Things to Do in Ahmedabad With Friends: 10 Non-Boring Group Activities

Short answer: The best things to do in Ahmedabad with friends are go-karting at Republic of Karting or Twenty 1 Rhinos (from ₹350–₹499 a session), escape rooms at Escape Zone (from ₹700 per person for groups of five or more), bowling and Laser Wars at SHOTT on Sindhu Bhavan Road (weekday bowling combos from ₹499), and late-night cycling or drives along the Sabarmati Riverfront, whose main promenade is open 24 hours. Most cost between ₹300 and ₹1,500 per person, and almost all are better booked a day ahead.

Now the long version — because “hang out with friends in Ahmedabad” usually collapses into the same three options: a mall, a café, or somebody’s terrace.

This city is better than that. It has a 17-turn karting track, an escape room where the furniture hangs from the ceiling, a rope course, a snow park, midnight food streets and eleven kilometres of riverfront you can cycle at 1 am.

Here are ten group activities that aren’t a mall, with real prices, real addresses, and four ready-made plans at the end.

Quick reference: 10 group activities and what they cost

First, the thing that shapes every plan here

Gujarat is a dry state. There are no bars, no clubs in the conventional sense, and no alcohol anywhere in Ahmedabad.

Visitors treat this as a problem. It isn’t — it’s why the city’s group scene developed in a completely different direction. Instead of drinking, Ahmedabad built activity zones, karting tracks, food streets that run past midnight, and a nightlife culture based on driving, eating and competing.

The practical consequence: a night out here costs a fraction of what it does in Mumbai or Bengaluru, it’s family-safe, it starts later and ends later, and nobody needs a designated driver.

Plan around activity and food, not venues. That’s the whole trick.

1. Go-karting — the most reliable group activity in the city

What it is: electric and petrol karts on purpose-built tracks, timed laps, and the fastest way to discover which of your friends is secretly competitive.

Where to go

Republic of Karting — located at Fungrito on New Science City Road. A 17-turn professional track with electric karts, starting from around ₹350. No prior experience needed; safety equipment and a briefing are provided before you race.

Twenty 1 Rhinos, Chandkheda — near Zundal Circle on the Sardar Patel Ring Road. The track runs among trees, which genuinely changes the feel of it. Around ₹399 on weekdays and ₹499 on weekends for a 5-minute session.

Funzone, TRP Mall, Bopal — high-speed terrace go-karting, plus bowling, arcade games and bumper cars in the same building. Note the payment system: everything at Funzone runs on a prepaid Funzone card requiring a minimum ₹1,000 first load, which is not refundable in cash. Budget accordingly.

SHOTT, Thaltej — indoor karting as part of a much larger activity centre. More on SHOTT below.

Erda’s speedway — a track developed by motorsport figure Mira Erda, India’s youngest F4 driver and a Red Bull athlete, which gives it obvious credibility with anyone who actually follows racing.

What to know before you go

• Dress code is enforced for safety. Closed-toe shoes, helmet and seatbelt are mandatory. Sarees, burkas and any loose or hanging clothing are not permitted near the karts — this is a rotating-machinery hazard, not a style rule.
• Sessions are short. A “5-minute” session is genuinely five minutes, so budget for two or three rounds per person if the point is competition.
• Book a slot for groups of six or more, especially on weekends.

Best group size: 4–12. Best time: weekday evenings, when the track is empty and the lap counter is honest.

2. Escape rooms — the best activity for a group that actually talks

What it is: a themed room, a locked door, a 60–75 minute timer, and a set of puzzles your group has to solve together.

The standout: Upside Down at Escape Zone

Escape Zone runs four escape rooms in Ahmedabad, and the one worth travelling for is Upside Down — Ahmedabad’s only 75-minute escape room where the entire set is inverted. Chairs hang from the ceiling. Tables are upside down. Your spatial reasoning fights you for the whole session.

The success rate is roughly 35%, which tells you everything about the difficulty level.

Pricing starts at around ₹700 per person on weekdays for groups of five or more. The venue is rated 4.7 from over 410 reviews, and it handles corporate team-building groups of up to 32 people across its rooms.

Themed mission rooms

Other operators in the city run mission-style rooms with distinct storylines — bomb-disposal, prison-break, abduction, murder-mystery and heist formats, graded by difficulty. Pricing typically starts around ₹600 per person and varies by group size and day.

Best group size: 4–6 per room. Below four you’ll struggle; above six, people stand around.

Insider tip: split a larger group across two rooms and race the clock against each other. It turns a good activity into a genuinely memorable one.

