Experience the best of Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 by Sultan Ahmad Shah on the banks of the Sabarmati, and its walled old city is listed by UNESCO. Its pols, tight clusters of homes around shared courtyards, have carved wooden fronts. The Jama Masjid, the Sidi Saiyyed Mosque with its lattice window carved as a tree, and the Teen Darwaza gateway show the Indo-Islamic style of the sultanate.

Mahatma Gandhi lived at the Sabarmati Ashram, beside the river, from 1917 to 1930, and set out from it on the Salt March. The Adalaj stepwell, a carved five-storey well north of the city, the Hutheesing Jain Temple and the Calico Museum of Textiles reflect the city's wealth. Gandhinagar, the state capital, lies north, and the ancient port site of Lothal can be reached on a day trip to the south.

Gujarati food is vegetarian and gently sweet: thali with dal, kadhi, vegetables and rotli, dhokla steamed from fermented gram flour, and fafda with jalebi as a breakfast pairing. Evening food stalls fill the Manek Chowk square. The Uttarayan kite festival in mid-January fills the sky, and summers are fierce, with the monsoon from July to September.