Spanning around 55 acres (22 hectares), Mount Opera is the Hyderabad area's largest amusement park. Here you'll find all sorts of rides and attractions, plus a water park offering pools and slides suitable for visitors of all ages. A special kids’ zone includes a playground designed for the littlest of guests.
Archaeology and ancient history enthusiasts will want to make a detour to Lothal, an archaeological site that was part of the Indus Valley civilization about 4,500 years ago. While many Indus Valley civilization sites are less accessible nowadays, in the deserts of modern-day Gujarat and Pakistan, Lothal is just 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Ahmedabad.
The Kochi branch of South India’s Wonderla Amusement Park chain has state-of-the-art land and water rides for all ages, plus live shows daily. Highlights include two wave pools, a 120-foot-high (37-meter-high) vertical-drop ride, and India’s first reverse looping roller coaster. The water park is a popular way to cool off when the weather’s hot—which it often is in Kochi.
Bandhej (tie-dye) saris, traditional blouses, and colorful wall hangings line the stalls of the Law Garden Night Market, where business starts after sunset. So-called because of its proximity to the Gujarat Law Society University, and the garden of the same name, the market is where locals and tourists shop for traditional Gujarati handicrafts and local street food.
Also called the Pu La Deshpande Garden, the Pune Okayama Friendship Garden is among the largest public gardens in Pune, India. Established as a symbol of friendship between the sister cities Pune and Okayama in Japan, this landscaped space is said to be the largest Japanese-style garden outside of Japan, and offers visitors a peaceful retreat from the hustle and bustle of Pune’s city life.
Located in the Kazhakuttom area of Thiruvananthapuram, the Magic Planet Theme Park is dedicated to magic in its many forms. It explores the historical, scientific, mathematical, and psychological aspects of magic through performances of street-style magic, comedy magic, illusions, puzzles, and more.
Ahmedabad’s Splash the Fun World is a water-based amusement park that offers more than 20 rides, many of which are suitable for both kids and adults. It is particularly popular on hot days and weekends and also offers a number of dry attractions and rides.
By some accounts, this historic road stretching from Alka Square to Quarter Gate Square in the heart of Pune is named after Laxmi, the Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity—hence, the road bazaar overflows with shops and stalls where you can bargain for almost anything, from clothing to textiles and jewelry.
Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain is a large computerized fountain that seems to dance to various types of music using hydraulic pump systems, multi-colored laser lights, and more than 1,000 nozzles. It makes for a fun night out for families; shows are frequently set to patriotic songs in the regional Kannada language as well as Hindi.
A short drive from central Chandigarh in the town of Pinjore, Aqua Village is a midsize water park featuring attractions for visitors of all ages. Highlights of this family favorite include eight waterslides and a variety of pools, some designed with small children in mind.
A Chennai theme park designed for family fun, MGM Dizzee World has rides for children and adults including a log ride, a Ferris wheel, and a double-loop roller coaster. In addition to carnival rides, a water-park area features a wave pool and a swimming pool with slides, and shows entertain park visitors in season.
VGP Snow Kingdom is an indoor, snow-themed entertainment park, where visitors can experience the thrill of playing in the snow any day of the year. In addition to snowball fights and watching snowflakes fall, activities include “mountain” summiting, toboggan rides, and even photo sessions with props such as igloos and polar animals.
Designed like a palace in the Indo-Saracenic style, the elegant 5-star Taj Mahal Palace hotel was built in 1903. Once synonymous with Mumbai’s most glamorous people and representing the ultimate in the city’s heritage accommodations, the site was hit during the terrorist attacks that ravaged the city in late 2008. But since then, the hotel has risen again as a premier property.
The GRS Fantasy Park is a combination theme park and water park near the city of Mysore that includes attractions for all ages. Highlights include a rock-climbing wall, a wave pool, a multi-tube water slide, and a watery dance floor. The park is a particularly welcome spot for families looking to get away from the city on hot days.
Side-by-side theme parks in Bangalore, Fun World and Water World are fun, family-friendly destinations year-round. Fun World offers rides from the tame to the adrenaline-pumping, while at Water World visitors can cool off with a variety of waterslides and pools. Gather a group of friends or take the kids out for a day of fun at one—or both—of these parks.
