™ City guides
History, how to reach and the best places to visit in famous Indian cities – with stays to book.
Chandigarh travel guide
📍 ChandigarhIndia’s first planned city – Le Corbusier’s Capitol, the Rock Garden and Sukhna Lake below the Shivaliks
Chandigarh is a green, planned city at the foot of the Shivalik hills, designed in the 1950s by Le Corbusier. Capital of both Punjab and Haryana and a Union Territory itself, it is known for its UNESCO-listed Capitol Complex, Nek Chand’s Rock Garden, Sukhna Lake and leafy sectors – and is the gateway to Himachal.
Panchkula travel guide
📍 HaryanaHaryana’s green corner of the Tricity – Mansa Devi, Nada Sahib and the road to Morni Hills
Panchkula is a planned city in Haryana next to Chandigarh, at the foot of the Shivalik hills. Quieter than its neighbour, it is home to the Mata Mansa Devi temple, Gurdwara Nada Sahib and the huge Cactus Garden, and is the gateway to Morni Hills and Pinjore.
Morni Hills travel guide
📍 HaryanaHaryana’s only hill station – twin lakes, an old fort and forest drives an hour from Chandigarh
Morni Hills is a quiet range of the Shivaliks in Panchkula district at about 1,200 m – the only hill station in Haryana. Pine and oak forests, the twin lakes of Tikkar Tal, the small Morni Fort and nature camps make it an easy escape from the Tricity.
Zirakpur travel guide
📍 PunjabThe Tricity’s gateway town – where the Delhi, Shimla and Patiala highways meet, minutes from the airport
Zirakpur is a fast-growing town in Mohali district of Punjab at the meeting point of the Chandigarh–Delhi, Shimla and Patiala highways. With many hotels, malls and easy reach of Chandigarh airport, it is a practical base for the Tricity and the first night on the road to the hills.
Pinjore travel guide
📍 HaryanaMughal terraced gardens, an ancient temple site and the start of the road to Shimla
Pinjore is a small town in Panchkula district at the foot of the Shivaliks, best known for the 17th-century Pinjore (Yadavindra) Gardens. With the Bhima Devi temple ruins, the mango festival and Kalka’s toy-train station next door, it is a calm base between Chandigarh and the hills.
Kurukshetra travel guide
📍 HaryanaThe land of the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita – sacred tanks, ghats and museums
Kurukshetra in Haryana is where the Mahabharata war is said to have been fought and where Krishna spoke the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna at Jyotisar. Its great sacred tanks – Brahma Sarovar and Sannihit Sarovar – temples and museums draw pilgrims all year, and especially during the International Gita Mahotsav.
Rishikesh travel guide
📍 UttarakhandThe yoga capital of the world – Ganga aarti, suspension bridges and white-water rafting
Rishikesh sits where the Ganga leaves the Himalayan foothills, about 25 km above Haridwar. Ashrams, yoga schools, the evening Ganga aarti at Triveni Ghat and Parmarth Niketan, the Beatles Ashram and rafting from Shivpuri make it one of India’s favourite spiritual and adventure towns.
Haridwar travel guide
📍 UttarakhandGateway to the gods – the Ganga aarti at Har ki Pauri, hilltop temples and the Kumbh city
Haridwar is one of Hinduism’s seven holy cities, where the Ganga reaches the plains. Pilgrims bathe at Har ki Pauri and gather for its famous evening aarti, ride ropeways to Mansa Devi and Chandi Devi, and use the city as the start of the Char Dham yatra.
Lansdowne travel guide
📍 UttarakhandA quiet cantonment hill town of the Garhwal Rifles – oak forests, old churches and Himalayan views
Lansdowne is a small, clean cantonment town at about 1,700 m in Pauri Garhwal, home of the Garhwal Rifles since the 1880s. With almost no commercial build-up, it offers pine and oak walks, colonial churches, the Tip-n-Top viewpoint and a calm weekend escape from Delhi.