Jal Mahal

A pleasure palace of 1699 stands in the middle of Man Sagar Lake and appears to float, an illusion with a plain explanation: when the lake is full, four of its five storeys are under the waterline. The interior is closed, so this is a place you look at rather than enter, from the lakeside promenade on Amer Road that everyone passes on the way to Amber Fort. Waterbirds have returned to the restored lake, and the palace reads best in low light, early morning or towards sunset, when the sandstone warms and the water goes still.

Jaipur's floating palace, free to see and right on the road up to Amber