A temple dedicated to Lord Ganesh—the Hindu god with the head of an elephant—lies in the center of Saras Baug, a locally-beloved park featuring manicured gardens and walking paths. Arrive here early to see locals take morning walks and perhaps prayers, and don’t leave before checking out the small museum displaying hundreds of idols of the elephant-like deity.
The Wet’n Joy Water Park is a fun, family-friendly destination and a great place to cool down. The large water park features a variety of waterslides, a wave pool, a rain dance area, and may types of water games. Extreme water slides appeal to teenagers and adults, while gentler areas are suitable for even the youngest kids.
Set in Manikyavelu Mansion in the heart of Bangalore, the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) offers an excellent introduction to India's art scene. Here you can see works by some of the nation's most celebrated modern and contemporary artists, including Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Jamini Roy, and M.F. Hussain.
The Aayiram Kaal Mandapam, also known as the Thousand-Pillar Hall, is a museum inside the Meenakshi Amman Temple complex in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. Highlights include 1,000 individually carved pillars, frescoed ceilings, and a massive statue of Nataraja, the god Shiva in his dancing form.
This colorful temple was built in the early 1960s after holy man Sri Tiruchi Swamiji had a vision of the goddesses Durga, Lakshmi, and Saraswati flying as sacred eagles over the land where the temple now stands. It has since become one of the most important Hindu temples in Bangalore.
Delhi can get very hot in the summer and monsoon months, and the Just Chill Water Park is an ideal place for the whole family to, well, chill. The water park includes slides, fountains, a wave pool, and more. There’s also a dry-land amusement park and an edutainment park for visitors who can’t swim or don’t want to get wet.
Spanning hundreds of acres, Filmcity (now officially known as Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagri) has been a popular location for Bollywood filming since the Maharashtra state government built it back in the late 1970s. The massive complex is one of the largest of its kind in India, and features everything from indoor studios to full-sized village recreations. With 16 indoor studios and 42 outdoor shooting locations, multiple film sets can operate at once.
Part of a chain of amusement parks in southern India, Wonderla Hyderabad offers land and water rides, as well as swimming pools and live entertainment. The park’s water attractions are a popular way to cool off in summer, while other highlights include extreme roller coasters, one of India’s tallest Ferris wheels, and an indoor space to dance under showers of warm water.
Popular with families, VGP Universal Kingdom is India’s first and largest theme park, featuring a mix of water adventures, theme rides, and quirky attractions. Here you’ll find all sorts of slides, rafting adventures, and pools, along with shows, a beach area, and plenty of rides for toddlers and older visitors alike.
Situated on the southern outskirts of Chennai, peaceful Kovalam Beach (Covelong Beach) offers visitors a cleaner, quieter alternative to urban Marina Beach, with a host of water sports options to boot. The beach is named after the small fishing village where it’s found and occupies the former site of a Dutch fort by the same name.
Himachal Pradesh’s Spiti Valley is a geographical and cultural extension of the Tibetan Plateau that’s tucked into India. The dry, rocky, high-altitude valley is characterized by cliffside and hilltop Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, a patchwork of green irrigated farmland, and small traditional villages. Adventurers will enjoy the detour to a region distinct from the rest of the mountainous state.
Imagica is an international standard theme park with 21 rides and attractions spread across various themed zones. Adrenaline junkies have three coasters to choose from, including India’s biggest roller coaster as well as a space-themed dark coaster. The park also has a vertical drop ride and a giant rotating pendulum.
Situated on the outskirts of Udaipur, Marvel Water Park is an expansive outdoor water park that’s popular with local families. Here you'll find all sorts of water attractions for visitors of all ages, from shallow splash areas and wave pools to a smattering of exhilarating slides—there's even a special toddler zone for little visitors.
Flowing from high in the Himalayas, across the state of Himachal Pradesh, and down into the Sutlej River in Punjab, the Beas River provides a source of water to numerous towns and cities across northern India. It's a central feature of the popular tourist town of Manali and is a great place for river rafting.
Mumbai’s Yazoo Park is an amusement park with a variety of rides and attractions designed to appeal to all age groups, from ball pits and slides for young kids to roller coasters and carnival-style games for teenagers and adults. An attached water park and a variety of other amenities make this an excellent spot for family fun.
