Overlooking the lake Pichola is the City Palace, completely white and majestic. It is one of the largest in Rajasthan and the main entrance is a triple arched gate called the Tripolia. Within the palace there are beautiful locations with courtyards, pavilions, terraces, corridors, Chini Chitrasala, the Sheesh Mahal with inlaid mirror work, Krishna Vilas with miniature paintings, Bari Mahal Dilkush mahal, Moti mahal, Bhim Vilas palace with its wall paintings of Krishna and the Museum. Mosaics of peacocks and paintings adorn the walls. Princess Krishna Kumari drank poison in order to avert the battle between two rival suitors at the Krishna Vilas. Two views of the Maharana's Palace beside the lake

Maharaja's Palace (daily 10am-5.30pm; Rs12), a fairytale spectacle topped with a shining brass-plated dome. It's especially magnificent on Sunday nights and during festivals, illuminated by no less than 5000 lightbulbs. It was completed in 1912 for the twenty-fourth Wadiyar raja, on the site of the old wooden palace that had been destroyed by fire in 1897. After a lengthy judicial tussle, in 1998 the courts decided in favour of formally placing the main palace in the hands of the Karnataka state government but the royal family, who still hold a claim, are set to appeal. Twelve temples surround the palace, some of them of much earlier origin. Although there are six gates in the perimeter wall, entrance is on the south side only. Shoes and cameras must be left at the cloakroom inside.
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An extraordinary amalgam of styles from India and around the world crowds the lavish interior. Entry is through the Gombe Thotti or Dolls' Pavilion, once a showcase for the figures featured in the city's lively Dussehra celebrations and now a gallery of European and Indian sculpture and ceremonial objects. Halfway along, the brass Elephant Gate forms the main entrance to the centre of the palace, through which the maharaja would drive to his car park. Decorated with floriate designs, it bears the Mysore royal symbol of a double-headed eagle, now the state emblem. To the north, past the gate, stands a ceremonial wooden elephant howdah (frame to carry passengers). Elaborately decorated with 84kg of 24-carat gold, it appears to be inlaid with red and green gems - in fact the twinkling lights are battery-powered signals that let the mahout know when the maharaja wished to stop or go.
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Walls leading into the octagonal Kalyana Mandapa, the royal wedding hall, are lined with a meticulously detailed frieze of oil paintings illustrating the great Mysore Dussehra festival of 1930, executed over a period of fifteen years by four Indian artists. The hall itself is magnificent, a cavernous space featuring cast-iron pillars from Glasgow, Bohemian chandeliers and multicoloured Belgian stained glass arranged in peacock designs in the domed ceiling.
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Climbing a staircase with Italian marble balustrades, past an unnervingly realistic life-size plaster of Paris figure of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, lounging comfortably with his bejewelled feet on a stool, you come into the Public Durbar Hall, an orientalist fantasy like something from A Thousand and One Nights. A vision of brightly painted and gilded colonnades, open on one side, the massive hall affords views out across the parade ground and gardens to Chamundi Hill. The maharaja gave audience from here, seated on a throne made from 280kg of solid Karnatakan gold. These days, the hall is only used during the Dussehra festival, when it hosts classical concerts. The smaller Private Durbar Hall features especially beautiful stained glass and gold-leaf painting. Before leaving you pass two embossed silver doors - all that remains of the old palace.
Nearby, behind the main palace building but within the same compound, a line of tacky souvenir shops leads to a small museum (same hours; Rs20) run by the royal family which shows paintings from the Thanjavur and Mysore schools, some inlaid with precious stones and gold leaf.