Last Updated on: 16th March 2026, 09:48 am
Chandigarh isn’t quite like anywhere in India – a country equally known for its chaotic traffic and its fascinating historical sites. Chandigarh, India’s first planned city, has little of either. While it may objectively be India’s most pleasant and livable city, does it have anything to offer a casual tourist? I went there to find out.
Following this guide to the top things to do in Chandigarh, you can learn more about local accommodation, along with final thoughts on whether or not the city is worth visiting, at the end of the article.
Chandigarh: A Brief History
Upon the 1947 Partition, the state of Punjab was split between India and Pakistan. Punjab’s capital had been Lahore, which also ended up in Pakistan. So the new Indian state of Punjab was left without a capital.
To make matters more complex, the region also saw an influx of non-Muslim refugees from western Punjab, and its population suddenly ballooned. So it was eventually decided to make a new city from scratch.
The idea came about as early as 1948. And in 1949, an American town planner named Albert Mayer was selected to design the city. He then chose architect Matthew Nowicki to handle Chandigarh’s architecture.
The chosen site was largely comprised of flat agricultural land, which allowed for plenty of space to work with. The city’s name, meanwhile, was derived from an ancient temple that once stood in the area.
Inspired by the Garden City Movement, Chandigarh was set to be divided into ‘superblocks,’ with each functioning as its own self-contained city.
But due to Nowicki’s tragic death and Mayer’s hectic schedule, Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier took over the project in 1951. In addition to designing the Capitol Complex, Corbusier implemented a rectilinear grid plan to replace Mayer’s earlier fan-shaped design.
Later in 1966, when the state of Punjab split into two for religious and linguistic reasons, Chandigarh became the shared capital of both Punjab and Haryana. But notably, the city itself isn’t part of either, as it’s a union territory directly controlled by the national government.
Today, it remains one of India’s most desirable and expensive places to live.
GETTING AROUND: Sprawling in size, Chandigarh, is paradoxically both the most walkable city in India – thanks to its wide pedestrian-only sidewalks – and one that still requires long taxi rides because of how spread out everything is. In that sense, it feels more like American suburbia.
Those doing longer stays would be wise to figure out the city’s public bus system. But the following locations can all be seen in a day with a combination of taxi and walking.
SUkhna Lake
I decided to start my exploration of Chandigarh at Sukhna Lake, and from there, walk to Nek Chand’s Rock Garden.
Specifically, I had my Uber driver drop me off at the Garden of Silence on the lake’s far eastern edge. It would then take about 45 minutes on foot to the rock garden.
The Garden of Silence was added sometime in the late ’90s, meaning it postdates most of the other landmarks in this guide. Intended as a meditative space, it’s centered around a modern Buddha statue.
While very few people identify as Buddhist in India today, this part of India was indeed once a major Buddhist center. While I didn’t get a chance to visit, ruins of the stupa of Sanghol can be found about 50 km outside of Chandigarh.
A staircase near the Garden of Silence then leads Sukhna Lake’s promenade. The lake is a reservoir created in 1958 by Le Corbusier himself. And he implemented some rules that are still followed today.
For example, it’s strictly pedestrian-only, so visitors don’t have to share a space with motorbikes.
You’ll also notice how vendors are strictly regulated, while the adjacent garden is well-manicured and void of litter. It certainly makes one wonder: If Chandigarh can do it, why can’t more places in India?
Though I didn’t stop by, the area is also home to a Nature Interpretation Centre. But later on, I did step inside a small spiral building accessible via a causeway.
Inside, I discovered a brief informational exhibit detailing the lake’s history and the engineering feats involved to create it.
Feeling hungry, I eventually encountered some food vendors on the lake’s opposite side – only to learn that they don’t accept cash.
Considering how foreign tourists are basically locked out of India’s digital payment system (UPI), I had to continue my explorations on an empty stomach.
Nek Chand’s Rock Garden
Nek Chand’s Rock Garden is arguably Chandigarh’s top highlight. And it only costs Rs 30 to explore. But what exactly is it?
The rock garden is a massive project built by Nek Chand, a government roads inspector who lived in Chandigarh while the city was still being built. The garden’s history is almost as interesting as the site itself, as it actually remained hidden for years.
From 1957, Chand started salvaging materials from the city’s numerous construction sites on the outskirts of the city. Over the years, it grew and grew. But the project wasn’t even discovered by officials until 1975!
