Jaipur · Nightlife

An Italian bar and restaurant in the garden of the Hotel Narain Niwas Palace at Kanota Bagh on Narain Singh Road, about 2 km south of the walled city, in hand-painted blue rooms and tented pavilions that open as the sun goes down. It is the most-booked evening table in Jaipur, so reserve through the hotel rather than turning up.

A single-screen cinema off M.I. Road, opened in 1976, whose curved meringue-shaped auditorium is more of the reason to go than whatever is showing. It plays current Hindi releases in several seat classes; buy at the box office before the show and expect the audience to clap, whistle and talk back at the screen.

An evening show staged below Amer Palace by the Maota lake, with separate Hindi and English sittings. The fort itself is closed by then, so this is the only way to see it lit; tickets are sold at the site, and it is an 11 km drive back into Jaipur afterwards.

A ticketed mock Rajasthani village on Tonk Road, roughly 20 km south of the centre, that opens in the late afternoon and runs through the evening: folk dance, puppet shows, camel rides and an unlimited thali. Unashamedly staged, mostly Indian families rather than foreign tourists, and a taxi each way.

Licensed drinking here is attached to hotels and restaurants rather than to standalone clubs, and most of it stops around midnight. The cheap alternative is the row of rooftop cafés facing the Hawa Mahal on Hawa Mahal Road — chai and a view rather than a bar, and they close early too.