Things to Do in Ludhiana

One of the places in Ludhiana is the historical Phillaur Fort. Deriving its name from Sanghera Jat Phul, this place has been built on European architecture. The place has an extensive moat around it and has 4 bastions on four corners, two watchtowers, tall gates and high wall of 4.7 meters making it an ideal for military operations.

Each gateway of the fort has been named after Mughal cities. The two hundred years old fort is now used for police training and finger print bureau. Tourists often get lost in the historical grandeur of the place be it a visit to the Dargah inside the fort or the lush green golf course outside.

Location: Punjab Police Academy Campus, Pillaur

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Timing: Only open on Thursdays. Timing is flexible and usually closes at sunset

Best Time to Visit: Between November to March.

One of the places to visit in Ludhiana is the Victoria Memorial Clock Tower. Popularly known as “Ghanta Ghar”, the place is a prime landmark of the city. Inaugurated in 1906 by Sir Charles Montgomery, the tower has the history of being erected to mark the occasion of silver jubilee of queen Victoria’s reign.

The clock used to be manually wounded when first erected but 12 years ago was replaced by a digital version. Located in the heart of the city, the tower is the icon of Ludhiana which can be viewed from other parts of the city.

Location: Clock Tower Road

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Timing: 9:00 am — 10 pm

Best Time to visit: Can be visited daily at any time but best to visit during early evening

One of the beautiful places to visit in Ludhiana is the lush green gardens of Leisure Valley. Open from early morning, the place is popular amongst morning joggers who love to jog through the concrete pathways while enjoying the manicured gardens and colourful flowers around.

The green cover of tall trees and flowers all around makes it a very pleasant place to spend relaxing time with family and friends.Visitors can also opt to go to the open air gymnasium which is one of its kind in whole of Ludhiana and is open to all free of cost. One can also visit the skating rink which hosts many events and competitions throughout the year.

Location: Convent School Road, Sarabha Nagar, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Timing: 4:00 am — 10:30 pm

Best Time to visit: November to March

The Nehru Planetarium, situated inside Nehru Rose Garden, is an attraction, mainly for the young visitors. The place was commissioned on 3rd March 1977 with the objective of fostering scientific temperament through the means of entertainment. The unique combination of education, information and entertainment has endeared it to the young generation. The Nehru Planetarium opened branches across the country and one of the same was located in Ludhiana.

The place has daily stellar shows where specially the young visitors get enchanted watching the solar system, galaxies, moon, star and other astronomical objects. There are several programs for students including science quiz, astro quiz, science elocution and even poetry on astrology. The place has a seating capacity of 80 so it is better to book seats in advance.

Location: Nehru Rose Garden,Civil Lines, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: INR 5 for public, Free for students & children below age of 10

Timing: 10:15 am to 11:15 am from Monday to Thursday & 3:15 pm to 5:15 pm on Sundays

Best Time to visit: October to February

The beautiful Shri Krishna Mandir is one of the places to visit in Ludhiana. This temple, which is stretched across 500 sq. ft (46.45 square meters) area, has more than 520 statues. The most prominent is the statue of Lord Hanuman which is 37 feet (0.01 km) high. The temple celebrates three festivals in the year — Janam Ashtami, Dushera and Shivratri with glory.

Janmastami is celebrated on the open ground in front of the temple and the whole place including the temple is beautifully decorated with flowers and colourful lights. The devotees gather in large numbers to recite slokas and kirtans. Prasadam and charnamat is distributed to the devotees. The temple also has a charitable hospital where poor people are treated, given medicines and even operated free of cost.

Location: Model Town Extension, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: Free for all

Timing: 6 am to 9 pm

Best Time to visit: Can be visited daily

One of the places to visit in Ludhiana is the beautiful temple of Govind Godham.The temple has been dedicated to Lord Krishna. Established in May 2000 by Now Seva Samiti trust, the temple is spread over 5 acres of land and has the biggest Goshala(Cow’s home) where various varieties of cows can be seen.

One can feed the cows in the goshala. The temple also has a Gau hospital attached to it where treatments for the underprivileged people are done free of cost. The temple hosts several festivals round the year when devotees gather in large numbers.

Location: Gaushala Road, Pratap Singhwala, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: Free for all

Timing: 5:30 am to 1 pm & 4pm to 9pm

Best Time to visit: Can be visited daily

Popularly known as “Ajab Ghar," Punjab Heritage Museum is inspired by Copenhagen open air museum. It is a two-storey building showcasing artefacts from the 18th & 19th century. Special attraction is the rich Punjabi Phulkari work which is displayed in the Phulkari section. Other attractions stored in this museum are traditional musical instruments such as tumba, sarangi, vanjhali and nagar which are stored here.

A rich collection of coins , carpentry tools, old utensils from the Indus Valley civilisation occupy a part of the museum. Another part has bronze utensils and farming equipment. The place also gives a colourful glimpse of the Punjabi culture before moderation. Mannequins and dioramas have been used to display various facets of life starting from how women of the village would gather with their Phulkari work while singing folk songs.

Location: In the premise of Punjab Agricultural University, Ferozpur Road, 6.2 kms from Ludhiana

Entry Fee: INR 10

Timing: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Best Time to visit: Can be visited daily

Visitors who are keen to know the rural life of India, specially Punjab would be attracted towards this museum. The place was inaugurated by Khuswant Singh in 1974. Located in the Punjab Agricultural University Campus, the place depicts the rural lifestyle of Punjabis from the Harappan age and the museum building looks like one of the traditional houses of rural Punjab. The museum exhibits local art and craft and also various agricultural equipment and tools.