Best time: any. This is the strongest option in April–June when nobody wants to be outdoors.

3. Bowling — the activity that works for every group

What it is: the lowest-friction group activity in existence. No learning curve, no rules to explain, and a scoreboard that keeps everyone honest.

Where to go

SHOTT, Thaltej — VIP bowling lanes with UV lighting and music. Weekday package: bowling plus 5 arcade games at ₹499. Weekend: ₹699. Packages are best booked online in advance.

Funzone, TRP Mall, Bopal — well-maintained lanes with automatic scoring, alongside arcade games, bumper cars and terrace karting.

Fun Blast, Sindhu Bhavan Marg — bowling as part of a wider mix that includes trampolines, a snow park and go-karting.

Why it works for mixed groups: skill levels don’t matter. One lucky strike changes the mood, there’s natural downtime between turns for conversation, and it suits a group where some people are competitive and others just came along.

Best group size: 4–12, across two lanes. Best time: weekday evening — weekend lanes run a wait.

4. SHOTT and the multi-activity zones — when nobody can agree

The problem: ten friends, ten different ideas. The solution: one venue that does everything.

SHOTT Ahmedabad

Address: opposite Saket-3, next to Sankalp Square, Sindhu Bhavan Road, PRL Colony, Thaltej, Ahmedabad 380059.

What’s inside: VIP bowling lanes, 360 Cricket, go-karting, Laser Wars (laser tag), a large arcade, virtual reality games, a zipline, a rope course, and Kids City for anyone bringing younger siblings.

Pricing: package-based. The entry-level weekday combo of bowling plus 5 arcade games runs ₹499, rising to ₹699 at weekends, with larger combos bundling VR, karting minutes and Laser Wars. Book packages online in advance — walk-in pricing is worse and weekend waits are real.

Note: SHOTT doesn’t have paintball. Laser Wars is the substitute, and for an indoor venue it’s arguably better — no bruises, no protective gear, faster rounds.

Group bookings and birthdays: call ahead. Group discounts exist and are not published.

Fun Blast, Sindhu Bhavan Marg

The other all-in-one, notable for its range: bowling, trampoline, Snow City, and go-karting under one roof, with a layout designed to move groups between zones. Widely used for birthdays, kitty parties, corporate events and general Friday-night chaos.

Best group size: 6–20. This is the category that scales.

5. Night cycling on the Sabarmati Riverfront

What it is: eleven kilometres of promenade on both banks of the Sabarmati, with cycles available for rent at multiple points, and — critically — the main riverfront promenade is open 24 hours.

Note the distinction: while the promenade is always accessible, Atal Bridge and the riverfront gardens open later in the morning and have their own ticketing and closing times. The free walking-and-cycling stretch is the always-on part.

How to do it properly

• Rent from the NID or Paldi stretches, where cycle rental is cheapest and parking is easiest. E-scooters are also available, though at higher rates.
• Organised night rides happen. Cycling meetups and night-ride events run along the riverfront and are listed on event platforms — a good way to ride with a group if yours is only three people.
• A zipline across the river operates from the NID-side stretch during the day, if you want to add something to the route.
• Go after 10 pm. The paths empty out, the temperature drops, and the Atal Bridge lighting reflects across the water.

Cost: cycle rental typically ₹50–₹150; e-scooters more. Best group size: any. Best season: October to February. In May, do this at 11 pm or not at all.

6. The late-night drive — Ahmedabad’s actual nightlife

What it is: the most Amdavadi group activity there is. After 10 pm, when the traffic thins, groups drive.

The two routes people actually use

Riverfront Road — a smooth, open, well-lit stretch that’s the default for car and bike enthusiasts. Post-10 pm it becomes the city’s informal cruising route.

The PDPU Bridge stretch — quieter, calmer, and the one to take when the point is conversation rather than speed.

Then stop somewhere. Urban Chowk runs roughly 6 pm to 1 am with live music and food trucks, and is the standard end-point for a night drive. Manek Chowk is the other, for which see below.

Cost: fuel. Best group size: 2–8, across two cars. A necessary note: these are public roads. Speeding, racing and stunting on them is illegal and genuinely dangerous, and the riverfront stretch has traffic enforcement. Drive it; don’t race it.

7. Box cricket, turf football and pickleball

What it is: hourly turf rentals with floodlights, bookable well into the night, and the most reliable way to get a group of eight-plus doing something physical.

Box cricket remains the default. Pickleball has grown fast in Ahmedabad, and it’s the better choice for a mixed-ability group because the learning curve is about ten minutes.

