Nagpur
Nagpur (Marathi: नागपूर Nāgpūr) is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra famous for its Nagpur oranges. It is also the "second capital" of Maharashtra, which means that some administrative functions are carried out here, and one of three sessions of the Legislative Assembly in a year occur here.
Get in
By plane
- 1 Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (NAG IATA), metro: Airport Red (7 km from the city centre). It is connected to Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Raipur, Nashik, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Pune, Bangkok (Thailand), Sharjah (UAE), Doha (Qatar) and Dubai (UAE). Many airlines fly into Nagpur. Air India operates twice daily from Mumbai and once daily from Delhi. Air Deccan operates daily a direct flight from Mumbai with the Airbus A320 flight. Also there are flights from Mumbai to Kolkata which has a stop at Nagpur.
By train
- 2 Nagpur Junction. Nagpur can be considered the centre of India as the zero milestone of India is in the city. It is almost equidistant from all the major metro cities. Nagpur is connected with all major cities by train several times a day. Trains run through the day to all parts of the country. All metro cities are more or less an overnight journey. There's also a Vande Bharat Express from Bilaspur.
Get around
By auto-rickshaw
The best way to get around are the yellow and black 3-wheeled autorickshaws, commonly called autos. Hollering 'auto' at a passing one should be enough to catch the driver's attention. In most cases the drivers would be able to understand Hindi and maybe even a few words of English. They are normally quite helpful but some are known to cheat tourists so bargain hard and it might be a good idea to ask a pedestrian to get an idea about how much it costs normally to reach your destination by auto.
By car
Ride-hailing apps like Ola and Uber can be used to quickly and efficiently travel around the city. These are accessible from and to almost any part of the city. (However, as of February 2018 there was ongoing protest from autorickshaw drivers against these cabs picking people from the Nagpur Railway Station, which they consider blows their earnings. For pickups, the cabs halt some distance away from the station to which one can walk. For drops at the station, there is no such issue.)
Other than these, there are taxis (cabs) available at the Airport and Railway Station. You can also rent a "Qualis" (a slang for a SUV-taxi named after the common Toyota Qualis, which now includes many other brands, such as the Chevy and India's own luxury brand, Mahindra). Normally they are offered with a driver, and they will stay with you all day, week, or even month if you'd like. This chauffeur can normally understand English, and knows the city very well.
By bus
For using the local buses, you will need to know the routes and numbers. You can take help from people standing on bus stops (usually people are helpful and may be able to communicate in English). Besides, buses are the most common transport facility for the common people in the city and hence they are overcrowded at times. Star Bus service operates here also. Bus mainly go to Buldi station from there you can get to other places. Frequency of city buses are quite good enough to reach local destinations and suburbs area.
By metro
The Nagpur Metro is the metro system serving the city and it serves several important destinations. As of June 2023, it has two lines with an interchange at Sitabuldi.
- Orange Line Red (Automative Square–Khapri)
- Aqua Line Blue (Prajapati Nagar–Lokmanya Nagar)
Talk
The local language is Marathi. Like most of Maharashtra, Hindi is understood by almost everyone and English is prevalent to educated people. Nagpur city's literacy rate is quite high by Indian standards, as Nagpur is a major education centre in Central India that attracts students from all over the country. English is at least partially understood by most people in the tourist industry.
See
- 1 Ambazari Lake and Ambazari Garden.
- 2 Bohra Masjid, Itwari. It is very big and beautiful mosque.
- 3 The Botanical gardens (Satpuda Botanical Garden).
- 4 Dhamma Chakra stupa (Diksha Bhumi or Deekshabhumi). Buddhist temple.
- Futala lake Side. Evening host for food in exotic lake view.
- 5 Japanese Garden (Japanese Rose Garden).
- 6 Kasturchand Park.
- Khindsi Watersports, Ramtek, khindsi, ☏ +91 9860840000. Khindsi is a picturesque lake 40 km from Nagpur city and is famous for the natural beauty and water-sports. The lake is in a valley covered by thick forest and is a very popular tourist destination of Central India. There are cottages for accommodation too.
