Amritsar in 1 day: what to see, in what order

The holiest gurdwara of the Sikhs: a gold-covered temple in the middle of a large pool, the Amrit Sarovar, reached by a marble causeway. Hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib are sung inside all day. Around the pool are the Akal Takht, the seat of Sikh authority, and the Central Sikh Museum. The langar, the free kitchen, serves a simple meal to tens of thousands of people a day, whoever they are, and you can sit on the floor and eat with everyone else.

The walled garden where, on 13 April 1919, British troops under General Dyer fired on a peaceful crowd with no warning, killing hundreds of people. The only way out was a narrow lane, now the entrance. You can still see bullet marks in the walls and the Martyrs' Well, where many jumped to escape. A tall red stone memorial stands in the middle, and galleries tell the story.

A museum in the old red-brick Town Hall about the 1947 Partition of India, when Punjab was cut in two and millions of people crossed the new border. It tells the story through letters, suitcases, photos and the recorded voices of people who lived through it. Amritsar was the first big city on the Indian side, which is why the museum is here.

A Hindu temple to Lakshmi and Narayan, also called the Lakshmi Narayan or Silver Temple. Like the Golden Temple, it sits in the middle of a large tank and is reached by a bridge, and its domes are gilded. The silver doors carved with Hindu stories give it its other name. Near it are the Bada Hanuman temple and the Sita Mata temple.

Every evening Indian and Pakistani soldiers lower their flags at the border in a loud, high-kicking parade, with crowds cheering from stands on both sides. On the Indian side there is music and dancing before it starts. Since May 2025 the ceremony has been shorter: the gates stay shut and there is no handshake between the two sides.