How the money works: turfs are priced per hour, not per head — typically ₹800–₹2,000 an hour depending on venue, timing and floodlights. Split across twelve people that’s ₹100–₹150 each, which makes it the cheapest structured group activity on this list.

Practical:

• Late-night slots (10 pm–1 am) are cheaper and easier to book.
• Book at least two days ahead for weekend evening slots.
• Confirm whether bats, balls and bibs are included or rented separately.

Best group size: 8–14.

8. The midnight food crawl at Manek Chowk

What it is: a 600-year-old square that operates as a jewellery market by day and, from around 8 pm, becomes a street food carnival running past midnight.

What to order as a group: cheese pav bhaji, ghotala dosa, a ghughra sandwich, dabeli for a palate reset, and rabdi kulfi to finish.

Why it’s a great group activity specifically: you’re not sitting at one table ordering individually. You move between carts, share everything, and eat standing. It’s structurally social in a way a restaurant isn’t.

Cost: roughly ₹200–₹400 per person eating properly. Best time: arrive 9 pm; peak is 9:30 to midnight. Best group size:3–8. Beyond that, split into two groups and meet at the kulfi stall.

Pair it with: a riverfront drive or a night ride. Manek Chowk is the correct ending to almost any Ahmedabad night.

9. Comedy open mics, live music and city events

What it is: the part of the group-activity scene people forget exists, because it doesn’t have a permanent venue.

Comedy open mics run regularly at café venues across the city — formats like Monday Joke Lab at La Shanti, typically starting around 9:30 pm, alongside recurring concept shows and Friday-night comedy nights. Ticketed touring comedy shows play larger halls including Mehdi Nawaz Jung Hall.

Live music and food-truck evenings at Urban Chowk, running roughly 6 pm to 1 am.

Social mixers and themed meetups run at cafés across Navrangpura, Bopal and Thaltej and are aimed squarely at groups who want to meet other groups.

How to find them: these are calendar-driven, not venue-driven. Check event listing platforms weekly rather than turning up somewhere and hoping.

Cost: free to ₹500 for open mics; more for ticketed shows. Best group size: 2–10.

10. Gaming lounges, pool and snooker

What it is: the low-effort, low-cost option for a weekday evening when nobody wants to plan anything.

RD Game Zone charges around ₹100 per hour for PS5, Xbox or PC gaming in a lounge setup — which for four people over two hours is under ₹800 total.

Break Point Game Zone is known for its pool and snooker tables, with cafés nearby for food between frames. It’s built for lingering rather than for a fixed session.

Why this category matters: it’s the only one on this list that works as a spontaneous plan. Everything else benefits from booking.

Best group size: 2–8.

Four ready-made plans

The classic Friday night (₹800–₹1,200 per person)

7:00 pm — Go-karting at Republic of Karting or Twenty 1 Rhinos 8:30 pm — Drive the Riverfront Road stretch 9:30 pm — Manek Chowk food crawl 12:00 am — Rabdi kulfi, then home

The full-day group outing (₹1,200–₹1,800 per person)

11:00 am — Escape room at Escape Zone (split into two teams, race the clock) 1:30 pm — Unlimited Gujarati thali at Gordhan Thal or Iscon Thal 4:00 pm — SHOTT, Thaltej: bowling, Laser Wars, rope course 8:00 pm — Urban Chowk for live music and food trucks

The birthday plan (₹1,000–₹1,500 per person)

Book a SHOTT or Fun Blast package with a group discount, call ahead about the birthday, add a karting session, and finish at Manek Chowk. Most venues will arrange something for the occasion if you tell them in advance.

Out-of-town friends visiting (₹700–₹1,000 per person)

Morning — Heritage walk through the old city, finishing at Jama Masjid Late morning — Fafda-jalebi at Chandravilas Evening — Atal Bridge and the riverfront at dusk Night — Manek Chowk

That last one shows visitors more of Ahmedabad in a day than most residents show them in a week.

How to pick, by group size

Booking, budget and practical notes

Book ahead for: escape rooms (always), karting on weekends, turf slots, SHOTT packages. Don’t bother booking:riverfront rides, night drives, Manek Chowk, gaming lounges.

Lead time: one to two days for weekday evenings, three to seven days for weekend and festival slots.

Online booking usually beats walk-in pricing at SHOTT, Escape Zone and the karting tracks, and often includes package deals not available at the counter.

Group discounts exist and are almost never advertised. For anything over ten people, phone the venue directly and ask.

Prepaid card systems: some venues, including Funzone, operate entirely on prepaid cards with a minimum ₹1,000 first load that isn’t refundable in cash. Load once for the whole group rather than individually.