- 7 Shukrawari Lake (Gandhisagar Lake).
- 8 Sonegaon Lake, Khamla Road (South). Migratory birds can be seen in winters.
- 9 Taj Bagh.
- 10 Bishop Cotton School. Bishop Cotton School is an heritage building from the British era it is in the heart of city and pride of Nagpur
- 11 Diamond Crossing. A unique marvel of engineering that exists in a very few places of the world. The double lines crossing from the north to the south and those from east to west form a square shape and is called the diamond crossing. It is crucial and is used widely.
Lakes
- 12 Gorewada Lake. A lake created by a dam.
Monuments, memorials and museums
- 13 Narrow Gauge Rail Museum, Kadbi Chowk, Kamptee Road. A railway museum with old & heritage articles from Indian Railways: old steam engines, coaches, saloons and many more things related to narrow gauge Indian Railway. A very good garden with a toy train.
- 14 Raman Science Centre (Raman Science Centre and Raman Planetarium Complex). An interactive science centre, similar to Mumbai's Nehru Science Centre. Named after Nobel laureate C. V. Raman, the centre was developed to promote a scientific attitude, portray the growth of science and technology and their applications in industry and human welfare, and hold science exhibits.
- 15 Zero Mile Stone (शून्य मैलाचा दगड). A monument marking the geographical centre of colonial India. It was built by British during the 1907 Great Trigonometrical Survey of India in Nagpur. The Zero Mile Stone consists of a pillar made up of sandstone and another small stone representing the GTS Standard Bench Mark, and four stucco horses that were added later. The height of the top of the pillar is 1,020.171 ft (310.948 m) above mean sea level.
Do
- 1 Ramdham, Ramtek (national Highway 7), ☏ +91 9860840000. Central India's largest spiritual - cultural tourism park which houses all Hindu deities under one roof. There are cultural shows like folk dances, magic and puppet shows every evening and tourists can look forward for a comfortable stay at the resort.
- 2 Gorewada Zoo (Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park), SH 248. A zoological park named after Marathi leader Bal Thackeray. Visitors can avail online booking through the official website.
- 3 Maharajbagh Zoo. Another zoo in Nagpur, in the city centre. It is home to leopards, lions, tigers, peacocks and other animals.
- Cricket: 4 Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Wardha Rd, Jamtha, ☏ +91 712 254 1908. Completed in 2008, "New VCA" is India's largest cricket ground by area, and has a capacity of 45,000. It hosts Vidarbha in the Ranji Trophy but doesn't have an IPL team.
Buy
During summers don't forget to buy oranges. Nagpur is sometimes called the "Orange City" of India. If you visit during another season, then try orange burfi, a milk-based sweet with orange flavor.
Itwari, Sitabuldi, Sadar and Dharampeth areas are especially known as shopping areas due to the large number of shops and pavement hawkers in these areas. Bargaining is a must. Sunday Foot Path Market is a very good market at Sitabuldi for shopping household things.
Nagpur is also famous for cotton articles. Various handicrafts, most of them cotton-based, can be purchased from Sitabuldi, Itwari.
Eat
Nagpur has a lot of good places to eat.
During summers the best place is Khindsi lake with huts around the lake and serving veg and non veg food.
For Non-Veg, many restaurants in Momin pura (this neighbourhood is a must visit during the month of Ramzan) serve specialities like Biryani and other eats in places like M.L Canteen, Tanveer Hotel, Babbu's Hotel at old VCA Ground Sadar, Hotel Al-Zam-Zam on CA Road, Babbu's Hotel in Dharampeth. Many of these restaurants have branches in other places within Nagpur.
The best continental can be savoured at 10 Downing Street in Ramdas Peth while Fountain Sizzlers & Bistro serves amazing sizzlers.
Mount Road near Sadar is the best hang-out for foodies. Ashoka for continental or Indian, Nanking for Chinese, Barbecue for Punjabi (Indian Tandoori), Veeraswamy's and Kamat for South-Indian Food.
