25 Things to Do in Gurgaon, Sorted by the Situation You’re Actually In

This one’s for people who actually live here. You don’t need “places to visit.” You need something to do because it’s Friday and your plan got cancelled, or the AQI is 400, or salary just came in, or it’s the 25th and your bank balance is a joke. So that’s how I’ve sorted it.

The spontaneous stuff (my personal favourites)

These are the plans I actually end up making. No booking, no dressing up, usually decided on the group chat around 10:45 pm.

1. Skipped PG dinner? Do a midnight dhaba run

Friday, you’re back late, and the PG kitchen closed an hour ago. Don’t order in. Get whoever’s still awake, book a cab and go to Shri Ram Dhaba on Sohna Road. Pure veg, still packed late at night, and the paneer paratha with dal makhani is why people call it Gurgaon’s Murthal. Two of you can eat for around ₹500.

If it’s really late, Dhaba HR 26 on Golf Course Road stays open till about 4 am. Dal tadka and garlic naan at 2 am, bas.

Squad: whoever’s still awake

2. Let one drink turn into a Two Horizon Center night

Two Horizon Center on Golf Course Road is where “ek drink after work” turns into the whole night. We usually start at Whisky Samba and end up at Marièta. It’s all one building, so nobody has to actually make a plan.

Squad: 3–5

3. Walk 32nd Avenue when everyone else is leaving

Don’t bother with 32nd Avenue in the afternoon or the 7 pm rush. Go late, when it’s emptying out and places are starting to shut. With the cobbled lanes, the old-style lamps and hardly anyone around, it feels like a different place. Get a coffee, walk the whole campus slowly with your friends and just talk.

Squad: 3–5

4. Do a late-night Galleria run: Grotto, then FES

Galleria’s still lit up and busy long after the rest of Gurgaon has gone to sleep. Start at Grotto for wood-fired Neapolitan pizza (get the Popeye, it has creamy spinach and cherry tomatoes), then go up to FES Cafe and Desserts on the first floor for dessert. One slow round of the square before you head back. Very underrated for a night out with friends.

Squad: 3–5

When it’s 8 pm on a Friday and your plans just fell through

5. Go out properly at The Brook, Japonico or Oju

If the plan’s dead anyway, upgrade it. The Brook is from the people behind Cocktails & Dreams and Sidecar, and it’s a really good neighbourhood bar. Japonico has a cocktail menu written like a storybook, each drink is a chapter. And Oju, Karan Johar’s House of Neuma place at The Anya on Golf Course Road, is for when you want the night to feel like a bit of an occasion. Dress up a little for this one.

Squad: 4–6

6. Catch a late show at The Comedy Theatre

A small comedy room in Gurugram, around 90 seats, that’s had some of India’s biggest stand-ups, with shows as late as 1 am. If your evening started late anyway, go for the late slot. Book online though, the good shows sell out.

Squad: 2–5

When your salary just got credited

7. Sundowners on the One Horizon Center rooftop

Uber Lounge is on the roof of One Horizon Center on Golf Course Road, and you get the whole skyline. Book for six, not two. Sunset drinks here usually turn into dinner.

Squad: 4–6

8. Learn to make cocktails at a speakeasy

Cocktails & Dreams, a speakeasy in Sector 15, does cocktail workshops for about ₹3,000 a head. You’ll walk out knowing how to make two drinks properly, and everyone’s a lot more relaxed than when they walked in.

Squad: 4–8

9. Book a proper fine-dine night

This is what the salary is for. Threesixtyone at The Oberoi has five open kitchens doing Japanese, Chinese, Italian and Indian, plus a deck if you want to sit outside. Zanotta at The Leela Ambience does proper Italian with a view of the city. Get the tasting menu, share everything, and don’t look at the bill till the end.

Squad: 4–6

When it’s the 25th and your account says no

10. Throw a BYOB night

Gurgaon is big on BYOB. Pick a BYOB place or someone’s flat with a decent balcony, split the bottles, and the whole night costs about as much as the cab.

Squad: 5–8

11. Eat your way through the Sector 56 market

The HUDA market in Sector 56 is where you go for street food. Kebabs, rolls, biryani, momos, tandoori chai, all of it. Stalls stay open late and parking is easy. Go hungry, order one of everything and share.

