Punjab Travel Guide: Amritsar, the Gurus' Towns and Planning Your Trip

Punjab borders Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir, and lies close to New Delhi. Most visitors come for Amritsar, yet the state's holiest places and its palaces are spread along the old Grand Trunk Road and the Sutlej valley. Chandigarh, a Union Territory and the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana, is the gateway to several of them: Punjab Tourism puts Rupnagar about 50 km from Chandigarh and Fatehgarh Sahib about 50 km from Mohali airport. The sights below start with Amritsar and then follow that road.

Amritsar

The Golden Temple (Sri Harmandir Sahib) is the central shrine of the Sikh faith and, in Punjab Tourism's words, the most sacred shrine for people of all faiths and particularly for Sikhs. Beside it stands the Akal Takht, which Incredible India calls one of the five seats of power in Sikhism. Jallianwala Bagh, the site of the shooting of 13 April 1919, the Partition Museum in the Town Hall and the daily flag-lowering ceremony at Attari, about 30 km out, complete the city's main sights. Our Amritsar travel guide covers all of them, with hours, etiquette and how to plan a day.

Anandpur Sahib and Virasat-e-Khalsa

Anandpur Sahib is where Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa on Baisakhi Day in 1699, and Takht Sri Keshgarh Sahib there is one of the five Takhts. Virasat-e-Khalsa, a museum on Sikh history designed by Moshe Safdie, stands near the Takht; Punjab Tourism lists it as open from 10 am to 4 pm and closed on Mondays and public holidays. Eating non-vegetarian food and drinking alcohol are restricted in the town. Hola Mohalla, a festival of martial arts instituted by Guru Gobind Singh, fills the town around Holi, in February or March.

Rupnagar and its Harappan site

On the Sutlej, Rupnagar (Ropar) is the first Harappan site excavated in independent India, with a cultural sequence from the Harappan period to the medieval one that Punjab Tourism says the district's archaeological museum displays. Its wetland is a Ramsar site that suits birdwatching and boating. Rupnagar town is about 50 km from Chandigarh, and Anandpur Sahib is about 40 km from it.

Fatehgarh Sahib and Sirhind

Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib marks the spot where the two younger sons of Guru Gobind Singh, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, were entombed alive on 26 December 1705. Sirhind stood on the Delhi–Lahore highway, the Grand Trunk Road, between Ludhiana and Ambala, and keeps the Aam Khas Bagh, which Punjab Tourism calls the earliest extant Mughal garden in Punjab and Haryana. The Shaheedi Jor Mela gathers pilgrims here in the last week of December.

Patiala

Baba Ala Singh founded the fort-palace of Qila Mubarak, around which the city of Patiala grew, and its Darbar Hall, built by Maharaja Narendra Singh in 1859, displays a jade dagger said to have belonged to Guru Gobind Singh. Punjab Tourism's pages disagree on the fort's founding year, so we give none. The Sheesh Mahal in Moti Bagh, built in 1847 on the pattern of Lahore's Shalimar Garden, holds more than 3,200 medals and decorations, which Punjab Tourism calls the world's largest such collection. A heritage walk runs on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi

Punjab Tourism calls Kapurthala the "Paris of Punjab" for the European architecture that Maharaja Jagatjit Singh brought to it. Jagatjit Palace, built in 1908 and modelled on the Palace of Versailles, now houses a Sainik School, and the Moorish Mosque, completed in 1930, was inspired by the Grand Mosque of Marrakesh. Sultanpur Lodhi, about 40 km away, is where Guru Nanak Dev attained enlightenment while bathing in the Kali Bein in 1499. Kapurthala is about 75 km from Amritsar and 20 km from Jalandhar.

Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda

Takht Sri Damdama Sahib at Talwandi Sabo, about 30 km from Bathinda, is another of the five Takhts: Guru Gobind Singh stayed here for nine months and nine days and re-dictated the Adi Granth in its final form. Vaisakhi, on 13 or 14 April, brings a fair here. In Bathinda itself, the Qila Mubarak, which Punjab Tourism says is among the oldest surviving forts in India, held Razia Sultana prisoner in 1240.

Harike Wetland

Where the Beas and the Sutlej meet, Harike is the largest wetland in northern India, a Ramsar site and a habitat for resident and migratory birds. Punjab Tourism says early morning is best for birdwatching, and it lists Harike among Amritsar's attractions, on the border of Amritsar and Ferozepur, though its FAQ places it under Tarn Taran. Punjab's list of ecosites also names the Kanjli wetland at Kapurthala and the Keshopur wetland at Gurdaspur.

Time an evening in Amritsar for the border ceremony, sit down to a langar meal, and follow the Gurus' trail to Anandpur Sahib and Sirhind. Punjab's food is a reason to travel in its own right: sarson da saag with makki di roti, Amritsari kulcha, chhole bhature, dal makhani and lassi, as Punjab Tourism lists them. For fairs, plan around Lohri, which marks the end of winter, Hola Mohalla in February or March, and Vaisakhi in April. Our Punjab tours and experiences and Punjab tour packages pages list our trips in the state. They include the Golden Temple, Amritsar tour, a private guide and vehicle with a briefing on dress code and etiquette, and the 10 Days Delhi Agra Jaipur with Golden Temple Tour, which adds a flight north from Delhi to Amritsar for the Golden Temple and the Wagah border ceremony.

October to March is the comfortable season; Punjab Tourism gives it for Amritsar and Fatehgarh Sahib and for Rupnagar. On the IMD's 1991–2020 table for Chandigarh, whose Meteorological Centre also forecasts for Punjab, average daily maximums rise from 18.2°C in January to 34.6°C in April and peak at 38.6°C in May, then 37.7°C in June. The monsoon brings 275.6 mm in July and 273.0 mm in August, against 154.6 mm in September. In Amritsar itself, recent May and June temperatures have exceeded 45°C, and the lowest January minimums in recent years have been between about 1°C and 3°C. Dense to very dense fog over most of Punjab in winter, with visibility at Amritsar falling to zero on some mornings, can affect airports, highways and railway routes, so leave slack in December and January.

• By air: Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport at Amritsar, and Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport at Mohali, which serves Chandigarh and is run by a joint venture of the Airports Authority of India with the governments of Punjab and Haryana. Punjab Tourism gives flights from Delhi to Chandigarh from 45 minutes.
• By train: Punjab Tourism names the Shatabdi Express and Vande Bharat Express on the Delhi–Chandigarh route, from about 3 hours. Amritsar Central has direct trains to Delhi, Chandigarh and Mumbai. The IRCTC guide for foreign visitors explains how to reserve a seat.
• By road: Delhi Tourism's distance charts give 238 km from Delhi to Chandigarh, 305 km to Ludhiana, 364 km to Jalandhar, 447 km to Amritsar and 476 km to Pathankot. Sirhind is on the Grand Trunk Road, and Fatehgarh Sahib is 250 km from New Delhi.