Ahmedabad Travel Guide: Places to Visit, the Old City and Food

Ahmed Shah founded Ahmedabad in 1411, and Gujarat Tourism points to its Indo-Islamic monuments of the 15th to 17th centuries. The sights below begin in the walled old city, then move to the river, the museums and three places beyond the centre.

The old city and its pols

The historic walled city is the reason for the World Heritage listing. Gujarat Tourism describes its pols as self-contained neighbourhoods, some like small villages, with narrow streets that end in a square holding a community well and a chabutra, a platform for feeding birds. They also have gates, cul-de-sacs and secret passages. The lanes are narrow, so the pols are explored on foot. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation's heritage walk leaves the Swaminarayan Temple in Kalupur in the morning and ends at the Jama Masjid; there is also an evening walk.

Swaminarayan Temple, Kalupur

Built in 1822 as the first temple of the Swaminarayan sect, the temple has multi-coloured, wood-carved façades, and Gujarat Tourism says the panelling is Burma teak. The morning heritage walk starts here, usually while worship is under way and devotees fill the courtyard. It is a working place of worship, so treat the visit as one.

Jama Masjid

Ahmed Shah built the Jama Masjid in 1423, and Gujarat Tourism ranks it among India's most beautiful mosques, with a large, peaceful courtyard. The prayer hall's 260 columns support 15 main domes at different heights, and some carving, such as the lotus-like domes, echoes Jain temples. Two "shaking" minarets lost half their height in the 1819 earthquake. Ahmed Shah's tomb, and those of his son and grandson, lie west of the mosque, and the queens' tombs at Rani no Hajiro are a short walk away.

Sidi Saiyyed Mosque

The mosque is famed for its jali windows, stone latticework carved as the intertwined branches of a tree of life, best seen from the road behind it. Sidi Sayed, an Abyssinian saint of African descent, built it in 1572–73, the year the Mughals conquered Gujarat. The central arch is left plain, which draws the eye to the carved back wall. The mosque is still used for prayer, and the evening heritage walk starts beside it.

Bhadra Fort

Ahmed Shah built Bhadra Fort in 1411, soon after founding the city, and its gate was the eastern entrance of the citadel, which stretched west to the river. It now holds government offices and a Kali temple. The British captured it in 1817 and used it as a prison until independence, and it was renovated in 2014. Gujarat Tourism lists it as open from 8 am to 6 pm, with a view over the old city from the roof.

Sabarmati Ashram

Gandhi's home and base on the Sabarmati River, north of the centre, and the place he started the Dandi March from. The ashram began in May 1915 at the Kochrab Bungalow, about 10 km away, and moved to this 36-acre riverside site on 17 June 1917, because Gandhi needed room for farming and animal husbandry. The museum shows his letters and photographs. Gujarat Tourism says it is open every day of the year but gives two sets of hours, so check before you go.

Calico Museum of Textiles

The Sarabhai family's museum, founded in 1949 by Gautam Sarabhai and his sister Gira and opened by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, holds what Gujarat Tourism calls one of the world's finest collections of antique and modern Indian textiles. Visits are by advance booking only; Gujarat Tourism lists Thursday to Tuesday, in a morning and an afternoon session, booked by email. Confirm the current rules with the museum before you plan around it.

Hutheesing Jain Temple

Built in white marble in 1848 by the merchant Sheth Hutheesing and dedicated to Dharmanatha, the 15th Jain Tirthankara, the temple stands outside the Delhi Gate. A domed hall on 12 ornate pillars leads to the main shrine, which has three carved spires and is ringed by 52 small shrines to other Tirthankaras. Gujarat Tourism lists it as open from 8 am to 5 pm every day.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Museum and the Kite Museum

The Patel museum stands in the Moti Shahi Mahal, a palace Shah Jahan built between 1618 and 1622, later the Governor's residence and made a memorial in 1980. Gujarat Tourism lists it from 9.30 am to 5 pm, with a 3D show in the evening, and closed on Mondays. The Kite Museum, part of Sanskar Kendra in a building designed by Le Corbusier in 1954, is also closed on Mondays and opens in two sessions, morning and late afternoon.

Kankaria Lake and the Sabarmati Riverfront

Kankaria Lake was completed in 1451 as the Hauz-e-Qutub and is now a recreation space, open from 9 am to 11 pm. The Sabarmati Riverfront is a planned promenade along the river, open from sunrise to sunset, with eleven bridges linking the old and new parts of the city; the oldest, Ellis Bridge, dates from 1873. Both suit an unhurried hour at the end of a sightseeing day.

Adalaj Stepwell

Just beyond the city in Gandhinagar district, this 15th-century stepwell drops five storeys through carved pillars, with three entrances and an octagonal well open to the sky. Gujarat Tourism says sunlight reaches the steps only around noon, that the carvings show mythological and village scenes, and that the air inside is said to be six degrees cooler than outside. It lists the stepwell as open from 8 am to 6 pm.

Bai Harir ni Vav and Sarkhej Roza

Bai Harir ni Vav, 15 km from the centre, was built in 1499 under the supervision of Sultan Begada's harem; five levels of carved columns lead down to two small wells, now often dry, with the Dai Halima Mosque behind. Sarkhej Roza, 8 km south-west of the old centre, is a mosque, tomb and palace complex around a tank built by Mahmud Begada in the mid-15th century. It holds Ganj Baksh's tomb, the largest in Gujarat. Gujarat Tourism lists both as open from dawn to dusk.

Walk the old city early or after dark, and eat where Ahmedabad eats. Gujarat Tourism says Manek Chowk is a vegetable market in the morning, a bullion market at noon and a street-food market from dusk to midnight. A Gujarati thali, the best way into the cuisine, is vegetarian and balances sweet, salty and spicy dishes; our list of Gujarat's must-try foods names more of them.

Time a visit around a festival if you can. Navratri's nine nights of garba dancing begin on the first day of the Hindu month of Ashwin, and Uttarayan, the kite festival, falls on 14 January; kite-making fills the old city from November, with a kite market, Patang Bazaar, opening there before the festival. For tours and experiences across the state, see our Gujarat destination page.

• Lothal, 80 km away, was a port city of the Indus Valley civilisation about 4,500 years ago. Gujarat Tourism says excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India found the world's oldest known artificial dock, and the site museum is closed on Fridays.
• Nalsarovar Bird Sanctuary, an hour's drive away, covers 120.82 sq km and has more than 250 bird species, among them pelicans and flamingos. It became a Ramsar site in 2012, and the best months are November to February.
• The Little Rann of Kutch, 103 km away, protects the Indian wild ass and is open from 16 October to 15 June, according to Gujarat Tourism. The Great Rann and its white salt flat at Dhordo are a separate trip from Bhuj, far too distant for a day from here, and the White Rann needs a permit: the Kutch Collector's online portal issues it to Indian nationals only, and permits are also given at the Bhirandiyara checkpost.