There is a 100 yard (0.09 km) path around it with beautiful gardens and water channels which are pleasant to walk leading to the beautifully carved doors of the museum. Since this museum depicts the rural life of Punjab, there are live cow, goat and horse farms giving the taste of rural Punjab in the museum premises which the visitors can also visit.

Location: Ferozpur Road, 5.2 kms from centre of Ludhiana

Entry Fee: INR 10

Timing: 9:00 am — 1:00 pm & 2:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Best Time to visit: Can be visited daily

Ludhiana Zoo is one of the places in Ludhiana which is worth a visit. Established in 1993, the place is a nature lover’s paradise and is famous for its Tiger Safari. Visitors love this place for the thrill it gives them when taken inside the dense forest in one of the safari buses.

Visitors feel excited to get a glimpse of the majestic tigers sleeping in shadows or taking a bath in the pool. Other than tigers, visitors can also see peacocks, black bucks, sambhars and rabbits. The jungle’s rich and diverse flora and fauna further enhances the beauty of the place. 

Location: Bhattian, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: INR 20

Timing: Closed on Monday. Opened on other days from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Best Time to visit: Except summer months when the place is very hot during the day, any time and any month of the year is suitable for visiting the zoo.

A morning walker’s paradise and delight to nature lovers, the sprawling garden spreads across 30 acres of land having around 17000 species of flora and fauna. The biggest attraction is the 1600 varieties of roses which mesmerise the visitors looking at them. Take a morning walk through the walkways, a picnic in the lawns or a visit to the mini zoo, visitors are spoilt for choice.

Boat rides in artificial pools and entertainments for children adds to the pleasure. Food stalls provide refreshment to tired visitors after a walk. Evening in this park becomes delightful with fountains illuminated with colourful lights and music. A place to visit anytime in the year has a special attraction during the Annual Rose Festival.

Location: Civil Lines, Ludhiana

Entry Fee: Free for all

Timing: Flexible

Best Time to visit: October to February

For those who want to explore the wild beauty of nature and its creations, Deer Park is one of the places to visit in Ludhiana. The place is known for its variety of animals such as sambar, black bucks, spotted deers, porcupine, and rabbits. The place also has  a rare variety of birds such as Grey Partridges, Red Headed Parakeet, Budgerigar, etc.

Presence of so many varieties of species has made the park a heaven for wildlife photographers. Apart from wild life, the place is also rich with flora and fauna. A word of caution, visitors are required to maintain strict regulations laid down by park authorities for avoiding hurting the wild life and maintaining the beauty of nature. The place is also known to host various cultural activities from time to time.

Location:  Neelon, Neelon Bhanpur Road, Bohapur. 33kms from Ludhiana city.

Entry Fee: No entry fees

Timing: 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Best Time to visit: December to January and May to June

A major attraction of Ludhiana is the Maharaja Ranjit Singh War museum which is Punjab Govt’s tribute to the courageous soldiers who laid their lives for the nation. The place also aims at educating visitors about the importance of defence force.

Owing its name to the majestic statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh positioned at the entrance, the place is spread over 4 acres of land with green lawns around the museum. The museum showcases weapons, armour and uniforms used by soldiers. The most attractive is the sound and light show recreating the history of the Indian Freedom Struggle.

Location: Grand Trunk Road, Bhattian, Ludhiana, Punjab 141008

Entry Fee: INR 40 for adults, INR 20 for children above 5 years, free for children below 5 years

Timing: Closed on Monday. Open on other days from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm

Best Time to visit: During winter months from October to February.

A must-visit for children, this place is an excellent amusement park located on Ludhiana-Jalandhar highway. A popular amongst the tourist places in Ludhiana, the amusement park is known for being the largest water park of Punjab.The main attractions of the place are the plummet down water slides and the float in the endless river.

The place also has food outlets and other entertainment facilities. There is also a wax museum in the amusement park which visitors should not miss. The park also boasts of the 3rd largest indoor snow city in India where tourists can enjoy skating. Tourists can also opt to enjoy the water park at night by staying in the park.

Location: Ludhiana-Jalandhar GT Road

Entry Fee: Rs. 500 per person(above 3 years)

Timing: 10:30 am — 8:00 pm

Best Time to Visit: The place can be visited any day of the month except for National Holidays.

In the Alamgir village lies one of the biggest Sikh religious shrines, the Alamgir Sahib, one of the popular tourist places in Ludhiana. Popularly known as Gurudwara Shri Manji Sahib in memory of the tenth Sikh guru, Guru Govind Singh, this is the place where the guru had shot an arrow in the ground and created a spring of water(Tirsar).

The spring, later converted to a lake, is said to cure pain and illness. The gurdwara is also famous for its langar(Community Hall) which is the biggest and provides free meals to hundreds of visitors. Lush greenery around completes the picture and makes it a favourite place for devotees and tourists.

Location: Alamgir Village which is 11.8kms away from Ludhiana

Entry Fee: Free for all

Timing: All hours of the day

Best Time to visit: Anytime of the month throughout the year, especially during the last week of December and March for festivals.

On the bank of the river, Sutlej stands the historical marvel — the Lodhi Fort. Built by Sikander Lodhi as his military base 500 years ago, the majestic castle has withstood various natural calamities over the years and is now in ruins but still steals the heart of tourists with its age-old beauty.

In spite of being turned into ruins, the place still reflects the beautiful architecture of the Mughal era which has made it a must-visit out of the places to visit in Ludhiana. Popularly known locally as Purana Qila or Old Fort, the place is surrounded by lush greenery which can be covered in around 3 hours.

Location: Shivpuri Road, Qila Mohalla, Near Chhawani Mohalla in Ludhiana

Entry Fee: No entry fee

Timing : 6:00 AM to 7:30 PM

Best Time to visit: Between February to April