India Destinations

Explore India your way

India is a continent travelling under one passport, and the states below group loosely into a few journeys. The Ganga belt running through Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand is the deepest, most accessible introduction to spiritual India: Varanasi's ghats, Ayodhya's Ram Mandir, Rishikesh's ashrams and Haridwar's evening aarti. The Himalayan states, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, add hill stations, high-altitude valleys and the demanding Char Dham pilgrimage. Delhi anchors the Golden Triangle with Agra and Rajasthan. Further out, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Odisha each carry a distinct identity: desert salt flats and lion sanctuaries, cave art and hill retreats, temple ruins and coffee estates, erotic temple carvings and tiger reserves, the Golden Temple, colonial Kolkata and tea-garden Darjeeling, and Puri's chariot festival on the Bay of Bengal.

Most of this guide sits October to March, the season that suits the plains and the coasts. The Himalayan states flip that: Himachal and Uttarakhand's high valleys open through summer, and the Char Dham shrines are open only from late April or May to October or November, on dates announced each year.

Wonders worth building a trip around

A handful of sights are worth planning an entire route around rather than fitting in as a detour. The Taj Mahal at Agra is the obvious one, but Amritsar's Golden Temple, Khajuraho's carved temples, Hampi's boulder-strewn ruins and the Ganga Aarti ceremonies at Varanasi, Haridwar and Rishikesh belong on the same list. Each has its own state guide below, with the practical detail on when to go and how long to stay.

• Taj Mahal and Agra Fort — Uttar Pradesh
• Varanasi's ghats and Ganga Aarti — Uttar Pradesh
• Golden Temple — Punjab
• Hampi's temple ruins — Karnataka
• Khajuraho's temple carvings — Madhya Pradesh
• Char Dham Himalayan shrines — Uttarakhand

Best time to visit, region by region

A rough seasonal map for the states covered here — see each state's own guide for the detail.

• Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Varanasi, Ayodhya): October to March, cool and clear.
• Uttarakhand (Rishikesh, Haridwar): September to April for the towns; the Char Dham shrines are open only from late April or May to October or November, on dates announced each year.
• Himachal Pradesh: April to June and September to November for the hill towns; Spiti has an almost all-weather road from Shimla through Kinnaur, subject to weather and road conditions, while the Kunzum route from Manali is closed in winter.
• Delhi: October to March; summer runs punishingly hot.
• Gujarat (Rann of Kutch): November to February, when the salt desert is walkable and the Rann Utsav festival runs.
• Maharashtra and Karnataka: October to March, avoiding the June-to-September monsoon.
• Madhya Pradesh's tiger reserves: typically open October to June, with the hottest months giving the best sightings.
• West Bengal and Odisha: October to March; Darjeeling's monsoon (June-September) brings landslide risk on the hill roads.

Hidden gems worth the detour

Beyond the headline names, a few places reward travellers who go a little further off the obvious route: the white salt desert of Gujarat's Rann of Kutch under a full moon, the coffee-and-spice hills of Coorg in Karnataka, the high-altitude valley of Spiti in Himachal Pradesh, and the colonial hill station of Darjeeling in West Bengal with its tea gardens and Kanchenjunga views.

Honest picks

• Most intense: Varanasi, for the unbroken continuity of ritual on the ghats.
• Most peaceful: Rishikesh off-season, or the coffee hills of Coorg.
• Best first-timer circuit: Delhi, Agra and Varanasi together.
• Most underrated: Odisha's temple towns and Gujarat's Rann of Kutch, both light on crowds relative to what they offer.

How many days do you actually need

Give each region more time than a rushed package tour allows. A few working lengths:

• Delhi, Agra and Varanasi together: about 8 days is comfortable — see our Golden Triangle with Varanasi tour.
• The Himalayan hill circuit (Himachal Pradesh): around 7 days for Shimla and Manali without rushing.
• The Char Dham Yatra: 10 to 12 days, and genuine fitness for the higher shrines.
• A single state done properly (Gujarat, Karnataka or Madhya Pradesh's tiger reserves): 5 to 7 days.