INTRODUCTION

It’s the signature of the imperialism of Gwalior, the plush residential palace of scindias where currently Scindia family resides and one of its part turned into museum called Jiwaji Rao Scindia Museum. It is in the heart of the city and close from railway station and bus stand. The palace was built in 1874 AD by Jayaji Rao Scindia, and designed by Lt. Col. Sir Michael Filose, the palace is still occupied by the current successors of the royal family, and the construction of the palace was as an attempt to bring the palace of Versailles to Gwalior. The architecture of the palace is a mix of British-Italian and Indian constructive style, which reflects an inspiration and architectural idioms of Tuscany and Coithian styles. The motive behind making of this grand palace is not only to offer an western styled residence to maharaja but also to extend grand welcome to the  then prince of Wales and emperor of British India (1901-10) Kind Edward VII and queen Mary. They were suppose to visit Gwalior, during there India tour, in 20 December 1905.   There are 35 rooms which have turned to a museum, the first part of the museum has a wide collection of old-arms, and the most attractive part is to see the original Dhal (Shield) of the Jhansi ki Rani, on the ground floor the antiquity of the royal time yet very modern the ‘Silver Serving Train’ with cut glass carriages, which served the royal food to the royal guests on the dining table along with wine and cigars, the chairs back-rest has the royal crest of Gwalior.

TOURISM

Jai Vilas Palace is one of the important heritage attractions of Gwalior city and was rated among well maintained palaces of Madhya Pradesh state. It is just close to another popular Usha Kiran Palace. It is not in the Gwalior fort campus which is north of Jai Vilas Palace. It also have a museums where we can see the glimpse of royal splendor, life-style, art and culture during scindia dynasty rule. Museum is part of palace in which 25 rooms have been allocated for Jivaji Rao Scindia Museum. It is open from visitors from 10:00hrs till 18:00hrs and Closed on Every Monday.

HOW TO REACH

Jai Vilas Palace in Gwalior is a prominent tourist attraction so can be reached easily. For visiting this palace, first you to come to Gwalior city which can be reached by road, train & flight and further journey can be done by road using taxi or city bus. Jai Vilas Palace is on south of Gwalior-fort hill which means it is not on hill-top but in plains. Popular heritage hotel Usha Kiran Palace is just close to Jai Vilas Palace on west direction. Here we are providing you various ways to reach Gwalior & Jai Vilas Palace:

By Flight:

The city Gwalior has its own airport which is only 08 km away to the heart of the city, there are many local taxis and buses those can make you reach to the airport from the city or if you going to land in airport then the same option would be there to hire taxis for anywhere in Gwalior city. Many air travel agencies fly their flights from Gwalior to Delhi, Agra, Indore, Bhopal, Mumbai. Delhi International airport, which is nearly 321 km from Gwalior, is the main connecting airport for international travelers. Jai Vilas Palace is in South-West to Gwalior airport.

By Train:

Nearest railway station to visit Jai Vilas Palace is Gwalior junction which is in North-East direction from palace and South of Gwalior fort. Palace is just 2kms from railway station. It is close to Gwalior Junction railway station. Almost all long route trains stops here along with express trains like Bhopal Shatabdi, Taj Express, Bhopal Express, GT Express, Chennai Rajdhani Express, Tamilnadu Express, Karnataka Express etc. One can reach Gwalior railway station from important cities and tourist destinations like Agra, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ujjain, Varanasi, Jaipur, Udaipur, Amritsar, Haridwar, Bharatpur, Dehradun etc. Distance from Gwalior railway station to Jai Vilas Palace is short and can be covered by local taxi or using Auto-rickshaw.

By Road:

As already specified, Jai Vilas Palace is inside Gwalior city so can be reached by road from any place in city or from nearby tourist destinations like Agra, Delhi, Orchha, Shivpuri, Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Chanderi etc. Tourist buses in Gwalior city are also provide their services to visitors for visiting the palace with minimum charge. Gwalior City bus stand is close to railway station in eastern direction where hotels like Tansen Residency, Regency etc are close to it. Bus stand is about 3kms from palace.