What you should know when visiting Lakshmi Vilas Palace Vadodara – first time traveller tips

The highlight of our trip to Vadodara (formerly Baroda) was the tour of Lukshmi Vilas Palace (the old British spelling of Lukshmi is used by the management) and its adjacent Maharaja Fatesingh museum. It was enhanced by the superb audio narration, leading us step by step on a tour of the Palace. 

Of course, it was restricted to the ground floor only, since the members of the erstwhile royal family are residing on the upper floors. Nevertheless, it was a delightful tour and we enjoyed it from start to finish and no way should you miss out on it on your trip to Vadodara. It is worth every rupee of the entrance fee. Know the details of timings and entry tickets.

I would advise parents to definitely take their children along, but do ensure that you get them interested in the tour by explaining to them what to look for as per the audio guide plugged into the ears. Otherwise, they will be just walking around in a bored fashion and not really getting excited about anything. So, as you walk along listening to your device, pause it, tell them what it is they are looking at and convey the info about it as per what you heard, then move on. 

Lukshmi Vilas Palace

Important tips for visitors to Lakshmi Vilas Palace Vadodara
First and foremost, note that the entry to Lakshmi Vilas Palace Vadodara is through Gate No. 2 on Jawaharlal Nehru Marg and the entry to the Maharaja Fatehsingh Museum is through Gate No. 3 on the same road. Gate no. 1 is closed for visitors. Secondly, the tickets to both have to be bought at the ticket counter at the Palace. It is not that you can go directly to the museum and buy tickets for the museum over there. 

Furthermore, the thing is that it is not like Gate No.3 is just a few steps away from Gate No. 2, which, I am sure, is the misconception of most visitors. It is nearly 1km away and the museum is also nowhere near that gate’s entry either – it is quite some distance inside. 



In fact, even the distance from the entry of Gate No. 2 to the ticket window and the Palace premises is also quite a bit of a walk. It can be pleasant in cool weather and there are truly lovely flowering plants to admire, but in the blazing heat neither this walk nor the one later to the museum may be conducive for those who tire easily or are senior citizens. 

So here’s what you can do: if hiring an auto, make sure you tell the auto driver to take you right inside, through Gate no. 2 to the ticket window. If you have your own vehicle or are hiring a car, the same applies. There is a demarcated parking zone so you can even ask your auto driver to wait for you till you come out and take you to the museum as well. You will likely have to pay quite a bit (try to haggle for the fare though) as they do not take by the meter, but it is well worth it. [A brief note: In the map drawing pasted on the Board outside the ticket window, Gate no.4 was mentioned as the entry to the museum, but we did not walk further than Gate no. 3, so no idea really where this Gate no. 4 was!]

There is a drawing on the Board outside the ticket window to guide you of the locations of everything. I have made my own little map as a Guide for visitors -

Palace Map Guide

At the gate entrance, all visitors must make an entry in the visitors’ register (one person can make an entry for a group) and put in the vehicle number as well if parking inside. You’ll need to be patient here if there are many vehicles coming in, as each vehicle driver will be instructed to park a little ahead and one person can get out and make the entry in the register. Then you can proceed ahead and let one person proceed to stand in the queue at the ticket window, which is located on your left ahead of the LVP Banquet Hall, while the vehicle is being parked. Bags will be checked by security staff before you enter the Palace premises. 

Most important: Both, the Palace and the Museum are closed on Mondays and important holidays. You can call ahead (contact number is given at the end of this article) and confirm if open so as not to waste a trip, as it is possible that if there is some kind of advertisement shoot or some event, it may not be open to visitors.

Learn about the timings and audio guide.

Contact information for visitors
For any assistance you can call the Management at +91-8511129692 (this contact number is given on the Board outside the ticket window).

Email: visitorinfo@lvpalace.co.in

Website: http://www.gaekwadsofbaroda.com/content/lukshmi-vilas-palace