10 Best Places to Visit in Chandigarh and What to Do When You're in This Beautiful and Meticulously Planned City

Chandigarh is a perfectly designed city. It is a capital city for both Punjab and Haryana. The city has been also a major tourist attraction due to its modern and traditional feel. Plus, the magnificent range of temples, museums, art galleries, and British style architecture have been highlights of the city.

Going to the beautiful city Chandigarh? Enjoy a whole range of sights. This city offers numerous monuments and tourist attracts sights that you and friends/family can appreciate while exploring Chandigarh:

The Rock garden is literally synonymous with Chandigarh. This massive art piece has been situated in Sector 1 of this city. In Rock Garden, sculptures made from recycling urban and rural waste have been arranged very beautifully. This place has been designed by Nek Chand, a former Road Inspector of Chandigarh who single handedly designed and created it in 1957. He used his spare time to construct the best example of waste utilization. This massive 40 acres of garden is a mosaic of colorful art products. Solely developed with his imagination and ideology, Nek Chand has created 5000 statues and other fixtures from waste. Rock Garden exhibition area is divided into three phases and every phase has a different type of installations in them. To explore different styles of light fixtures, terracotta pots and numerous other items made out of waste, you can visit Rock Garden with your family to learn the true essence of art.

If you want to feast your eyes upon some rare variety of flowers, then visit blooming paradise of Chandigarh – Zakir Hussain Rose Garden. This aromatic garden is located in Sector 16 of Chandigarh, Rose Garden is a home of 825 varieties of flowers and 32,500 varieties of trees and medicinal shrubs. This is the largest Garden of its own kind in whole Asia which is spread over 30 acres of land. Gates of this Rose Garden was first opened in the year 1967 under the guidance of the First Chief Commissioner, MS Randhawa. The most noteworthy features of the garden are medicinal plants. Take your kids to this botanical garden to enhance their knowledge. To enjoy the Rose Garden in its full glory, plan your visit during the months of February and March when flowers are in full bloom.

Pinjore Gardens is a rich heritage given to Chandigarh by Mughals. This garden was constructed in the 17th century which is currently located in Pinjore city, in the outskirts of Chandigarh. The garden is expanded over huge 100 acres of land. This garden is also known as Yadvinder Garden which is famous all over the world for its well-maintained greenery, refreshing fountains and mesmerizing water bodies. During summer break from April to June, Pinjore Garden hosts a grand annual Mango Festival. With your family and friends, you can come here to enjoy one perfect summer picnic under the shades of the Japanese garden.

If you are looking for an adventurous ride with lions, then you are dared to visit ChattBir Zoo of Chandigarh. This zoo is fantastic wildlife heaven which offers you an opportunity to go on a Lion Safari. It is a magnificent zoological garden where you can spend some fun time with your kids and get acquainted with unique wildlife. Sprawled across the massive 202 acres of land, it is the largest zoological garden of northern India. It was christened as Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park after its inauguration by the Governor of Punjab. This zoo is a home of 80 species of rare and endangered animals. However, Royal Bengal Tigers are the showstopper of this zoo. Apart from Monday, you can visit any day at this zoo.

For sports fans or we can say cricket fans, the city has official stadium known as the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium. Mohali Cricket Stadium is a massive stadium located in Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, Chandigarh. This stadium was built in 1993 and since then it has hosted numerous international and national cricket matches. The stadium is truly enormous with a capacity of 26950 spectators. During IPL matches, you can visit this stadium to cheer your favorite IPL team. Moreover, in this stadium plenty of other sports events and camps are also organized, you can also participate in them.

To spend some leisure time, Chandigarh has to offer along a linear stretch of eight kilometers called Leisure Valley. This undoubtedly is one of the most beautiful places of Chandigarh and also called as the lungs of the Chandigarh city', and 'garland of gardens'. It not only adds to the beauty of the city but also helps to keep it clean and pollution free. A stress-free stroll in this beautiful green valley is bound to make you feel great. You can walk through a different variety of Rose and Bougainvillea gardens, and also beautiful Rose Garden, Terrace Garden, Botanical Gardens, Hibiscus Garden and Smriti Upvan.

The splendid Butterfly Park of Chandigarh is located just in front of the main gate of Chandigarh College of Engineering and Technology in Sector 6. This beautiful garden is spread over 7 acres of land accompanied by meticulous scenery. To make this park permanent residence of colorful butterflies special flowers have been planted. This park has a variety of flower plants like Lantana, Dahlia, Marigold, Gazanian, etc., To attract butterflies amazing selection of mass plants are also part of the park such as Amla, Capris, Ashoka, Citrus Salix, Mango, Palm, and Calotrpis. Total 35 species of butterflies can be found in this park like Common Grass Yellow, Apefly, Blue Mormon, Chocolate pansy and Commander, Common Blue Bottle and Angled Castor.

If you are looking for some serene and peaceful experience then check out the ISKCON temple in your Chandigarh trip. The temple is very beautifully designed and has wonderful deities of Radha Madhav. You can participate in numerous poojas, kirtans or rituals organized in the temple. The temple is a sight to behold on festivals like Sri Krishna Janmashtami, Radha Ashtami, Holi, and Ekadasi.

This man-made lake is the most visited tourist place in Chandigarh. Sukhna Lake was constructed in the year 1958 by damming the Sukhna Choe stream flowing from the Shivalik hills. This 3 kilometer of the lake has gulf on its south and enchanted Rose Garden on its western side. Sukhna Lake has been a favorite spot of numerous migratory birds also like cranes and Siberian ducks. It has been declared as a reserved national wetland by the Government of India. If you want to enjoy a romantic boat ride with your partner or to bask in the relaxing stroll on the shores of Lake with the refreshing Coconut water in your hands, you should include Sukhna Lake in your Chandigarh trip schedule.

International Dolls Museum was established by Chandigarh Rotary Club in 1985. This museum has a collection of dolls from all over the world including Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, Korea, Spain, and Russia. In this museum, around 250 specimens of dolls can be found which are very well kept. Dolls from Ramayana period to fairy tale dolls like Snow White are all present in the museum. So be sure to this dolls museum with your kids.

Chandigarh truly is a royal city, this city has opened up its door for everyone. Whether you are a shopaholic, party animal or just traveler who always wants to explore something new, Chandigarh has to offer something to you all. So, if you are traveling in the northern parts of India, then do take a trip to Chandigarh and find some rare beauties.