Things to Do in Uttar Pradesh, India: City Guides

The things to do in Uttar Pradesh range from visiting historic cities and pilgrimage sites to discovering the rivers, plains and traditions that have shaped northern India for thousands of years. Uttar Pradesh is one of India’s most historically layered regions, with connections to ancient dynasties, major religious traditions and the events that led to modern India. Neywo has free audio guides for 3 cities in Uttar Pradesh, with 37 narrated places across 5 walking tours.

What to see and do in Uttar Pradesh

Explore Agra and its historic monuments

Agra is one of the best-known cities in Uttar Pradesh and one of the state’s major destinations for history and architecture. Its Neywo guide covers 23 narrated places, including the Tomb of I’timād-ud-Daulah, the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of Agra, Akbar’s Tomb and the Diwan-i-Khas. Together, these sites reflect the region’s Mughal, religious and imperial heritage.

The city belongs on any Uttar Pradesh itinerary focused on architecture and history. Its monuments also provide an introduction to the dynasties and empires that influenced the region, including the Mughal Empire.

Discover Lucknow and the culture of Awadh

Lucknow is associated with Awadh, a cultural region in central Uttar Pradesh. The city’s history and identity are closely connected with Awadhi traditions, which form part of the state’s varied regional culture. Neywo covers 14 narrated places in Lucknow, making it a useful starting point for exploring the city.

Lucknow also illustrates how Uttar Pradesh’s culture developed through the meeting of different languages, traditions and forms of scholarship. Across the state, learning drew on Sanskrit, Pali, Persian and Arabic, while local music and customs continued to vary from one district to another.

Visit Varanasi, one of India’s sacred cities

Varanasi is a major religious hub and one of the seven sacred cities of Hinduism and Jainism. Its importance is part of a much wider sacred geography shaped by the Ganges, which runs through the plains of Uttar Pradesh.

The city is also linked to the region’s literary heritage. Tulsidas wrote much of the Ram Charit Manas in Varanasi, while writers such as Kabir and Ravidas also lived in Uttar Pradesh. Neywo lists Varanasi among the cities covered in the state, although it currently has no narrated places in the app.

Follow the rivers to Prayagraj

The Ganges and the Yamuna meet at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj, one of the major Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttar Pradesh. Rivers are central to the state’s geography and religious life, and this confluence is among the clearest examples of how the two are connected.

Prayagraj is also known for the Magh Mela, when millions gather beside the Ganges. During the month of Maagha, the Kumbh Mela is held there every twelve years. These gatherings form part of the region’s wider traditions of devotion and public celebration.

Learn about Ayodhya and Sravasti

Ayodhya is regarded as an important pilgrimage site. Further east, Sravasti is revered in Buddhism as a place where the Buddha is believed to have taught many sermons. Both places show the range of religious traditions present across Uttar Pradesh.

The state’s sacred sites are not limited to a single faith or historical period. Hindu, Jain and Buddhist connections overlap with the region’s broader history of migration, scholarship and empire.

Understand Uttar Pradesh through its history

Uttar Pradesh’s story reaches back to prehistoric hunter-gatherers. It later became a centre of powerful dynasties and empires, including the Maurya and Gupta eras, the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. Under British rule, the region included princely states such as Rampur and Benares, and it played a central role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857.

After Indian independence, the former United Provinces became Uttar Pradesh in 1950. The name means “Northern Province”. Today, it is India’s most populous state, with a history that remains visible in its cities, pilgrimage sites, languages and cultural regions.

Experience the landscapes of the Gangetic plain

Most of Uttar Pradesh lies across the intensely cultivated Indo-Gangetic plain. The Ganges and Yamuna are its best-known rivers, joined by the Gomti and Sarayu. Farming covers much of the land, and sugarcane is especially important: Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest producer of sugar.

The landscape changes towards the north, where the Himalayas border the state and the Terai contains much of its forest cover. The broad plains are very different from these mountains. Their climate moves from winter in January and February to summer between March and May, when extreme heat and dry winds known as the Loo can occur. The monsoon arrives from June to September.

Explore regional traditions and festivals

Uttar Pradesh brings together several cultural regions: Braj and Rohilkhand in the west, Bundelkhand and Awadh in the centre, and Purvanchal in the east. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language, while Urdu also has official status.

Festivals and traditional pastimes express this regional variety. Chhath Puja is the biggest festival of eastern Uttar Pradesh, while Lathmar Holi is another local celebration. Wrestling, swimming and kabaddi are traditional pastimes. These customs sit alongside a literary heritage that reaches back to Vedic texts and hymns composed in the region.

Explore Uttar Pradesh with Neywo

Neywo offers free audio guides for 3 cities in Uttar Pradesh, with 37 narrated places in total and 5 walking tours. Narration is available in 11 languages. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, at your own pace, with no group and no schedule.

Start with the guides to Agra and Lucknow, then discover more of Uttar Pradesh as you travel through India.