Chandigarh… the “City Beautiful” that lets you unwind, be merry and feel peace of mind! So much so that soon enough I’ll be putting in a petition to my bosses to make a weekend getaway to this city a mandatory activity.The office wins because a relaxing time here would lead to better productivity at work over the week and employees would be happy because maybe (high hopes!) the office compensates with a little moolah for the trip.First things first… before heading here, one must plan a mode of travel because public transport is a little poor and slightly expensive including the local taxi services.
We chose a convenient service from
Delhi itself because the
Delhi to Chandigarh taxi fare is quite affordable plus we like to have a vehicle at our disposal throughout our trip. We started at a decent time because our well-aware driver suggested that we should stop at Murthal for some pipping hot tandoori paranthas for breakfast. Boy, are we glad that we listened to him! From that moment forward we decided to listen to him throughout our trip because his suggestion made our start more than perfect. We drove non-stop thereon till Karnal where we noticed a milestone for Karna Lake and got tempted to take a diversion; perks of hiring your own car. The lake was not mindblowing but it was refreshing as it is surrounded by beautiful greens, and I’m assuming that the sunrise and sunset here would be spectacular.After a pit stop we headed towards
Chandigarh and checked into our hotel in the heart of the city at Sector 17. We headed out right away after freshening up because we wanted to eat at a local café or restaurant. The market was pretty popular amongst the locals and tourists. We reached here at lunch time so we headed towards a highly recommended salad bar straightaway.
After a hearty lunch, it was time to lighten our pockets because when in Chandigarh, you definitely can’t (don’t want to!)skimp on food.The local hustle bustle told us that our research about the market was pretty apt. In todays day and age of online shopping, we saw a lot of people with actual shopping bags; says quite a bit about the stores here. We too shopped for fancy ethnic wear from an old shop that claims to have been there since 1980s. Weavaileda car on rent in Chandigarh with a top rated driver
, and headed for a drive around the City Beautiful. We drove past stunning gardens that included the Zakir Rose Garden, Leisure Valley and more. As the sun started to go down, we headed back to our hotel for a quiet evening of wine and dine. We called it an early night but much against my will,my husband woke me up for a midnight feast at a popular local hub. Our driver was all ready as we stepped out of our hotel lobby; apparently my man is quite good at giving surprises and our sweet driver happily complied with his request. We headed to sector 22 which is considered to be theliveliest place in Chandigarh at this ungodly hour. We had a cup of coffee and enjoyed a nice little time in the stunning weather where we didn’t end up coughing everytime we took a deep breath; refreshing change for us… After a late night, our driver suggested an early morning which definitely is not my idea of a weekend getaway but husband dearest was way too convinced about it and all my wailing failed. We ended up at Sukhna Lake to see the sunrise. It wasbreath-taking and the weather was nice and breezy that and we enjoyed a nice peaceful morning. After spending a little while there, we headed back and tucked ourselves in bed till late afternoon.Though we had to head back in the evening, but after speaking to the taxi agency and our driver we extended our stay; advantages of hiring a car from a respected agency! We covered the Rock Garden and went to a nice cozy bar in sector 7 forthe evening. Our day ended with a wonderfully rich and fatty meal at a popular Punjabi Dhaba. Next morning was quite early for us as we had to head back to our daily hectic routine. Our chauffer was nice enough to drive us back non-stop so we could get to work on time. We went around the city and did all the touristy things that are there to do in Chandigarh butthe weekend wasn’t enough to soak up the Chandigarh sun and this definitely isn’t the last time that the city is hosting us… we’ll see you soon City Beautiful!
