Things to do in Gurgaon

Nature · Sector 52A, off Golf Course Road

380 acres of restored native forest on a former mining site, now the city's green lung with walking and cycling trails.

Local tip: Go at dawn before the heat and while the air is at its least bad. The restoration project has brought back leopard sightings and over 200 bird species on land that was bare rock twenty years ago.

Nature · Farrukhnagar, 30 minutes west

A wetland bird sanctuary that hosts thousands of migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asia between November and March.

Local tip: Winter is the season — the same months when the air is worst in the city, but the park is far enough out that conditions are usually better. Go early on a weekday with binoculars.

Food · DLF Cyber City

A dense restaurant and bar complex attached to the main office district, and the default after-work destination for corporate Gurgaon.

Local tip: It is where everyone goes and it is genuinely convenient, but the better and cheaper food is in Sector 29's market and the smaller places off Golf Course Road.

Nature · Sohna Road, 45 minutes south

A reservoir in the Aravalli hills with trekking, cycling and rock climbing, and a genuine escape from the city.

Local tip: The weekend cycling and trail-running community here is large and welcoming. Go with a group the first time; the trails are unmarked and the hills look more uniform than they are.

Culture · 35 minutes west

An 18th-century walled town with a Mughal-era palace, a stepwell and a salt-trading history, almost entirely unvisited.

Local tip: The Baoli Ghaus Ali Shah stepwell is remarkable and you will likely have it to yourself. Combine it with Sultanpur, which is nearby, for a half-day out of the towers.

Nature · South Gurgaon toward Sohna

Ridge viewpoints in the Aravallis where the NCR's haze sits below you and the sun comes up over the hills.

Local tip: On a clear winter morning you can be above the smog layer looking down on it, which is both beautiful and a stark illustration of what you are breathing at ground level. Go with someone who knows the tracks.