Amritsar in 2 Days on a Budget (Daily Costs)
2 days covers Amritsar’s holy-city core, on a budget
Two days is enough for the Golden Temple, the Langar, and Jallianwala Bagh unhurried, plus a second day for Gobindgarh Fort and, if the current status allows it, the Wagah-Attari ceremony. Expect roughly Rs 600-3,100 a person per day depending on how much of the fort and border-side transport you add; the tables below break down where it goes. With more time on the ground, the 4-day itinerary adds Durgiana Temple and the Partition Museum on top of this exact core.
Day 1: the Golden Temple core
Start before sunrise at the Golden Temple, covering your head with a scarf (borrowed ones are free at the entrance, or bring your own to skip the queue) before crossing onto the causeway. Walk the loop around the Amrit Sarovar, then sit for the Langar meal, free, alongside a few hundred other early visitors rather than the daytime crowd of a few thousand. Afterward, walk the short distance to Jallianwala Bagh (free entry). Lunch on Amritsari kulcha from an old-city stall, roughly Rs 40-80 (verify). Return to the temple after dark; it’s gold-lit against black water, and by wide agreement the best free sight in the city.
| Day 1 cost (Rs, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed (SGPC sarai / budget room) | 0 | 800 |
| Breakfast | 40 | 100 |
| Kulcha lunch | 40 | 80 |
| Dinner (dhaba) | 100 | 200 |
| E-rickshaws | 30 | 60 |
| Day 1 total | 210 | 1,240 |
Tip: bring your own scarf rather than relying on the free ones at the entrance; the queue for borrowed scarves is the slowest part of getting onto the causeway at peak hours.
Day 2: Gobindgarh Fort and Wagah-Attari
Spend the morning at Gobindgarh Fort (ticketed, verify current prices), which runs a 7D show on Maharaja Ranjit Singh and a crafts bazaar worth an hour on its own. In the afternoon, decide on Wagah: the UK FCDO’s current advisory states the Wagah-Attari crossing is closed and advises against travel within 10km of the border, so confirm the ceremony’s actual status before committing the evening to it. If it’s running, a shared taxi from Amritsar covers the roughly 28-32km for a modest fare (verify); if not, use the extra evening for the old city’s Hall Bazaar instead, see the things to do guide .
| Day 2 cost (Rs, per person) | Low | Higher |
|---|---|---|
| Bed | 0 | 800 |
| Breakfast | 40 | 100 |
| Gobindgarh Fort (verify) | 150 | 350 |
| Shared taxi to Wagah (if running, verify) | 100 | 200 |
| Dinner | 100 | 200 |
| Day 2 total | 390 | 1,650 |
Tip: check the Wagah-Attari ceremony’s current status the morning of, not the night before; border-adjacent advisories change fast enough that a day-old answer isn’t reliable.