Nuts and Bolts: Travel Tips for Visiting Amritsar
- Rand Blimes
- May 18
- 8 min read
Nuts and Bolts posts give you the practical information you need, but without stripping away the humor, mishaps, and little victories that make real travel what it is. These aren’t just guides. They’re how we actually did it—mistakes, triumphs, and all.
This page has some travel tips for visiting Amritsar, to aid in planning your own trip. Remember, we are a family of five, and we travel mostly to eat. We were in Amritsar in June, 2016 (we don’t really recommend Amritsar in June—too hot!). If your trip to Amritsar is significantly longer/shorter/with a different focus, you may have a very different experience.
Welcome to the Oven: Arriving in Amritsar
At the end of the first week of June, it was time to say goodbye to Ladakh. We had spent the past stretch of our journey breathing in the crisp mountain air, sheltering under heavy blankets at night, and sipping hot lemon in cool stone guesthouses. Even in the midday sun, Leh never made us sweat.
And then we got off the train in Amritsar.
The heat hit us like a train. A big, hot, humid train. It was a thick, wet, unrelenting heat. Oppressive. Suffocating. We each had to buy new t-shirts, because it was only safe to wear one for 12 minutes before it became a form-fitting petri dish.
We had managed to stay ahead of the monsoon so far. Ladakh had been downright chilly when we’d first arrived. But Amritsar? Amritsar was having none of that.
It was hot. It was humid.
Did I mention it was hot?
Travel Tips for Visiting Amritsar: Weather
Let’s just get this out of the way: Amritsar in June is hot. Did I mention that already?
Because it is. Hot. Very, very hot.
Like, walk-outside-and-instantly-rethink-your-life-choices hot. We’re talking temperatures well over 45°C (113°F)—and that’s in the shade, if you can find any. Coming from the cool, dry mountain air of Ladakh, it felt like we’d stepped into a sauna run by a joint committee between the sun and garbage.
Summer in Amritsar is no joke. From May to early July, the city bakes under a punishing sun, often accompanied by an added dose of pre-monsoon humidity that wraps around you like a damp wool blanket. A damp wool heated blanket set to high.
If you’re looking for a more temperate time to visit, October to March is generally ideal. The winter months are cool and pleasant, and even though the fog can settle in now and then, it’s nothing a scarf and a hot lemon can’t handle.
But if you do brave the summer months? Embrace the sweat, hydrate constantly, walk very, very slowly, and do afternoon siesta in the AC.
Getting to Amritsar
Amritsar might be a spiritual hub, but getting there can feel like a test of patience and persistence—especially if you're arriving from the remote edges of Ladakh like we did.
We flew from Leh to Jammu, which was easy enough. But from there? We had ten hours to kill before our overnight train to Amritsar. And when it’s early June and the temperature is playing footsie with 45°C, “killing time” quickly becomes “surviving the afternoon.”
We tried finding a hotel near the train station where we could just rest and wait out the heat. Turns out, many hotels in Jammu won’t accept foreign guests, and the ones that did insisted we book two rooms, even after we explained that all we needed was a place to sit in the AC and chill for a few hours. Eventually, we found a spot that took us in—one room, five people, a TV, and enough air conditioning to keep the heatstroke at bay. We watched TV, played cards, and generally piddled the day away.
The Jammu rail station? Let’s just say it didn’t leave us nostalgic for the golden age of train travel. The odor alone was enough to make us grateful that this would be our last overnight train journey of the trip.
Practical Info: Getting There
Amritsar is very well-connected. You can fly directly into Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport (ATQ) from major Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. There are even some international flights, primarily to cities with large Punjabi diaspora communities (like Dubai, Doha, and London).
If you’re traveling by train, Amritsar Junction (ASR) is a major rail hub. Trains run frequently from Delhi (including the fast and comfy Shatabdi Express) and from other cities across northern India.
For road travel, buses and private taxis connect Amritsar to cities like Chandigarh, Jammu, and Dharamshala. Roads are mostly good, but traffic can get spicy, especially as you near the city center.
Pro tip? If you're arriving in summer, try to schedule your arrival for early morning or late evening—both for your sanity and the health of your internal organs.
Sleeping in Amritsar for the Cheapskate Family: the Grand Illusion
Our train rolled into Amritsar at the deeply unfortunate hour of 2:00 AM, so we had wisely booked our hotel for the night before—a veteran travel move that let us check in immediately and collapse into bed without any negotiations or lobby loitering.
We decided to splurge a little on comfort, reasoning that with temperatures over 45°C, we’d be spending most of the day huddled in the cool sanctuary of our rooms. Enter the Amritsar Grand Hotel—a place that looked quite lovely in photos. “Grand” was right there in the name, after all.
Let’s just say… the name was more aspirational than accurate.
The Amritsar Grand probably earned its title a few decades back, and it’s been coasting on that reputation ever since. Still, the rooms were fine, the AC worked—at first—and we had soft beds to crash into, so we called it good.
Until 7:30 the next morning, when our daughters showed up at our door declaring that their AC had stopped working and their room had morphed into a pressure cooker. We called the front desk, and all hung out together in one moderately chilled room while someone worked to bring the other unit back from the dead.