By this time, the rock garden had already expanded to 13 acres, complete with the unique sculpture and multiple courtyards we see today.
The self-taught artist even built up elaborate structures using cement. But the problem was, that the land had been designated a conservancy on which nothing was allowed to be built.
Though his work was supposed to be torn down, the public had embraced Nek Chand’s Rock Garden and helped convince officials to turn it into a public park.
Fortunately, the garden is still here for us to explore. And its curvy pathways make for an interesting contrast to the straight grid patterns found throughout the rest of the city.
Incredibly, Chand even diverted an existing seasonal stream to create a river and waterfalls! And he even built bridges over it – almost as if he could sense what a major attraction it would become someday.
Walking along the river for awhile, I eventually arrived at a large, spacious courtyard. Here, visitors were enjoying swinging on the swings installed below a series of arched frames, all of which were topped with white horse sculptures.
Nek Chand’s Rock Garden also features a small indoor section filled with life-sized mannequins wearing local clothing. They’re sitting in front of traditional buildings and it looks like an exhibit straight out of a folk museum – something Chandigarh lacks due to the newness of the city.
Nek Chand’s Rock Garden also uses plenty of mosaics, which reminded me of Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens. That project was initiated in the 1960s at roughly the same time as this one.
Another set of winding, narrow paths took me past smaller sculptures made from found objects. It’s remarkable how Chand could work on both monumental structures and tiny figurines at the same time.
All in all, one could easily spend a couple of hours at Nek Chand’s Rock Garden.
The Capitol Complex
Just west of the Rock Garden is the High Court, one of the main buildings of Chandigarh’s Capitol Complex designed by Le Corbusier himself. Though a museum is mentioned on Google Maps, I wasn’t able to find it.
And so I proceeded to head toward Corbusier’s Open Hand Monument, which is considered the symbol of the city. At the time, I didn’t realize that despite being Chandigarh’s emblem, it’s not situated in an open plaza that visitors can just walk up to.
Instead, you’re supposed to head to the official Visitor Center first – something that was not clearly indicated on signage.
Trying to find the sculpture, I walked straight into a security checkpoint. I asked one of the guards how to find it, and he vaguely waved toward a group in the distance and told me to follow them.
But just as I was about to , his colleague stopped me and started shouting that it was for VIPs only. For a moment, it felt like I was part of a prank reality show.
After a lot of shouting and confusion, one of them called the Visitor Center on the phone for me, and I was informed that the area can only be accessed by guided tours that leave at 9:00, 12:00, and 15:00.
It just happened to be 12:05 at the time. And since one of the guards wouldn’t let me pass, I’d need to wait another three hours just to see this one monument.
Giving up, I decided to get a closer look at the Secretariat Building – another of Corbusier’s monumental creations. But there was no way there. Oddly, the sidewalk had largely been torn up, while everything was blocked by big fences.
It’s not even as if I were dying to see these buildings, but it felt somewhat obligatory given how important they are to the (short) history of the city.
Though he certainly has his fans, I personally find Corbusier’s architecture to be hideously ugly. And I wondered how much more interesting Chandigarh would be if they’d let Nek Chand design it instead!
Furthermore, this whole experience around the Capitol Complex made Chandigarh feel closed off and pretentious. But I continued exploring, hoping that my mind would change by the end of the day.
Government Museum and Art Gallery
Located in the heart of the city, the Government Museum and Art Gallery is probably Chandigarh’s top thing to see after the Rock Garden. Designed by Le Corbusier’s cousin Pierre Jeanneret, the building itself is yet another modernist eyesore. But it’s the inside that counts.
At the time of writing, the museum costs just Rs 30 to enter (yes, even for foreigners). And there’s also a small extra fee if you want to use a camera inside. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday at 10:00- 16:30.
The museum contains a mix of modern art and fine art. I enjoyed the colorful contemporary exhibit I encountered soon after the ticket counter. But the real highlight here is the extensive collection of ancient Buddhist art.
A lot of the art here comes from the historical region of Gandhara, which encompasses parts of modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan. It was in Gandhara, in fact, that many of the world’s oldest Buddhist statues were created.
Notably, considering how the descendants of Alexander the Great’s generals had already settled in Central Asia, Gandhara sculpture has a clear Greek/Macedonian influence.
I’ve seen Gandhara art displayed at various museums around the world, but this collection ranks up with the best of them. But Chandigarh is not part of historic Gandhara, so why are there so many pieces here?
