Amritsar Tour Package

Amritsar Tour Package

Amritsar is a two-day city with one overwhelming reason to come. The Golden Temple – Harmandir Sahib – is open to everyone, all day and most of the night, and it runs the largest free community kitchen in the world, feeding somewhere in the order of a hundred thousand people a day. You queue with everyone else, you eat sitting on the floor with everyone else, and the whole thing works with a calm efficiency that is genuinely striking.

Within a few hundred metres is Jallianwala Bagh, and 30 km west is the Wagah border ceremony. Those three, in that order, make the trip.

To be straight: our own fleet and drivers are in Rajasthan. For Amritsar we arrange the vehicle and driver locally and manage the itinerary and bookings, so you have one contact and one quote.

What to See

The Golden Temple: What to Expect

Go twice. Once in the early morning, when it is quiet and the recitation is going on, and once after dark, when the building is lit and reflected in the pool. They are different experiences and the second is the one people remember.

Practicalities: heads must be covered – scarves are available free at the entrance – shoes and socks are left at the counter, and you walk through a shallow water channel on the way in. Dress modestly. Alcohol and tobacco are not permitted anywhere in the complex. Photography is allowed around the pool but not inside the inner sanctum.

The langar is worth doing rather than observing. You collect a steel plate, sit in rows on the floor, and are served dal, roti and kheer by volunteers. There is no charge and no expectation; if you want to, you can volunteer at the dish-washing line, which many visitors find is the part that stays with them.

Jallianwala Bagh

On 13 April 1919, troops under General Dyer fired on a large unarmed crowd gathered in this walled garden. The official count was 379 dead; Indian estimates were far higher. The site is a memorial, with the bullet marks preserved in the walls and the well into which people jumped.

It takes an hour and it is a few minutes’ walk from the temple. It is not a sightseeing stop and the mood is appropriately subdued.

Wagah Border Ceremony

The flag-lowering ceremony at the India–Pakistan border runs every evening, 30 km west of the city. It is a loud, choreographed, heavily attended piece of theatre, and whether you find it stirring or strange is a matter of temperament – it is certainly unlike anything else.

Practical: leave the city around 3 PM for seating, since the stands fill early. Timings shift with sunset and the ceremony is occasionally suspended at short notice. Bags and cameras are restricted – carry as little as possible, and check the current rules before you set out.

When to Go, and Getting There

October to March is the season. December and January are cold and foggy, which affects flights and trains. April to June is very hot, and July to September is the monsoon.

Amritsar has its own airport, and the Delhi–Amritsar train takes roughly six hours on the faster services – usually the better option than the 450 km drive. Combining with Rajasthan generally means flying rather than driving.

See our Rajasthan tour packages and Delhi sightseeing tour.

Frequently Asked Questions: Amritsar

The Golden Temple, the langar, Wagah timings and what to wear.

Plan Your Amritsar Trip

Send your dates and whether you want the Wagah ceremony included.

Call +91 86193 15547  |  Email rajasthanonwheeltours@gmail.com