The final indignity? The Wi-Fi only worked in the lobby. Not a lounge. Not a café. The open-air lobby. The furnace lobby. The sit-and-sweat-while-scrolling lobby. We did not spend much time there. We read books. We played cards. We took hydration seriously.And we did all of this in our rooms. Without wifi.
Let’s just say, our hotel in Amritsar was more functional than fabulous. But after weeks of rougher travel and Himalayan hairpin turns, we were grateful to have a base, even if it was more lukewarm than luxurious.
Getting Around
Getting around Amritsar is pretty straightforward—rickshaws are everywhere, and they’re your best bet for short hops across the city. Just be prepared to negotiate the fare unless you’re using an app like Ola, which is widely available and a nice way to avoid haggling in the heat.
The Golden Temple area is largely pedestrianized, so once you’re near the old city, your feet become the best form of transport. Just wear shoes you can slip on and off easily—you’ll be removing them a lot at temples and shrines.
If you're heading out to the Wagah Border ceremony or other farther-flung sites, it’s easy to book a car through your hotel or a travel agency. Just factor in traffic (and the heat) when planning your day. Amritsar moves at its own sweaty, noisy, glorious pace.
What To Eat
Outside of India, when people dream about Indian food—creamy curries, tandoor roasted chicken, buttery breads—they’re actually dreaming of Punjabi cuisine. And Amritsar is the beating, bubbling heart of Punjab.
This is the land of dal makhani, chole (chickpeas), paneer in all its glorious forms, and tandoori everything. You can mop it all up with pillowy naan, layered paratha, or the local favorite—Amritsari kulcha, a crispy, stuffed flatbread served with a side of chana masala and enough butter to scare your cardiologist.
The lassis are great here too, but an Indian friend suggested to us that we take our own water and ask them to use it if we order a lassi. We thought this seemed like overkill and didn’t follow the advice. We paid the price. A lot.
Amritsar is intense. Even by Indian standards, it’s crowded and chaotic. Garbage piles line the streets. Flies congregate in numbers that seem to mock the laws of physics. Open sewers and murky puddles conspire to invent new diseases just for fun.
We’d been in India a long time by this point. We thought we’d seen it all. But Amritsar humbled us. So get your shots. Maybe go vegetarian. Tote your own lassi water. And above all, pay attention to hygiene—both yours and the person ladling your curry.
Because the food is worth it. Just pick your spots carefully, and hopefully your stomach will thank you with something other than going into reverse.
What To Do
The Golden Temple
Amritsar’s beating heart, and the holiest shrine in Sikhism, the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib) is one of the most moving and mesmerizing places you’ll ever visit. Floating in a shimmering pool of water, its gold-clad dome gleams at sunrise and glows in the evening light. But it’s not just about the architecture—it’s about the atmosphere.
Pilgrims come from all over the world to pray, reflect, and take part in the world’s largest free kitchen, where anyone—regardless of caste, creed, or status—is welcome to a simple meal. We didn’t eat there because the line in the heat was too long for our patience, but if you go, plan to help clean up afterward. It’s part of the ethos: humility, service, and equality.
We also didn’t sleep in the free lodging provided on the grounds, simply because we were traveling with three teenage daughters and the accommodations felt a little too open and unsecured for our comfort level. But it’s there—open to all.
Go very early if you want to take photos in the beautiful light before the crowds gather. Go any time if you want to watch humanity at its best: welcoming, reverent, and utterly unhurried. It is a photographer’s dream.
To enter the Golden Temple, cover your head, remove your shoes, and wash your feet in the shallow pool near the entrance. Respectful dress is a must. Once inside, just slow down. Look. Listen. Breathe.
The Wagah Border Ceremony
Just outside Amritsar lies the Wagah Border, where India and Pakistan hold a daily flag-lowering ceremony that is part solemn ritual, part chest-thumping theater, and part over-the-top pageantry. I’ll give it a full post of its own, but if you’re in Amritsar—it’s worth witnessing at least once.
Jallianwala Bagh
A short walk from the Golden Temple, this peaceful garden hides a dark chapter in colonial history. In 1919, during a peaceful protest, British troops under General Dyer opened fire on a trapped crowd, killing hundreds.
There’s a deep well in the garden that people leapt into, desperate to escape the hail of bullets. I stood next to that well. I looked down into the quiet darkness and tried to imagine what kind of terror would make a person jump. It’s not an easy place. But it’s an important one.
Other Sikh Shrines
If you’re interested in Sikhism, Amritsar is dotted with smaller gurdwaras (Sikh temples), each with its own history, significance, and quiet sense of reverence. Many are easy to reach on foot or by rickshaw, and most welcome respectful visitors without fuss.
Amritsar may not charm you with quiet corners or elegant streets. It’s loud. It’s hot. It’s intense. But it also has moments—real, vivid, soul-stirring moments. Watching the golden dome shimmer in the early light. Standing silently at the edge of a massacre site. Being handed a plate of food by someone who doesn’t care who you are, only that you’re hungry. This isn’t a city that lets you stay detached. It pulls you in, drenches you in sweat and sensation, and dares you to look away. And that’s why we came. Because travel—real travel—isn’t always easy, but it’s always worth it.
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