Mount Abu is a morning from Udaipur and a full day from Jaipur. Our distance pages put Udaipur to Mount Abu at 165 km and three to three and a half hours on NH-48 through Gogunda, with the last 25 km a mountain climb of hairpins from Abu Road; Jaipur to Mount Abu is 490 km and seven to eight hours via Beawar and Sirohi, with the same 25 km of hairpins at the end. Start from Udaipur if you can: the hill is a night away rather than a day's drive, the fare bills the 300 km minimum, ₹3,300 for a sedan, and the ghat is reached before the heat. From Jaipur the drive is the whole day and the sedan is ₹5,390 at ₹11/km. Book on the Udaipur to Mount Abu cab page; the new Udaipur, Mount Abu and Chittorgarh road guide puts the hill into a three-day plan.
Udaipur or Jaipur: the two starts compared
| Question | From Udaipur | From Jaipur |
|---|---|---|
| Distance | 165 km | 490 km |
| Drive time | 3 to 3.5 hours | 7 to 8 hours |
| Road | NH-48 over the Gogunda ghat, across dry plain to Pindwara and Abu Road, then the hairpins | NH-48 through Beawar and Sirohi on the Udaipur road, then the same hairpins from Abu Road |
| The climb | The last 25 km, scenic with hairpin bends | The last 25 km, the same |
| Sedan, one-way | ₹3,300 (300 km minimum at ₹11/km) | ₹5,390 (490 km at ₹11/km) |
| Sedan, two-day round trip | ₹6,600 | ₹10,780 |
| Tolls | At actuals; no toll page for the corridor | At actuals; no toll page for the corridor |
| Give it | A night; the temples, the lake and the sunset do not fit one day | Two nights, because the drive takes the first day |
Distances and times are the ones our Udaipur to Mount Abu and Jaipur to Mount Abu distance pages publish. Fares are the rate card: a sedan at ₹11/km, an Ertiga or SUV at ₹15, an Innova Crysta at ₹18 and a 12-seater Tempo Traveller at ₹23, on a 300 km per day minimum, with tolls and parking at actuals.
What is the drive from Udaipur like?
Shorter than people expect, and hillier. The road leaves Udaipur westwards and, within the first hour, climbs out of the Udaipur bowl over the Gogunda ghat, a short twisting rise through the Aravallis that the distance page names as the one stop on the way; then it drops back to the plain and runs open and quick through dry scrub to Pindwara, where you turn for Abu Road. Abu Road is the railhead at the foot of the hill and the last flat ground, and everything from there is the climb: the last 25 km, in the distance page's words, a mountain climb, scenic with hairpin bends, a long stack of them through rock and forest up to the plateau. The whole run is 165 km and three to three and a half hours, and the three and a half is honest because of that last stretch.
The halt before the climb is Pindwara or Abu Road; there is nowhere sensible to stop on the hairpins themselves. A seven o'clock start from Udaipur has you over the Gogunda ghat before the sun is on it and up the hairpins before the day-trip traffic from the Gujarat side, which is the pattern our road guide plans to. From Udaipur the hill is a night away rather than a day's drive, which is the whole of the argument for starting there.
What is the drive from Jaipur like?
A full day on NH-48. The distance page routes it via Beawar and Sirohi on the Udaipur road, 490 km and seven to eight hours, and the shape of the day is the flat, fast highway south-west through Ajmer's side of the state to Beawar, then the Aravalli country beyond it, then Sirohi and the turn for Abu Road, and finally the same 25 km of hairpins that the Udaipur road climbs. It is a good road, and it is a long one; leave early, eat at Beawar or Sirohi, and expect to reach the hill in the late afternoon with the sunset the first thing you do.
The honest advice from our guide is to start from Jaipur only if Udaipur is not on the plan at all. If it is, drive Jaipur to Udaipur first and take the hill from there as a morning; the road guide plans Mount Abu as the first of Udaipur's two spokes, with Chittorgarh as the second, over three days.
What is the hill like once you are up?
- Nakki Lake is the centre of the town, with boating on the water and the promenade around it; Sunset Point is the walk out from the lake for the evening.
- The Dilwara temples are the reason serious visitors come: marble carved to a fineness the distance page calls an architectural marvel. Photography rules and visiting hours are the temples' own; check at the entrance.
- Guru Shikhar and Achalgarh are a short drive beyond the town, the highest point of the Aravallis and the old fort; the car stays for them on the second morning.
- The season is October to March, when the plains are bearable and the hill is cool; in December and January the nights on top drop close to freezing, which surprises people coming up from the lakes, so carry a warm layer. After the monsoon, in September and October, the Aravallis are green and the ghat is at its prettiest; in the monsoon itself the hairpins run wet and the drivers take them slowly.
- The only hill station in Rajasthan, as both distance pages put it, and the coolest place in the state in summer; it fills on long weekends and in the Gujarati holiday season, so book the room before the cab.
What does the cab cost from each start?
From Udaipur the 165 km bills the 300 km per day minimum, so the one-way fare is the minimum at the vehicle's rate: ₹3,300 for a sedan, ₹4,500 for an Ertiga or SUV, ₹5,400 for an Innova Crysta and ₹6,900 for a 12-seater Tempo Traveller. A two-day round trip with the car staying on the hill is two days at the minimum: ₹6,600, ₹9,000, ₹10,800 and ₹13,800. From Jaipur the 490 km bills its distance: ₹5,390 for a sedan, ₹7,350 for an Ertiga, ₹8,820 for an Innova Crysta and ₹11,270 for a Tempo Traveller one-way, and a two-day round trip is twice that, ₹10,780 for the sedan, because the round trip of 980 km is more than two days' minimum. Fuel and the driver are inside every figure; tolls on NH-48, parking and the driver's night halt are at actuals, and neither corridor has a toll page, so no toll figure is given here.
On the choice of car, a sedan manages the hairpins in season with a careful driver; an SUV or Innova takes them without the passengers noticing, and for a family with luggage that is the sensible booking. The Udaipur to Mount Abu distance page and the Jaipur to Mount Abu distance page carry the road notes for each.
The three-day plan from Udaipur
Our road guide puts Mount Abu first and Chittorgarh second, and the order matters because the hill wants a night and the fort wants a morning. Day one is the 165 km climb with a seven o'clock start, the afternoon for Nakki Lake and the Dilwara temples, Sunset Point for the evening and the night on the hill, with a warm layer in winter. Day two is Guru Shikhar and Achalgarh in the morning, then the hairpins down and the 165 km back to Udaipur by mid-afternoon, with the evening on the lake. Day three is the Chittorgarh day: 115 km and two to two and a half hours on four-lane NH-48 by our distance page, out at seven, the fort before the heat, and back for dinner.
On the rate card that is three days at the 300 km minimum, because none of the three days drives more than 330 km: ₹9,900 for a sedan, with the driver's night halt on the hill at actuals. It is the same car and driver throughout, which is the point; the fort day is a plains run and the hill days are a climb, and the driver who has done the hairpins once does them better the second time.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far is Mount Abu from Udaipur?
165 km and three to three and a half hours on NH-48 through Gogunda, with the last 25 km a climb of hairpins from Abu Road.
How far is Mount Abu from Jaipur?
490 km and seven to eight hours on NH-48 via Beawar and Sirohi, ending on the same 25 km of hairpins.
Should I go to Mount Abu from Udaipur or from Jaipur?
From Udaipur, unless Udaipur is not on the plan. The hill is a morning away and bills the 300 km minimum; from Jaipur it is a full day's drive at ₹5,390 for a sedan.
