Home - Road trip logs - Quick trip to Patiala
................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Quick Trip - Patiala
Our weekend road trip to Patiala - Chhatbir zoo(Chandigarh) from Delhi
Tour Route - Delhi - Patiala - Chhatbir Zoo
Total No of days - 2
Dated - April 2011
Quick Trip - Patiala (Punjab)
Location - Punjab in India
Ideal time to Visit - October to February
No of Days Reqd to see Kurukshetra - 3-4 days
Places to See - click here
Road Travel Information to Patiala
Behind the wheel & Contributor
Vinod Kumar
New Delhi
It so happend I had a business meeting at patiala and since kids too had a holiday a quick vacation was planned.
So the final plan was to reach Patiala by Friday evening and roam around, then visit Chhatbir Zoo on Saturday & return. One of my old friend who hails from Patiala too joined us and he arranged our stay. Initially I was planning to stay in Baradari Palace (Neemrana hotels has restored it.)
What we saw at Patiala
- Qila Mubarak
- Sheesh Mahal
- Netaji subash national institute of sports
- Baradari Gardens
- Zoo
- Kali Devi temple, Mall road
Shoping at : Adalat bazaar (Lot of nik nak shopping)
Famous for Phulkari suits, Juthis
Must try : Shahi lassi at sheranwala gate.
Eatout : 22 No. phatak area has lots of option.
Try fish fry : Simbly aswesome. (Mali fish)
Road update
Either take the route Rajpura junction to turn off to Zirakpur
Other wise if coming from Delhi, take the usual route to Chandigarh (NH22). Just before Zirakpur may be 7-10 kms , there is a new McD, immediately after that there is left turn which connects NH24 & NH64.
Rajpura - Banur - Zirakpur road is in good condition. We didnt find much traffic too on this road.
Reached by 3 pm. We were staying near Head Post Office Road. It was just a walk down to Baradari Garden and we planned to explore that region today. The park is huge and hosts a lot of old huge trees which stand with their branches open and housing lots of bats. The park is well maintained and is a good place for kids to play.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
HTML Comment Box is loading comments...
Copyright visitindia.org.in 2011-12. All Rights Reserved.
Get online driving directions, route guides, weekend planners, and customised itineries. Check out a few of our favorite user road trips, then start an adventure of your own.
Explore India by Road......
Friday early morning went to Kali temple on Mall road. This temple was built by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh in 1936. Its a huge complex. It is located on the Mall Road, the magnificent temple lies just in front of the Baradari Garden next to the Rajendra Tank.
Here Bali was given to please Ma Kali. Devotees offers Mustard Oil, Sweets, Coconuts, Bangles and Chunnis; Goats, Hens & Liquor to the Ma Kali.
Upto 60,000 liquor bottles are emptied into the sharab kund in the temple as an offering during Navratra.
After my meeting we went to see Quila Mubarak. It is listed in world's 100 most Endangered Monuments. It is in a bad shape. Darbal hall has a museum of Armoury and even the sword of Nadir Shah. Big tree-like chandeliers made of Bohemian cut-glass is also seen here. No photography is allowed inside. A Large canon is placed outside in the canon park and the rest rooms are locked except for the museum.
Also came to know of some intresting facts of Maharaja Bhupinder Singh. He had more thant 20 Rolls Royce in his collection. Once his order was refused by the Rolls Royce company and he put his old RR for garbage pickups.
Post lunch, We headed to Sheesh mahal. it was the residential palace of Maharajas of Patiala. it was built in 1847. It has an artifical lake and hanging bridge to the garden. The Sheesh mahal is closed for restoration. The guard told it will take around 3 years.
It as around 4pm , we had another 2 - 3 hrs, thought of visiting the Zoo near to Sheesh mahal , then seek the NIS (National institute of sports) and back. By the time we finished zoo and reached NIS it was 5.30 pm, Entry to visitors are only upto 5 pm. Took shots from outside and we head back , spent some time again at Baradari Garden.
To Chandigarh to visit Chhatbir Zoo
Saturday morning we left Patiala, Next stop over was Chhatbir zoo near Zirakpur. I was surprised not to find many details of this zoo, Even on BHP didnt find any material. Reached there by 10 am.
Location :
It is on NH64 and just before 7km Zirakpur, One has to turn right from and head another 4 km inside. People coming from Ambala, you have to turn left after the New Mcdonald. The road is bad.
IMO nice place to worth visiting. The zoo is big and best advantage is one can take the car inside. Personally i am against it as i found lots of guys honking, using loud music etc. There is also electric vehicles in zoo. it will be trying to cover the zoo on foot.
Main attractions
1. Royal Bengal tiger
2. Lion Safari
3. Deer Safari
4. Good collection of birds.
Look out for the pictures in our photologue section.