By road
~113-116 km from Orchha, ~330 km from Delhi
Central India · Madhya Pradesh
Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
A fort Babur called the pearl of Hind · ~113-116 km from Orchha, ~330 km from Delhi
Getting there
By rail
Gwalior Junction, in the city
By air
Gwalior Airport, in the city
Best time to visit
October to March — fort plateau winds stay cool
Don't miss
Gwalior Fort and Man Singh Palace
Jai Vilas Palace
Tansen's tomb
Sas-Bahu temples
Things to do
Fort circuit
Scindia Museum's eccentric opulence
Tansen music festival
Where to eat
Sources: open-meteo, wikimedia, Photo: Abhishek Dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
Shoes for long fort ramps, music-festival tickets in December
A quieter corner
The rock-cut Jain colossi on the fort's western approach road
About Gwalior
- Inland
Where it is
Gwalior is a city in northern Madhya Pradesh, south of Agra and the Chambal ravines, dominated by a fort on a long, flat-topped sandstone hill above the old town.
History
Gwalior Fort was held by a succession of dynasties, among them the Kachchhapaghatas and the Tomars, whose Raja Man Singh built its tiled palace around 1500, and later the Mughals and the Marathas. The Scindias made Gwalior their capital in the early 19th century, and the city became part of Madhya Pradesh after independence.
People
Gwalior's people speak Hindi, and Marathi is still spoken in many older families, a legacy of Scindia rule. The city has deep roots in Hindustani classical music, and the Gwalior gharana is one of the oldest traditions of khayal singing.
Known for
- Gwalior Fort and the Man Singh Palace
- Jai Vilas Palace and the Scindia museum
- The tomb of the musician Tansen
- Sas-Bahu and Teli ka Mandir temples
- The Tansen Music Festival
Did you know?
A small temple on Gwalior Fort, the Chaturbhuj Temple, holds a 9th-century inscription with one of the earliest known uses of a written symbol for zero.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.