Squad: 3–6

12. Evening walk at Tau Devi Lal Biodiversity Park

The big park in Sector 52, where half of south Gurgaon goes walking after work. Go a bit before sunset, do a few rounds, then get chai or fruit from the carts outside the gate. It’s open roughly 6 am to 8 pm, so keep this one for the evening.

Squad: 2–4

13. Picnic at Leisure Valley Park

The big green in the middle of the city, right off Sector 29, and free. Carry a mat, a speaker, a frisbee and some chips from the corner shop. That’s the whole plan.

Squad: 4–8

When you want to meet new people, not just go somewhere

14. Get an art pass at Mustard Studio

Clay, pottery and painting sessions starting around ₹800. It’s a lot easier to talk to strangers when your hands are busy.

Squad: come solo or with 1–2 people

15. Take a beginner salsa or bachata class

Beginner classes keep rotating partners, so by the end you’ve talked to basically everyone in the room.

Squad: come solo

16. Show up to a Sunday run club three weeks in a row

First week, nobody knows you. By the third week, someone’s saving you a spot for chai after the run. Just keep showing up.

Squad: any size

17. Sit near the front at a comedy open mic

Open mics are cheap and you never know what you’ll get. Sit near the front, laugh loudly, and chat with the people next to you between sets. Even the bad jokes give you something to talk about.

Squad: 2–4

18. Join the pub quiz at Effingut

Effingut on Golf Course Road (Sector 42) is a big craft brewery with beer, cider and mead on tap, live music and pub quizzes. Strangers usually make a better quiz team than old friends because you cover more topics, so ask the quizmaster to put you on a team that’s short of people.

Squad: come solo or with 1–2 people

When the AQI crosses 400 and outdoors is cancelled

19. Go ice skating at iSkate, Ambience Mall

An actual ice rink inside a mall, with skates on hire. Chances are none of you can skate, and that’s what makes it fun. Everyone falls, everyone laughs.

Squad: 3–5

20. Play trampoline dodgeball at Skyjumper

The trampoline park at ILD Trade Centre on Sohna Road has dodgeball and wall-walks. You’ll be sore the next day, but it’s worth it.

Squad: 6–10

21. Fix a broken plate with gold at a kintsugi workshop

The Gully Café runs weekend kintsugi workshops, the Japanese way of fixing broken ceramics with gold, for about ₹899. It’s quiet and weirdly calming, and you take home something actually pretty.

Squad: 2–4

22. Throw pots at The Clay Company

A well-reviewed pottery studio in Sushant Lok 1 for proper wheel sessions. It’s closed on Mondays, so plan around that.

Squad: 2–4

When it’s Sunday, you’re hungover, and you need air

23. Walk the Aravalli Biodiversity Park early

Restored Aravalli scrubland just off the Mehrauli–Gurgaon road, with trails and actual silence. Go before 9, before it gets hot and crowded.

Squad: 2–4

24. Go birdwatching at Sultanpur National Park

About 15 km out. Winter is when the migratory birds come in, so this is the right time to go. Most people who live in Gurgaon have never been.

Squad: 2–4

25. Drive to Damdama Lake

About 24 km south, 40 to 50 minutes away, and the easiest way to get out of the city for a day. One car, one playlist, then kayaking or just sitting by the water.

Squad: 4–5 (one car)

Three things nobody tells you about going out in Gurgaon

• Weeknights beat weekends. Galleria and 32nd Avenue are packed on Saturdays; Tuesday to Thursday is when they’re at their best. And honestly, skip Cyber Hub.
• Traffic decides your night, not the plan. Pick one area per evening and stay there. Trying to cross the city at 8 pm is how plans get cancelled.
• Ignore old lists that recommend Kingdom of Dreams. It was sealed in July 2022 and has been shut ever since.

So what’s actually missing?

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably noticed something.

That’s why we’re building Wigle. Small groups, a different plan every time, with people you haven’t met yet. Some of those nights will be just okay, and one of them will be the night you find your people.

New to the city? Read our guide on how to actually make friends in Gurgaon.