Udaipur is the nearest city of any size to Banswara, the nearest airport, and the route most visitors arrive by. It is also the drive people most consistently underestimate.
The short version
- Distance: roughly 160 km
- Realistic driving time: 3 to 4 hours
- Best method: hired car, or state bus if you are not in a hurry
Why it takes longer than it looks
160 kilometres in three and a half hours works out at under 50 km/h, which sounds wrong until you have driven it.
This is not expressway driving. The route runs through the hills and villages of southern Rajasthan — a mix of state highway and district road, with towns to slow for, agricultural traffic, livestock on the carriageway, and stretches where the surface is doing its best.
None of that makes it a bad drive. Much of it is genuinely scenic. It just means the map’s estimate is optimistic, and you should plan against the four-hour figure rather than the three.
Which direction is easier
Udaipur → Banswara is the more common direction, since most people fly or train into Udaipur. Arrive on a morning flight and you will reach Banswara comfortably in the afternoon.
Banswara → Udaipur needs more care if you are catching a flight. Leave five hours before departure, not four. If your flight is early, the honest advice is to go the night before and stay near Udaipur.
Where to stop
Break the journey once, roughly halfway. There are dhabas along the route serving the usual — dal, roti, sabzi, chai — and they are generally better than they look from the road.
Fill up with fuel in a town rather than assuming you will find a pump when you need one. On the middle stretch, you might not.
Driving notes
Do not do this drive after dark if you can avoid it. Lighting is minimal, unlit vehicles are common, and livestock on the road at night is a genuine hazard. Leave early enough to arrive before dusk.
Download the route offline. Mobile coverage is patchy in the middle section, and this is not the place to discover your navigation has stopped working.
Take a driver rather than self-driving if you do not know these roads. It costs less than you would expect and is markedly less stressful.
By bus
State buses run between Udaipur and Banswara. They are inexpensive and slow, and they stop frequently. For a single traveller on a budget they are perfectly reasonable. For two or more people a hired car costs little more per head and saves a couple of hours.
Other routes from Banswara
| To | Approx. distance |
|---|---|
| Ratlam | 130 km |
| Indore | 250 km |
| Ahmedabad | 300 km |
| Jaipur | 500 km |
Jaipur is a full day. Break it rather than attempting it in one go.
Arriving
We are on Udaipur Road — which means arriving from Udaipur you reach us on the way into town, rather than having to navigate through it. Check-in is from 1:00 PM.
If you are running late after a long drive, call ahead using the number on our contact page and we will keep the desk expecting you. Once you have arrived, our guide to places in Banswara covers what is worth seeing.