Peninsular India: Udaipur City Palace and Bagore ki Haveli

Udaipur has been one of India's major tourist attractions for a long time, perhaps because it was described so lavishly by James Fergusson in 1876.  Speaking of the juxtaposed city and lake palaces, he wrote that "It would be difficult to find any scene where art and nature are so happily blended together, and produce so fairy-like an effect.  Certainly nothing I know of so modern a date equals it."  Murray, whose Handbook for Travellers in India... became the vademecum of tourists during the British period, relied heavily on Fergusson and described Udaipur as "marvellously picturesque."  From there, it's a straight shot to the 21-day package tour.