After the 1947 Partition, a large portion of the collection at the Lahore Museum was divided up between Pakistan and India, and many of those pieces ended up here. (Lahore is not part of Gandhara either, but it’s long been Pakistan’s top museum.)
Stay tuned for our upcoming feature on the Lahore Museum, not to mention guides to ancient Gandharan locations in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The upper floor is also home to additional contemporary paintings. Many of the artists are Indian, with lots coming from Chandigarh itself.
The Architecture Museum
For those with an interest in Chandigarh’s history, architecture, and the planning that went into it, the Chandigarh Architecture Museum (also known as the City Museum) is located right across from the Government Museum and Art Gallery. It only costs Rs 10 to enter.
The building was designed by S. D. Sharma, but was adapted from a pavilion that Le Corbusier had designed for Zurich in 1965.
And the interior exhibits also look like they’re straight out of the 1960s. But they do provide a lot of comprehensive background information on Chandigarh’s main landmarks and the birth of the city as a whole.
The Zakir Hussain Rose Garden
Though it might not have the prettiest architecture, where Chandigarh really excels is its abundance of parks. There are plenty to choose from, but one of the prominent parks in the center is the Zakir Hussain Rose Garden.
It’s Asia’s largest rose garden, and it was named after India’s president from 1967-69. Admittedly, I’d thought that the garden was named after the legendary tabla player, Ustad Zakir Hussain, who passed away in 2024.
In any case, it’s a nice place to relax. Nearby, meanwhile, is a shopping district with various restaurants and markets.
Additional Info
Though I’d been aware of Chandigarh and its uniqueness, it was never part of my original itinerary, as I’m mainly interested in cities with a more ancient past. But when I found all of the train tickets between Kurukshetra and Amritsar sold out, I decided to alter my itinerary and spend a couple of days in Chandigarh along the way.
All in all, Chandigarh is ‘interesting’ considering how different it is from most Indian cities. But as mentioned, it’s lacking in historical sites. And while the gardens are well-maintained, a lot of the buildings already appear to be in a state of decay.
Unless you’re especially interested in the Garden City Movement or urban planning in general, Chandigarh has little to offer visitors – especially those who have yet to explore much of the country. But if you feel like you’ve already seen it all in India, Chandigarh is indeed something different.
I’d later discover that Islamabad, Pakistan is very similar to Chandigarh in the sense that it’s a planned city comprised of superblocks. It also has more interesting architecture and landmarks than Chandigarh, while it’s right next to the mountains. So if you’ll be visiting Pakistan as well, Chandigarh has little to offer that Islamabad doesn’t.
Chandigarh can be reached from New Delhi in about 3.5 to 5 hours. And coming from the other direction, it takes about 4.5 -6 hours from Amritsar.
The closest city of interest is Kurukshetra, the ‘Land of the Bhagavad Gita,’ which is just a couple of hours away.
You can also reach Chandigarh directly from cities like Jaipur or even Mumbai.
Alternatively, Chandigarh also has its own airport with direct connections to India’s major cities.
If you’re doing a long trip through India, it’s best to create an account on the official Indian Railways (IRCTC) website. But that’s much easier said than done!
If you’re just doing a shorter trip, it’s best to book train tickets through 12GoAsia. You’ll pay a significantly higher fee, but it’s a much smoother experience.
The above link is an affiliate link, but I did use 12GoAsia a few times before I got my IRCTC account set up and I had no issues.
As mentioned, Chandigarh is a massive, sprawling city, so you’re going to do a lot of moving around regardless of where you stay. Furthermore, it’s also one of India’s most expensive cities.
While the concept of the ‘superblock’ is supposed to mean that each sector has everything you need, that’s not quite the case in reality, and you will sometimes have to travel far to find the type of food or coffee you’re after.
Places like Hotel Icon and the Kaptain’s Retreat seem to be mid-range hotels with positive reviews located in a central area.
In my case, as a budget traveler, I stayed on the outskirts of the city in Sector 45 at a place called Diamond Leaf. It was right up there with some of the dirtiest hotels I’ve stayed at in India. And while foreigners are indeed allowed there, the staff present during my check-in initially told me ‘no foreigners allowed’ and told me to try somewhere else!
With that said, if you’re on a budget and Diamond Leaf is your only option, then it’s still somewhat livable. But I enjoyed much better hotels for roughly the same price in both Kurukshetra and Amritsar.