A Traveller’s Guide: Top 13 Places To Visit in Chandigarh
One of the cleanest and most well-planned cities of India, Chandigarh is always a whirlwind of activity, with famous sites at every turn and never enough time to see them all. Even if you’re not mesmerized by the city’s soaring shopping malls and flashy food street, you’ll be blown away by its flourishing arts, food, fashion, and nightlife scenes. Even better, many landmarks are free to visit, while others are available with discounted entry or with special offers. There are also plenty of kid-friendly places to visit in Chandigarh.
There are plenty of breaks to choose from, whether you are coming for a day trip or for a whole weekend in this wonderful city.
Things to see and places to go City Beautiful Chandigarh
1 Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary: North-East Of Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh
Sukhna lake was constructed in 1958 and spread over an area of 2600 hectares and the best Chandigarh place to visit. It is situated at 1 Km. in the North-East of Sukhna Lake.
It is an abode of a wide variety of mammals, birds, reptiles, butterflies, and micro-organisms, some of them which are popular are: Sambar, Spotted Deer, Wild boar, Jackal, Jungle Cat, Porcupine, Hanuman Langur, Indian Hare, Common-Mongoose, etc. Apart from that, there is a wide variety of birds including aquatic birds.
Prominent among them are Peacock, Red jungle fowl, Grey partridge, Cuckoos, Golden Oriole, Kingfisher, Swifts, Hoopoes, Hornbills, Barbets, and others.
There are large varieties of reptiles including snakes like the Cobra, Rat snake, Common Krait, Russell’s viper, Indian Python, etc.
2. International Dolls Museum: Sector 23, Chandigarh
The International Dolls Museum, Chandigarh was established in 1985 and is one of the best museums among all present in India. This place is not for children but adults also find it attractive to revisit their childhood memories.
With such a huge collection of dolls present in this museum. It appears to be a completely new world. Apart from the dolls, you will find Toy Train is also very assuming.
The replica of the German Railway station is a special attraction with a background made of a ceramic fresco depicting the milestones of various countries.
3. Rock Garden of Chandigarh:
It is also known as Nek Chand’s Rock Garden after its founder Nek Chand. The most interesting thing about this place is that it is completely built of industrial and home waste and thrown-away items.
It consists of man-made interlinked waterfalls and many other sculptures developed from scrap and other kinds of waste (bottles, glasses, bangles, tiles, ceramic pots, sinks, electrical waste, broken pipes, etc.) which are placed in walled paths. The garden is visited by over 5,000 people daily, with more than 12 million visitors since its inception.
4. Zakir Hussain Rose Garden: Sector 16, Jan Marg, Chandigarh
Zakir Hussain Rose Garden is Asia’s largest Rose Garden and is spread over 30 acres of land having over 1600 different species of roses. Every year, either at the end of February or the beginning of March, a big festival known as the Rose Festival is celebrated at this garden which lasts for a week.
Over 20,000 people visit this festival. It’s one of the great celebrations in the city. There are lots of competitions, cultural celebrations, and many other events.
5. Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19, Chandigarh:
Le Corbusier Centre has been established by the Chandigarh Administration, at the old Sector 19 office of the city’s architect, Le Corbusier. The Swiss-French architect used the office while conceptualizing the city almost six decades ago.
The Centre exhibits the life and works of Le Corbusier, so that tourists and future architects may be able to acquaint themselves with the rich cultural heritage of the city. The ultimate goal of the Centre would be the preservation, interpretation, research, and display of the works and legacy of Le Corbusier.
6. Garden of Fragrance Sector 36, Chandigarh:
The Garden of Fragrance was built in 1998. The garden is famous for its pleasant-smelling assortment of flowering plants, and hence the name, ‘Garden Of Fragrance’.At a distance of 4 km from Chandigarh Bus Station, Garden of Fragrance is one of the celebrated gardens located in the heart of Chandigarh.
The garden is one of the best picnic spots in Chandigarh and also one of the popular Chandigarh tourist places.
7. Elante Mall, Chandigarh:
Elante is one of the coolest cultural hubs of the city and the best place to visit in Chandigarh. It is a unique development project that is equipped to cater not only to Business but also Stay & Entertainment for the masses and the classes in & around the city.
It is the largest shopping hub in Northern India and the tenth-largest in India. Elante Mall hosts retailers of various Indian and international brands, a food court, and a courtyard full of cafes.
