fills to the brim — sometimes to the point where water spills over the embankment, which is a sight in itself. The city as a whole is quieter, the air is washed clean, and the hills look nothing like the dry Rajasthan people expect. Yes, you trade some certainty about the weather, and a rock ledge can be slippery after rain, so you take a little care. But a monsoon morning at Badi Lake, with mist sitting on the water and the hills soaking wet and green, is one of the most beautiful things you can see near Udaipur, and hardly anyone is there to share it with you.

Summer, from April to June, is the one season I would be cautious about. The afternoons are genuinely hot, and the midday sun on an exposed ridge is no fun. If you do come in summer, keep to early mornings and evenings and carry water.

Things to do around Badi Lake

Badi is not a place with an itinerary of ticketed attractions, and that is exactly its charm. It is somewhere you go to slow down. Still, there is plenty to fill an unhurried day:

• Watch the sunrise or sunset from the Bahubali Hills ridge — the headline act, and rightly so.
• Walk or sit along the embankment, where the lake is calm and the far hills reflect in the water at first light.
• Find a lakeside café — a handful of small, informal cafés have opened around Badi with terraces facing the water; perfect for a slow coffee after the climb.
• Photograph the island and the hills — golden hour here is soft and generous, and the compositions almost make themselves.
• Cycle the Fateh Sagar–Badi trail if you are active, or simply drive the ridge road for the views.
• Do very little — read, nap, watch the light change. This is the part of Udaipur built for it.

Why stay near Badi Lake instead of the old city?

The old city is wonderful to visit — but living in the middle of it for a few days is a different thing. The lanes are narrow and busy, parking is a puzzle, and the sound of the city carries late into the night. For a couple on a short romantic trip, that energy might be exactly what you want. For a family, a group of friends, or anyone who came to Udaipur to actually rest, it can wear thin.

Staying out near Badi Lake flips the equation. You get space, quiet, clean air and green hills on your doorstep — and the old city is still a short, easy drive away whenever you feel like palaces and boat rides. You wake up to birdsong instead of traffic, you can watch the sunrise without leaving the neighbourhood, and you return each evening to calm rather than chaos. More and more travellers are working this out, which is why the area around Badi and Bahubali Hills has quietly become one of the most sought-after places to stay in Udaipur.

A relaxed day near Badi Lake

If you want a template, here is how I would spend a perfect, unhurried day out here — the kind of day that reminds you why you booked the trip in the first place:

Wake before dawn and walk or drive the few minutes up to the Bahubali ridge for sunrise, coffee in hand, before anyone else arrives. Come back for a long, slow breakfast. Spend the hot middle of the day by a pool or in the shade with a book — this is not a day for rushing. In the late afternoon, drive twenty-five minutes into the city for a boat ride on Lake Pichola as the palaces turn gold, maybe a rooftop dinner over the water. Then come back to the quiet, sit out under a sky full of stars you cannot see from the city, and let the day end gently. That mix — famous Udaipur when you want it, deep calm when you don't — is the whole point of basing yourself out here.

Practical tips before you go

• There is no entry fee for Badi Lake or the Bahubali Hills viewpoint — it is open land, so go early to beat both the heat and the crowds.
• Wear proper shoes for the short climb; the path is rocky and can be slippery after rain.
• Carry water, especially in summer, and a light layer for winter mornings, which are cold before the sun is up.
• Respect the place — carry your litter back with you. Part of what makes Badi special is that it is still relatively unspoilt.
• For sunrise, check the exact time for your dates and aim to be on the ridge fifteen minutes before — the best colour comes just before the sun clears the hills.

MIJMAAN: a villa right beside all of this

Everything in this guide is a short walk or a few minutes' drive from our own front door. MIJMAAN is an ultra-luxury private villa in Nathwaton Ka Gurha, set into the Aravalli Hills moments from Badi Lake and the Bahubali ridge. It was built for exactly the kind of trip this area invites — slow mornings, private space, and the famous city kept comfortably within reach.

The villa has ten unique rooms across three floors, each with private balconies and many with private plunge pools, in-room jacuzzis or deep bathtubs, plus a rooftop pool with views toward the hills. You can take the whole villa for a large family or group, or book a single floor as a private villa in its own right — a flexible way for smaller groups and couples to enjoy the same setting. Add live Rajasthani dining and folk-music evenings, and you have a base that makes the most of Udaipur's quiet side. When you are ready, tell us your dates on WhatsApp and we will put together a stay around exactly the trip you have in mind.

Further reading & sources

• Rajasthan Tourism — official Udaipur guide
• Incredible India — Udaipur, the City of Lakes

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