Punjab is a land hallowed by saints and scarred by battles, an ancient land yielding archaeological treasures, a land of palaces and museums. A visitor to Punjab can see the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the sword of Hazrat Ali at Anandpur Sahib, the world's highest straight gravity dam at Bhakra, India’s Steel City – Gobindgarh, and the world‘s biggest grain market at Khanna. No one has ever gone back from Punjab without leaving a part of himself behind and taking part of Punjab with him.

Access:
Punjab is easy to reach by road, rail or air. From Delhi, Chandigarh, the state capital is 246 km and Amritsar, the northernmost city of the state is 446 Kms.

	By road: The total road mileage in Punjab is 35,501 Kms of state roads and rural link roads. In addition, the length of national highways is 964 Kms. All the 12,342 villages in the state are linked by all-weather roads and major towns of all adjoining states are connected by national highways. One can drive from one extreme end of the state to the other in six hours. Road travel time from Delhi is about four hours All districts and sub-divisional towns have direct bus services to the state capital, Chandigarh. All villages have bus services linking them with the sub-division and district headquarters towns. In addition, there are excellent deluxe bus services between New Delhi and Patiala, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh. Air conditioned luxury buses ply at almost hourly intervals between New Delhi and Chandigarh. Taxi services between various towns and Chandigarh and to New Delhi are dependable and comfortable.
	By Rail: All major towns and district headquarters have excellent rail links for both passenger and goods traffic. Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Ferozepur and Jalandhar are on the main line and have excellent daily train services to New Delhi including convenient overnight trains. Super fast Shatabdi Express trains connect Delhi to Chandigarh (a comfortable three-hour trip) and Delhi to Amritsar via Ludhiana (equally comfortable and just a little less than six hours). The Shan-e-Punjab train links Amritsar and New Delhi, the Himalayan Queen links Chandigarh and New Delhi and there are numerous trains from Jammu / Amritsar, linking these towns as well as Ludhiana and Jalandhar with New Delhi Indian Railway Site
	By Air: The state capital, Chandigarh has excellent air service, linking with New Delhi, Srinagar, Kulu, Shimla etc. Ludhiana and Amritsar also have daily air services to New Delhi. Amritsar airport is an international airport. By air, from Delhi one can reach any city in Punjab within two hours. Air India Site

Major Cities:

	Amritsar: This is a city with a hallowed history. The present city dates back to the 15th century but it’s association with India’s national epic, the Ramayan, shows that it’s sacred heritage must be measured, not in centuries but millenniums. The holiest shrine of theSikh faith – the Golden Temple – is located in heart of Amritsar and no visit to the city is complete without a glimpse of the temple. In terms of industry and commerce, Amritsar is a city famous for woollen mills and textile processing.
	Jalandhar: a town of great antiquity. The most important town of area is known as the 'Bastis' (Basti Bawa Khel, Basti Guzan, Basti Danishmandan and others) tell the story of the domination of this place by Pathan rulers. Jalandhar known for its sportsmen as well as its sports industry is a growing industrial town having steel and iron re-rolling, rubber goods, electric goods, automobile parts and sewing machine factories. Handloom products are also manufactured at Jalandhar.
	Ludhiana: Ludhiana an important industrial city, is Known as the Manchester of India. It is famous the world over for its hosiery goods. Woollen garments produced here are sold in prestigious shopping centres from Moscow to Montreal and Bangkok to London and New York. The famous Punjab Agricultural University patterned after the land-grant colleges of America, is situated on the outskirts of the city. Rural Olympics of Qila Raipur, Chhapper Mela and Kissan Mela at PAU attracts lakhs of visitors every year. http://www.ludhianaonline.com
	Patiala: This city was once the capital of a princely state and traces of royal grandeur are still plain to see here. From the imposing fortress, Qila Mubarak, that occupies the centre of town, to the 19th century palaces, Moti Bagh and Sheesh Mahal at the edge of the city, the wealth, imagination and typically Punjabi sensibilities of old Punjab are on display. The people of Patiala consider themselves the torchbearers of Punjabi language and culture. Patiala has long been a centre of trade and commerce but in recent years it is also developing rapidly as a manufacturing city producing a wide range of goods Patiala online

Entertainment and Recreation:

	TV & Cinema: The entire Punjab is on the TV map of the country. The southern districts near Kasauli receive telecasts from New Delhi. The central, northern and south-western districts are serviced by the Jalandhar Doordarshan Kendra and the relay stations at Amritsar and Bhatinda. All India Radio stations at Chandigarh and Jalandhar, apart from organising programmes, like the TV station at Jalandhar, also relay the National Programme. Cable television has also reached to the farthest corners of the state. The state has over 200 cinema houses and, like the rest of the country has been touched by the video revolution.
	Clubs: Almost all the district headquarters have excellent clubs; Chandigarh, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala have outstanding clubs offering all standard facilities of a club in any metropolis such as tennis and squash courts, libraries, card rooms, entertainment, billiards and bar. Many of them have reciprocal membership arrangements with well known clubs in other towns of the country.
	Sports Facilities: Almost every district town offers facilities for tennis but a few like Patiala, Amritsar, Jalandhar and Chandigarh have resources for track/field, squash, horse-riding, indoor sports and swimming pools. There are golf courses at Chandigarh, Patiala, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
	Trekking: Being close to the hills, Punjab is an ideal base for treks in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. For the less adventurous, the hill stations of Shimla and Dalhousie are within driving distance from any part of Punjab.

Hotels and Restaurants:
Hotels offering three or four star facilities are available at Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. Smaller towns like Patiala, Ferozepur or Bhatinda offer two to three star facilities while in very small towns like Hoshiarpur, Sangrur and Ropar, it would be advisable to either depend on the facilities of the Tourism Corporation or the Government Dak
Bungalows.The bigger towns have
noteworthy restaurants and caterers. The Punjab Tourism Development Corporation has developed picnic spots at Ropar, Neelon (near Ludhiana), Ludhiana, Kartarpur (near Jalandhar), Sirhind (near Patiala), Pathankot and operates well-run restaurants on the Grand Trunk road and other highways as part of its highway tourism facilities.