8. Geri Route
Almost every college-going group finds this spot one of the most-loved and highly-visited areas throughout Chandigarh. The Geri Route is a street in Sector 8, 9, 10, and 11 where students love to drive motorbikes and cars.
The word ‘Geri’ has been taken from Punjabi vocabulary, which means ‘rounds.’ The core of all the Geri Streets is around DAV college in sector 10-D.
After an appeal by Deeptha Vivekanand as a primary part of Bekhauf Azaadi March (Fearless Freedom Movement), which was conducted after the DJ Varnika Kundu’s stalking case in August 2017, the Geri Route is referred to as Azaadi Route on Google Maps.
Since 2001, Chandigarh Police has seen patrolling around the Geri Route to eliminate any chances of eve-teasing and traffic violations.
9. Sector 17 Market Chandigarh
For those who are die-hard brand lovers and love to explore the classiest market throughout Chandigarh, they must not miss a chance to visit the sector 17 plaza market.
Flooded with uniquely designed cafes, branded showrooms, a vintage-look cinema hall, and popular ice-cream parlors, the market is one of the biggest limelights to relish in.
Despite being loaded with numerous international brands, there are a lot of people who visit this market to buy authentic Punjabi music albums and shop the cultural accessories, apparel, and footwear at its best. Apart from buying uniquely designed cultural art pieces, this market is well-recognized for buying best-selling novels too.
Earlier, the sector 17 market was considered as the central hub of Chandigarh.
10. Sector 22 Shastri Market Chandigarh
Located in one of the most-visited sectors of Chandigarh, the Shashtri Market is a paradise for shopping lovers. You can find out the best apparel, footwear, and accessories in this market at affordable rates.
Even during business days, the market experiences a gala time when buying and selling goods on ‘sale.’ If you are low on your budget yet want to go through a series of options, then you must visit this market and buy the best handicraft, cheap and best gift items, and apparel to satiate your shopping hunger.
Apart from apparel and accessories, the market is familiar with jewelry shops, handbags, smartphones, and accessories, etc. Also, whenever you decide to visit the Shashtri Market, make sure to gear up your bargaining skills as there is a lot of scope for negotiation there.
If visiting the market on weekends, make sure to spare an entire day as you may not come out of the market before 5-6 hours.
11. Garden of Silence
Designed and developed for all meditation lovers, the Garden of Silence is located at the endpoint of Sukhna Lake. Most of the time, the entire lake is seen as crowded, but as soon as you reach the endpoint, there is sheer silence and a humongous statue of Buddha spreading positivity throughout the garden.
This garden has been financed by the Government of India, the Ministry of Tourism. As far as the development of the garden is concerned, that has been taken care of by the Chandigarh Administration.
To add more to the beautiful ambiance of this garden, it has been surrounded by bougainvillea flowers, a play area for kids, a jogging track, and a separate space to calm mind and body.
So far, the Buddha statue in the Garden of Silence is the largest monument present in Chandigarh.
12. Panjab University Chandigarh
Panjab University is one of the oldest educational institutes in India. This university was established in 1882 (before independence) as the University of Punjab.
At present, the university is located in Lahore, Pakistan. It covers more than 550 acres with at least 70 educational departments devoted to different studies. The university has affiliated 188 colleges throughout Punjab.
Some of the world widely recognized alumni of Panjab University Chandigarh are- Kalpana Chawla, Kiran Bedi, Poonam Dhillon, Manmohan Singh, Gul Panag, Kirron Kher, Balraj Sahni, Shankar Dayal Sharma, Nuruddin Farah, Sunil Bharti Mittal, Sushma Swaraj, Khushwant Singh, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Tarlochan Singh, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Naranjan Dhalla, Keerti Vardhan Madahar, Romila Thapar, Yash Pal, Piara Khabra, Mita Vashisht, Mahi Gill, Yami Gautam, Babbu Maan, Vishal Goyal, Jagjit Singh, and Lobsang Nyandak.
13. Rajiv Gandhi IT Park
Also recognized as IT Park Chandigarh, this place is the new hub of the IT sector with uncountable IT companies and talented employees uplifting Chandigarh’s standards. This IT Park has several reputed companies, including- Infosys, Sufi, Bebo, Aeren, Net Solution, Demco, and other co-working buildings like- FCS (J7), DLF, etc. To make the place look lively, there is a DT mall run by DLF.
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