Amritsar - Things to do

Hey guys! Hope you all are doing well.

In this blog, I’m going to share information about my trip to Amritsar during Holi holidays (2019). It was a family trip and one of my friend’s families accompanied with us. It was a two night stay and I will be telling you about the places I visited in Amritsar. So, let’s get started with my journey.

Amritsar

Amritsar is one of the famous cities in Punjab which does not require any sort of introduction. This city is famous for Golden Temple to Attari Wagah Border, Lassi to Amritsari Kulcha and Phulkari Dupaata to Punjabi Jutti. Amritsar is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion. Amritsar is the spiritual and cultural centre of the Sikh Religion.

How to reach Amritsar from Delhi?

There are many options to reach Amritsar from Delhi but we booked the cheapest one which was a train “Shane Punjab”. This train runs from “New Delhi Railway Station” at 6.40 AM and reaches Amritsar by 2.30 PM. We had our booking in “2nd Sitting” which cost us 170 INR each. There are so many other trains which you may book as per your convenience.

From Amritsar junction, we hired an auto for 100 INR to reach Golden Temple area.

Total Duration from Delhi to Amritsar = 7:45 Hrs (Considering no delay)

Where to stay?

Amritsar has lots of hotels where you can stay starting from budget to luxury stay. If you are under budget, you can easily find a one night stay for 250 to 350 INR. Try staying nearby Golden Temple area so that you can reach the temple and market anytime easily.

Hotel Aniket Residency

We stayed at Hotel Aniket Residency and we paid 2400 INR for two rooms (2 Nights Stay). It was a budget stay and worth paying Rs. 600 per night with a family. Golden Temple was around 1 KM from the hotel and nearest point of interest was “Partition Museum”.

Address: Opp. State Bank of India inside Mahan Singh gate, Town Hall, 143001 Amritsar, India 

Rate: 600 INR (Per Night) (Use your bargaining skills)

Cleanliness: The rooms were neat and clean with an attached washroom which had cold and hot running water facility. 

Things to do in Amritsar

Golden Temple

Golden Temple is one the famous holiest place of worship for Sikhs around the world. It’s an awe-inspiring experience to visit this temple, as it is made up of gold and surrounding man-made lake makes it more beautiful. It is opened 24 hours. Nothing can be better than starting a day with visiting this holy place. Temple welcomes everyone regardless of caste, status or religion. If you are hungry or not, don’t miss a meal at the langar, they have world’s largest kitchen serving free food to almost 1 lakh people daily.

Golden Temple Night View

Watch my full vlog:

Wagah Attari Border

Wagah is border crossing between India and Pakistan. You can easily find thousands of steps moving towards the border after 2 PM for a beating retreat ceremony which happens daily at 5 PM. This place is going to lighten up the flames of patriotism in you.

We reached this place by 2.30 PM so that we can get the best possible seats for us to watch the ceremony.

Things to remember:

You are not allowed to take any bags, slings, mobile chargers, ear plugs, backup chargers during ceremony. You can take your camera with you but without bag.

There are vendors who are selling water bottles, ice-creams, chips and few more stuff inside.

To reach border from Golden Temple, you can easily get a sharing Auto for Rs. 100 per person for to and fro. We booked full auto for 600 INR including few temples.

Beating Retreat Ceremony at Wagah

Our Pride: National Flag of India

Jallianwala Bagh

Jallianwala Bagh is very near to Golden Temple is a must visit place in Amritsar. It looks like a mini park but it is very important part of our history. Yes, history with emotions is attached with this place. This place showcases the tragic history how martyrs lost their life when General Dyer attacked the gathering and killed so many people.

Ticket Entry: Free

Timing: 6.30 AM to 7.00 PM

Duration to explore: Less than an hour. .

Jallianwala Bagh

Bullet Marks

Partition Museum

Partition Museum was just next to our hotel stay so we decided to explore it in the morning on 2nd day. We reached the museum in the morning by 10 AM. It is the world’s firstPartition Museum at the historic Town Hall building in Amritsar. The Partition of India was one of the most defining events in the nation’s history. It was perhaps the largest migration in human history. This museum has lots of information about the partition which are displayed in the form of news papers or audio clips.

Timings: 10 AM to 6 PM

Ticket: Rs 10

Suggested Duration: 1-2 hours

Location: Town Hall

Partition Museum

Town Hall

Durgiana Temple

There are few famous temples in the Amritsar which can be visited during your stay. One among them is Durgiana Temple which looks like a Golden Temple. It is a cool place to visit. However, there was a lot of reconstruction going on when we visited this temple. It has two temples; one of Goddess Durga and other one isHanuman Temple. You can visit these temples to gain some good vibes.

Location: Near Hathi Gate Chowk  | Opposite Goal Bagh., Amritsar 

Timing:  6 am to 10 pm

Durgiana Temple

MATA LAL DEVI MANDIR

During our visit to Wagah Border, our auto driver took us to this temple and we liked this temple more than the Durgiana Temple. From outside this temple may not impress you but you’ll be amazed once entering the temple. Lal Devi Mandir is one of the top religious places to visit in Amritsar. There are tunnels and passages which you’ll be passing through experiencing the beautiful statues of Hindu Gods.  It is around 3 KM from Golden Temple and you can get a local transport to visit this temple.

Statue of God

Art work in the temple

Shopping

There are so many markets in Amritsar where you can buy some stuff. Hall Bazaar is one of the oldest marketplaces in Amritsar. Due to its immense variety of stuff, it is considered as one of the best places to shop in Amritsar. You can find varieties of cloths, food and other items in this market. It is located on the way of Golden Temple and thus can easily be found and visited by the people. Amritsar is famous for Phulkari Chunni and in food (Papad and Vadiyan). Don’t forget to bargain, it’s must.

Food

When it comes to food, Amritsar or any city of Punjab; is famous for their food. In Amritsar, you can try Kulchas or lassi. There so many restaurants or dhabas serving the same. We tried Brother’s Dhaba for Amritsari Kulchas, which is near Jallianwala Bagh. However, there are so many other food joints which can be tried and are famous like Kulcha Land, Kesar the Dhaba, Makhan Fish and many more.

Brother’s Dhaba

Address: Near Jallianwala Bagh

Rates: Reasonable (Kulcha Starts from 60 rs to 100 rs)

Taste: 3/5

Service: I personally found it a bit slow (May be a bad day J)

Giani Tea Stall

I had heard about Giani Tea Stall and at the last moment, I decided to visit this tea stall and try their special tea. It is a very famous old shop in Amritsar and famous for its signature “Badam Pista Chai (tea)”. We ordered two cups of special tea with bread butter toasts. The taste of the tea was not that awesome which can convince you to visit this place during your next visit to Amritsar.

Rates: Reasonable (A bit high for special tea 50 rs)

Service: 3/5

Address: Cooper Road Company Bagh, Amritsar, Near Bhandari Bridge, Amritsar 143001 India

With this badam pista tea our journey to Amritsar came to end and we boarded our train back to Delhi.

Please feel free to ask any information if required. You may also follow me on Instagram “Mytravelrunbynaveen”.