One of the most important tourist attractions in Kota is the City Palace. The palace stands tall at the south end of the town of Kota. The architecture of the palace reflects the Mughal style. Some of the designs that adorn the palace are directly inspired from Mughals. Though the palace is in ruins but they are picturesque to look at. Some of the intricately designed rooms are presently used for a school. The other apartments are open for the perusal of the visitors. The exterior of the palace walls are decorated with delicate stonework yet they are robust.

The main gate of the palace is the Hathi Pol or the Elephant Gate. Dating back to the 17th century this gate has statues of elephants with their trunks raised. One of the murals at the Hathi Pol displays a royal wedding procession. As the tourists enter the palace to explore more they will come across the Durbar Hall that has mirror inlay work covering its walls and ceilings. Exquisite miniatures representing Kota`s legends cover the hall. besides these there is the Bhim Mahal on the first floor. It has ebony and ivory inlaid doors and some beautiful miniatures covering its walls.

Another must visit place within the palace is the Maharao Madho Singh Museum. It houses an exclusive collection of Rajput miniature paintings of the Kota School mainly depicting scenes from the legends of Lord Krishna. Rajput weapons, some superbly inlaid with gold and ivory along with some fire arms have also been displayed for the visitors. A collection of royal family photographs depicting the princely lifestyle of the 19th century and some animal trophies are also to be found here. To put it in a nutshell this museum is a treasure house of artistic items used by the former rulers of Kota.

The tourists can also drop in at the Government Museum near the City Palace. This has a collection of some exquisite stone sculptures that belong from 10th-12th centuries. These were recovered from the ruins of temples in Hadoti and some miniature paintings belonging to the Kota School.