Allahabad

Allahabad, now officially Prayagraj, is less a polished tourist postcard and more a sprawling bureaucratic crescendo punctuated by a few flashes of genuine gravitas. The non‑negotiable experience is the Kumbh‑season confluence at Sangam: arrive pre‑dawn on the Mahatma Gandhi Road bridge, watch the sun‑bleached pilgrims thrust their offerings into the Ganges‑Yamuna‑Saraswati merge, then tuck into a roadside stall for a steaming plate of kachori‑sabzi and jalebi. Outside the once‑a‑decade frenzy, the city's real pulse lives in the colonial‑era Civil Lines enclave – a tree‑lined grid where the 1920s Sheroes' Club and the imposing Allahabad High Court lobby whisper imperial authority. Walk east to the historic Alfred Park (now Chandrashekhar Azad Park) for a breath of greenery and a rusted statue of the freedom fighter; the adjacent Saraswati Ghat is a quieter alternative to the chaotic Sangam. Skip the over‑touristy Triveni Sangam promenade after sunset – the banks become a sea of flash‑photography and vendors shouting for change. Stay in a modest Heritage Hotel on Minto Road for proximity to both the court and the university, and visit in October‑November when the climate finally relents from the oppressive summer and the city feels marginally livable. Two days lets you sample the legal‑city’s pomp, its riverine ritual, and its lingering colonial disquiet; anything more feels like an enforced conference.

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