Gwalior located in the north of Madhya Pradesh. The city is well known for its majestic hill-top fortress, which was famously portrayed as ‘the pearl amongst fortresses in India’. Historically, the town has been the origin of many dynasties that governed it over the years. Their impact is seen in the many royal structures that dominate the cityscape. In a sense, Gwalior continues to retain an ancient majesty. As far as the places to visit in Gwalior is concerned, the city is home to enough sites that are admired by tourists from all parts of the world.

List of tourists attraction in Gwalior

Gwalior Fort

Spread wonderfully along the top of a 4km-long hill facing Gwalior, the fort is a dominant, unmissable sight, and full of new halls, temples, museums and other buildings. Much of the fort is now occupied by the prestigious private Scindia School, established by Maharaja Madho Rao Scindia in 1897 for the education of Indian nobility.

There is two entrance to the fort, and both are uphill treks. Motor-vehicles can drive up the west side through the Urvai Gate, but this entrance is not so charming as compared with the excellent view of the fort from the eastern entrance, which makes entering from the east well worth the walk.

The fort was built way back in the 15th century by Raja Man Singh Tomar. The fort observed much change of powers from one ruler to the other. From Tomars, the fort passed on to Mughals, Marathas and the British. Finally, it became the seat of power of Scindias from the British.

The fort has three temples and overall tanks that make for excellent sightseeing options. The most famous temple is Teli-ka-Mandir built in the Dravidian form with an elegant sculpted exterior. Other notable buildings of Gwalior Fort are the Jahangir Mahal, the Karan Palace, the Shah Jahan Mahal and the Gujari Mahal.

Jai Vilas Palace & Scindia Museum

Maharaja Jayaji Rao Scindia constructed Jaivilas Palace in 1874 at the cost of Rs. 1 crore. It is a perfect example of a European structure, designed and built by Sir Michael Filose. A mixture of architectural forms, the first storey is Tuscan, the second Italian-Doric and the third Corinthian. The area of the Jai Vilas Palace is 13 lac square feet, and it is especially famous for its large Durbar Hall. The interior of the Durbar Hall is adorned with gilt and gold furnishings and decorated with a large carpet and massive chandeliers. The chandeliers  100 feet long, 50 feet wide and 41 feet in height.

A part of Jaivilas Palace was transformed into a museum in memory of Srimant Jiwajirao Scindia by the late Rajmata Shrimant Vijayaraje Scindia. The museum was inaugurated by India’s former president Late Shri Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan on December 1964.

The museum offers to the public a bizarre view of the palace created in the 19th and 20th century and concentrates on different illustrations and crafts that developed and reached to the top under the guardianship of the royal family.

Man Singh Palace

This imperial-style palace, built by  Man Singh Tomar between 1486 and 1516, is undoubtedly one of India’s more quirkily illuminated buildings: its vivid exterior tilework covers a frieze of yellow ducks and mosaics of elephants, tigers in blue, yellow and green.

It’s a labyrinth of a building on four levels. Two circular, columned halls on the lower levels were created for hot weather and connected by ‘speaking tubes’ built into the walls – and later used by the Mughals as cells for high-ranking prisoners.

Madhav National Park

The national park situated in Shivpuri district of Gwalior in the northwest Madhya Pradesh. This national park inaugurated in 1959; the Madhav National Park is a famous wildlife reserve which is scattered across an area of 340 square kilometres and is India’s most prominent wildlife sanctuaries.

Spread across the lovely Vindhya mountain ranges, the Madhav National Park is home to numerous lakes. These lakes also become a habitat to various species of migratory birds, while boating is also conducted in this place on a regular basis.  The Madhav National Park is home to various wildlife species such as leopards, panthers and hyenas. Besides these, there are a variety of other animals like sambar, nilgai, chital, sloth bear, dhole and crocodiles.

One of the things that lure tourists to Madhav national Park an exciting heritage site in the form of George Castle, which was built in 1911 by Jivaji Rao Scindia and is located right in the middle of the national park’s core area. The Madhav National Park is a place which proves to be a great place to visit for travellers at all times of the year.

Tomb of Ghaus Mohammed

This is the tomb of the Muslim saint Muhammad Ghaus, who assisted Babur when he captured the fort of Gwalior in 1526. The building is square in plan and topped by a small dome decorated with blue ceramic tiles. It has hexagonal domed kiosks at its corners together with sloping eaves that project from the exterior features both taken from the Hindu architectural tradition. The tomb walls made of pierced stone carved in geometric patterns which allow light and air to filter into the interior chamber and create a serene, meditative ambience.

Tomb of Tansen

Located in the Hazira neighbourhood, just off the southwest corner of the glorious tomb of the Sufi saint Mohammed Ghaus, is the smaller, more unadorned tomb of Tansen, a singer much admired by the Mughal emperor Akbar and held to be the father of Hindustani classical music. Chewing the leaves from the tamarind tree here supposedly enriches your voice.

When to visit?

The best season to visit the places in Gwalior in February- Mid April, October- December as the weather proves to be the most suitable around these times.

How to reach Gwalior?

By Air- Gwalior airport is located at a distance of 8 km from the heart of the city. It is well connected to all major cities. Private taxis are readily available outside the airport.

By Train- Gwalior railway station is located in the heart of the city. It is well connected to all major cities and towns in India. Private taxis are available outside the station for onward journeys.