Amritsar

Amritsar, in the north-western Punjab plains, is the cultural, heritage, and culinary heart of Punjab — a vibrant city of historic monuments, a poignant freedom-struggle memorial, a famous border spectacle, and one of North India's greatest vegetarian food traditions.

• Its defining landmark is the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), whose white-marble and gold-plated sanctum sits in the middle of the Amrit Sarovar, the large water tank that gives the city its name.
• Completed in 1604 and given its present gilded form in the early 19th century by Maharaja Ranjit Singh — who had the upper storeys overlaid with gold around 1830 — it is one of the most photographed buildings in India; the complex is open to visitors of every background, around the clock, with head covering and bare feet required at the entrance.
• A short walk away lies Jallianwala Bagh, the walled garden where, on 13 April 1919, British troops under General Dyer fired on a peaceful gathering of unarmed civilians — the bullet-pocked red-brick walls, the memorial flame, and the martyrs' well make it among the most moving sites of India's freedom struggle.
• The nearby Partition Museum in the Town Hall (opened 2017) is the country's most significant oral-history institution, with 1947 testimonies, photographs, and artefacts — plan two hours.
• The Wagah-Attari Border Ceremony, 30 km west on the India-Pakistan frontier, is the daily sunset flag-lowering performed by the BSF to a roar of crowds.
• The restored 18th-century Gobindgarh Fort and the pedestrianised Heritage Street round out the city circuit.
• For vegetarian travellers, Amritsar is a feast: the Amritsari kulcha (tandoor-baked wheat bread stuffed with spiced potato or paneer, served with chhole and white butter) at Kulcha Land is essential; the thick, saffron-topped lassi served in clay bowls at Gian di Hatti (since 1927) is the city's signature drink; and pinni (ghee-wheat-jaggery sweet balls) completes the food trail.
• October to March is the comfortable window.