Weekday vs weekend: the same activity is routinely 25–40% cheaper on a weekday, with no wait. Wednesday night is dramatically better value than Saturday night.

Season: October to February for anything outdoors. March to June, move indoors entirely — escape rooms, bowling, gaming zones and Snow City exist for exactly this reason.

Safety basics: closed-toe shoes for karting; follow the briefing; don’t race on public roads; and if you’re cycling the riverfront after dark, use lights and stay on the promenade rather than the traffic road.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best things to do in Ahmedabad with friends? Go-karting, escape rooms, bowling and Laser Wars at SHOTT, night cycling on the Sabarmati Riverfront, box cricket, and a midnight food crawl at Manek Chowk. Most cost ₹300–₹1,500 per person.

How much does go-karting cost in Ahmedabad? Sessions start at around ₹350 at Republic of Karting on New Science City Road. Twenty 1 Rhinos in Chandkheda charges roughly ₹399 on weekdays and ₹499 on weekends for a five-minute session.

Where is the best go-karting track in Ahmedabad? Republic of Karting at Fungrito on New Science City Road runs a 17-turn professional electric track. Twenty 1 Rhinos in Chandkheda is the tree-lined alternative, and Funzone at TRP Mall Bopal offers terrace karting.

Are there escape rooms in Ahmedabad? Yes. Escape Zone runs four rooms, including Upside Down — the city’s only 75-minute room, built entirely inverted, with roughly a 35% success rate. Pricing starts around ₹700 per person on weekdays for groups of five or more.

What is SHOTT Ahmedabad and where is it? SHOTT is an indoor entertainment centre opposite Saket-3, next to Sankalp Square on Sindhu Bhavan Road, Thaltej. It has VIP bowling, 360 Cricket, go-karting, Laser Wars, VR, arcade games, a zipline and a rope course.

How much does bowling cost in Ahmedabad? At SHOTT, a weekday package of bowling plus five arcade games costs around ₹499, rising to about ₹699 at weekends. Larger combos bundling VR, karting and Laser Wars cost more and should be booked online.

Is there paintball in Ahmedabad? SHOTT does not offer paintball; it runs Laser Wars laser tag instead. Some outdoor karting venues elsewhere in the country pair karting with paintball, but laser tag is the standard indoor option here.

Can you cycle at the Sabarmati Riverfront at night? Yes. The main riverfront promenade is open 24 hours, with cycles and e-scooters available for rent. Atal Bridge and the riverfront gardens have separate, later opening hours and their own tickets.

Is there nightlife in Ahmedabad? Not in the bar-and-club sense — Gujarat is a dry state, so there is no alcohol anywhere in the city. Ahmedabad’s night scene is built on late-night food streets, riverfront drives and cycling, activity zones and live-music venues like Urban Chowk, which runs until about 1 am.

What can groups do in Ahmedabad at night? Manek Chowk street food from 8 pm past midnight, riverfront cycling on the 24-hour promenade, late-night drives along Riverfront Road and the PDPU Bridge stretch, late turf slots for box cricket, and comedy open mics that typically start around 9:30 pm.

What should we do with friends in Ahmedabad in summer? Move indoors. Escape rooms, bowling, Laser Wars, VR and gaming lounges are all air-conditioned, and Snow City at Fun Blast is the direct answer to a 43°C afternoon. Save outdoor plans for after 9 pm.

What is the cheapest group activity in Ahmedabad? Box cricket or turf sports, because they’re priced per hour rather than per head — a ₹1,500 hourly slot split across twelve people is about ₹125 each. A Manek Chowk food crawl at ₹200–₹400 per person and a riverfront night ride are the other budget options.

Are there group discounts for these activities? Yes, at most venues, and they’re rarely advertised online. Phone directly for any group over ten people, and ask specifically about birthday and corporate rates.

How far in advance should we book? One to two days for weekday evenings. Three to seven days for weekends, public holidays and festival periods. Escape rooms should always be booked, since slots are exclusive to one group.

One last thing

The complaint you’ll hear most often about this city — usually from people who moved here for work — is that there’s nothing to do with friends because there’s nowhere to drink.

That’s a failure of imagination, not of the city.

Ahmedabad is a place where you can race a kart at seven, get locked in an upside-down room at nine, eat cheese pav bhaji at eleven, and cycle an empty riverfront at one in the morning. All of it costs less than one round of drinks in Mumbai. All of it is more memorable.

Pick two things off this list. Book one of them. Turn up.

Amdavad Gully covers this city street by street — food, heritage, business and everything to do after dark. Prices in this category move fast; if something here is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.