Ahmedabad is a working city, and that's the appeal: a walled old quarter, mosques, Jain carving and Gandhi's ashram. Come if you're curious, if you're with family, or if you love vegetarian food. Gujarat is a dry state and there are no bars, so if you want a party, skip it.
Go in the coloured months. The black ones are best avoided.
Walk from the Kalupur Swaminarayan Temple through the pols, old-city lanes of linked houses, to the Jama Masjid. Our one source conflicts: 07:45 daily, or 08:00 and closed Mondays. UNESCO listed the old city in 2017.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
One guide says the Jama Masjid and Sidi Saiyyed Mosque are both worth your time. Look for the Jhulta Minara, the shaking minarets (towers that sway).
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
Go by one guide's list: a Gujarati thali (many small dishes), dhokla and khandvi (steamed savoury snacks), and street food at Manek Chowk and Law Garden. Food here is mostly vegetarian.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
Gandhi's ashram, a simple retreat beside the Sabarmati river. We have one source for this.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
One guide says the Hutheesing Jain Temple has fine carving. The Calico Museum is a textile museum, and its entry rules aren't confirmed, so check how to book before you go.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
One guide sends you about 15 km out to Adalaj Stepwell, a deep stone well with steps down to the water. Back in town, the Sabarmati Riverfront is the riverside walk.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
This is one of India's best cities if you don't eat meat, and the old city's Bhatiyar Gali covers you if you do. Gujarat is dry, with no bars, though foreign visitors can apply for a liquor permit. Rules change, so check first.
Kebabs, keema samosas (minced meat pastries) and chaap fry from the old city's meat lane.
Crisp gram flour strips with jalebi, a syrupy fried sweet. Eaten for breakfast, so go in the morning.
Vegetarian
A big steel plate of small vegetable dishes, breads and sweets, refilled as you eat. Have it at lunch and don't eat before.
Vegetarian
A soft, tangy steamed gram flour cake. Lighter than it looks, and an easy snack at any hour.
Vegetarian
Spiced mashed vegetables with buttered bread rolls, cooked on a huge griddle at the night market. Go late.
Vegetarian
A long rooftop thali with staff who explain each dish. Costly, and some think too costly.
A treat, vegetarianKebabs and meat dishes. A rough-edged lane, so choose hot food from a busy stall.
Cheap eatsYour first thali, with no fuss. It fills up, so expect to wait.
Cheap eats, vegetarianPav bhaji and chaat, or savoury street snacks. Pick stalls that are busy and cooking hot.
Cheap eatsVegetarian dinner in a recreated Gujarati village, with folk music.
Mid-range, vegetarian
Fly into AMD, about 15 km from the centre. There are two main stations, Ahmedabad Junction and Sabarmati Junction, and the Jodhpur Vande Bharat (fast modern train) uses Sabarmati. Mumbai Central is about 5.5 hours by day train, and the Namo Bharat Rapid Rail runs to Bhuj in about 5h35 to 5h45. Check times on IRCTC, the national booking site.
Navrangpura One guide lists newer hotels here. The catch is that you're further from the old city.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
Old town, east of the river One guide says stays are cheaper east of the river, with budget rooms on Relief Road, so start here if money matters.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
These penalties come from the text of the Gujarat Prohibition Act as published on a legal database. For drinking without a permit, a first offence carries up to six months in prison and/or a fine of up to 1,000 rupees, with a minimum of three months and 500 rupees unless the court records special reasons. A second or later offence carries six months to two years and a fine of up to 2,000 rupees. For buying, possessing or transporting liquor without a permit, the Act as amended in 2017 allows up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to 5 lakh rupees (500,000), with a first-offence minimum of two years and 1 lakh rupees (100,000) unless special reasons are recorded. Causing a nuisance while drunk in a public place carries one to three years plus a fine. Police have raided private venues too: in July 2025 they arrested 39 people at a resort near Sanand for allegedly drinking. We found no case involving a foreign tourist. This wording is from one legal database and has not been checked against an official copy.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
Without a tourist's permit (up to one month), holding alcohol is a crime. Carry original passport, visa and hotel booking, buy from licensed outlets, drink in private, and never buy bootleg liquor.
Gujarat is a dry state: alcohol is banned. Section 46A of the Gujarat Prohibition Act, 1949 lets an authorised officer grant a tourist's permit to a non-citizen who is visiting temporarily, to consume, use and buy foreign liquor, and the permit can never be granted for more than one month. Without a permit, drinking or holding alcohol is a criminal offence and can mean prison. If you want a drink, get the permit first, buy only from licensed outlets (the state publishes a list, mostly hotels and resorts in cities such as Ahmedabad), and drink only in private, never in public. Do not expect bars. Never buy bootleg liquor. We could not confirm which online permit portal works today, so ask your hotel about the permit when you book and allow extra time on arrival.
Confirm the Heritage Walk time and day before you go. Our one source conflicts: Gujarat Tourism says 07:45 daily, and its brochure says 08:00 and closed on Mondays.
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
The only report we found of how a foreign visitor actually got the permit is from March 2016. The traveller needed a passport, a visa or entry stamp and a hotel document proving a Gujarat stay. One hotel refused despite an online permit, and an in-person application at a licensed hotel liquor shop in Ahmedabad worked. That is old, so ask your hotel before you arrive. The state's Prohibition and Excise Department is at Nashabandi Bhavan, Sector 10B, Gandhinagar (email pne-gnr@gujarat.gov.in).
Sources differ on this, or we have only one, so check locally.