Zinq for Italian food, Masala for Indian, China for Chinese. V5, a group of 5 different restaurants including a bar, a family restaurant and a disco is a neat establishment. Village Tadka on outer ring road serves excellent Saoji cuisine and Saoji Chicken is a must try. And if you like Saoji taste, you can take home Saoji Curry of Actchawa, which can be used in easy one-step preparation of Saoji food. Pintu Saoji near Vidhan bhavan is also good.
Haldiram's is also a good place to eat it also provides packed food for Air/Railway Passengers.
Some of the restaurants of the hotels also offer a great dinner opportunity like Tuli's 'Frontier Post' for Afghani food (peshawari naan and frontier dal recommended) and LB's 'Drums of Heaven'. The Pride Hotel, a favourite amongst air-travelers due to its proximity to the airport, holds numerous food festivals throughout the year for food conneussiers.
For food on the run The Kathi Crossing near VCA Ground, Poonam Chambers Byramji Town, Pratap Nagar and LAD Collge offer amazing rolls which are a meal in themselves.
For street food, roadside carts are lined up with pani puri, Chat, Pav Bhaji and the Indianised version of Chinese noodles and Manchurian at Bajaj Nagar and Yeshwant Stadium.You can also find them near Traffic Park and Futala Lake.
It has one of the biggest Grocery market in Central India near Shaheed Chowk. Shaheed chowk (square) is also very famous in the night for variety of street foods.
There is also a place for people who are on tight on budget namely " Calcutta Rolls " it is located in Sadar and one near Shankar Nagar Square.
- Indian Coffee House, West High Court Road.
Drink
There are numerous places in Nagpur for variety of drinks. Almost, all the hotels in City are fully licensed.
Sleep
Since its a booming economy for Nagpur, many of the good hotels have set up their businesses here. There are many hotels ranging from budget to luxury. MTDC counters at Railway Station And Airport will be able to help you find a good place to sleep. Below are few good hotels where a good bargain can be obtained.
- Hotel Siddhartha Inn, 90 Central Avenue, Near Agrasen Square, Gandhibagh (industrial market area, 2 km from railway station), ☏ +91 712 2727488. Each of 25 rooms is centrally air conditioned & elegantly furnished. Restaurant serving North and South Indian and Chinese cuisines.
- Radisson Blu Hotel Nagpur, 7 Wardha Rd, ☏ +91 712 6665888, info@rdnagpur.com.
- OYO 16260 Hotel Sunny International (near the railway station), 7 Dhantoli, Warda Road, ☏ +91 124 620 1186. Check-in: noon, check-out: 11:30AM. ₹4000.
Nearby
- 1 Ramtek. A temple town 50 km from Nagpur. Has wonderful temples on top of Satpuda hills and covered by greenery. Watersports are operated in Khindsi lake with water zorbing, water scooter, paddle boat, speed boat, banana boat and rain dance and cultural tourism park Ramdham is nearby.
Go next
- Bandhavgarh National Park — 465 km from Nagpur in Umaria district, M.P., Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve which has a population of about 59 tigers. Bandhavgarh is very well connected to Nagpur and Jabalpur.
- Mansar — 35 km from Nagpur. Has archeological excavations and temples. The best one is Ramdham.
- Pench Tiger Forest — 90 km from Nagpur. Nearer to Ram mandir Ramtek. Very good forest reserved for tigers.
- Ramtek —
- Tadoba — 180 km south of Nagpur in Chandrapur district, Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve which has a population of 55-60 tiger and in addition about 25 cubs are spotted in 2009-2010 aged from 4 months to 18 months. Tadoba is very well connected to Nagpur, Chandrapur, Wardha and Ballarshah.
- Wardha — 70 km south west to Nagpur, this place has great importance in the history of independent India. Mahatma Gandhi's Ashram at Sewagram and Vinoba Bhave's Paramdham Ashram at Pawnar are 6 km and 9 km from Wardha. This place is also famous for its Khadi cloths. Ramtek is about 40 km from Nagpur a Hill where Lord Rama Visited.