Historic sites
Ajanta and Ellora Caves
Khuldabad, Maharashtra
Two UNESCO-listed groups of rock-cut caves near Aurangabad.
Travel tips in India
Historic sites
Amber Fort, Jaipur
Jaipur, Rajasthan
A hilltop palace fortress overlooking Lake Maota, built of pale yellow and pink sandstone from 1592, with courtyards, gardens and the dazzling Sheesh…
Buildings
City Palace and Lake Pichola, Udaipur
Udaipur, Rajasthan
Udaipur, the 'City of Lakes', is built around Lake Pichola, with the huge City Palace rising from its shore and the Lake Palace hotel floating in the…
Tours and activities
Darjeeling Himalayan Railway (toy train)
Darjeeling, West Bengal
A narrow-gauge mountain railway, opened in 1881, that winds up from the plains to Darjeeling on tracks only 2 feet wide, through loops and zigzags, a…
Walks and treks
Goecha La trek from Yuksom
Gyalshing, Sikkim
One of the great Himalayan treks: about 8 to 10 days from the village of Yuksom, through rhododendron forests and high meadows, to the Goecha La pass…
Historic sites
Golden Temple, Amritsar
Amritsar, Punjab
The holiest shrine of Sikhism, a gold-covered temple in the middle of a sacred pool, open to all.
Historic sites
Hampi
Hampi, Karnataka
The ruins of Vijayanagara, once one of the world's richest cities, scattered among giant boulders, banana plantations and the Tungabhadra River, a UN…
Historic sites
Humayun's Tomb, Delhi
Delhi
The tomb of the Mughal emperor Humayun, built in the 1560s, the first garden tomb in India and an inspiration for the Taj Mahal, a UNESCO World Herit…
Historic sites
Jaisalmer Fort and Thar Desert
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
A golden sandstone fort rising out of the Thar Desert, one of the few 'living forts' in the world, with about a quarter of the town's people living i…
Natural features
Kaziranga National Park
Bokakhat, Assam
Home to two-thirds of the world's great one-horned rhinoceroses, in grasslands and wetlands by the Brahmaputra River in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritag…
Tours and activities
Kerala Backwaters houseboat, Alappuzha
Alappuzha, Kerala
A network of lagoons, lakes and canals along the Kerala coast, lined with palms, paddy fields and villages.
Natural features
Leh and Pangong Lake, Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a high-altitude desert in the Himalayas with Tibetan Buddhist culture.
Historic sites
Meenakshi Temple, Madurai
Madurai, Tamil Nadu
A vast Hindu temple complex in the heart of Madurai, dedicated to Meenakshi (Parvati) and Sundareswarar (Shiva), with 14 towering gateways (gopurams)…
Historic sites
Mehrangarh Fort, Jodhpur
Rajasthan
One of the largest forts in India, rising sheer from a rocky hill above the 'Blue City' of Jodhpur, with ornate palaces, an excellent museum and view…
Natural features
Ranthambore National Park
Rajasthan
One of the best places in the world to see wild tigers, a former royal hunting ground with dry forest, lakes and the ruins of a 10th-century fort.
Historic sites
Taj Mahal, Agra
Agra, Uttar Pradesh
The white marble mausoleum built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, completed around 1653, one of the most beautiful buildin…
Natural features
Tiger Hill sunrise, Darjeeling
Darjeeling, West Bengal
A hilltop 11 km from Darjeeling, at 2,590 m, famous for the view at sunrise as the first light turns the snowy summit of Kangchenjunga, the world's t…
Walks and treks
Triund trek, McLeod Ganj
Chamba, Himachal Pradesh
A popular day hike from McLeod Ganj up through oak and rhododendron forest to the grassy ridge of Triund at 2,850 m.
Natural features
Tsomgo (Changu) Lake, Sikkim
Gangtok, Sikkim
A glacial lake at 3,753 m on the road from Gangtok towards the Nathu La pass on the Tibet border.
Buildings
Tsuglagkhang Complex, McLeod Ganj
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh
The main temple of the Tibetan community in exile, next to the residence of the Dalai Lama, in McLeod Ganj above Dharamsala.
Historic sites
Varanasi Ghats
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
One of the oldest living cities in the world and Hinduism's holiest city, on the Ganges, where pilgrims bathe on stone steps (ghats) and cremations t…
Food and drink
Afternoon tea at the Windamere, Darjeeling
Darjeeling, West Bengal
Stay in any of Darjeeling's cheap guesthouses, but treat yourself to tea in one of the old colonial hotels.
Historic sites
Agra Fort
Agra, Uttar Pradesh
A massive red sandstone fortress, the main residence of the Mughal emperors until 1638, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Historic sites
Gateway of India and Elephanta Caves, Mumbai
Mumbai, Maharashtra
A great basalt arch on Mumbai's waterfront, built to commemorate the visit of King George V in 1911, opposite the Taj Mahal Palace hotel.
Natural features
Goa beaches and Old Goa
North Goa, Goa
Goa, a Portuguese colony until 1961, combines palm-fringed beaches with whitewashed churches.
Attractions
Happy Valley Tea Estate, Darjeeling
Darjeeling, West Bengal
One of Darjeeling's oldest tea gardens, founded in 1854, on the hillside just below the town.
Buildings
Hawa Mahal and City Palace, Jaipur
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The Hawa Mahal, 'Palace of Winds', is a five-storey pink sandstone façade honeycombed with 953 small windows, built in 1799 so royal women could watc…
Historic sites
Khajuraho Temples
Madhya Pradesh
A group of Hindu and Jain temples built by the Chandela dynasty around 950 to 1050 AD, covered with exquisitely carved sculptures of gods, dancers, a…
Historic sites
Konark Sun Temple
Konarka, Odisha
A 13th-century temple to the sun god Surya, built in the shape of a giant stone chariot with 24 carved wheels drawn by seven horses, a UNESCO World H…
Historic sites
Mahabalipuram Shore Temple
Chengalpattu, Tamil Nadu
A group of 7th and 8th-century Pallava monuments by the sea south of Chennai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site: the granite Shore Temple, the Five Rathas…
Natural features
Munnar tea plantations
Munnar, Kerala
A hill station in the Western Ghats of Kerala, surrounded by emerald tea plantations carpeting rolling hills.
Buildings
Mysore Palace
Mysuru, Karnataka
The opulent palace of the Wadiyar maharajas, built in 1912 in Indo-Saracenic style, with stained glass, mosaics and carved doors.
Natural features
Rann of Kutch
Khavda, Gujarat
A vast white salt desert in Gujarat, which floods in the monsoon and dries to a cracked white plain, magical under a full moon.
Historic sites
Red Fort and Old Delhi
Delhi
The Mughal emperors' palace fortress, with red sandstone walls, built by Shah Jahan in the 1640s, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tours and activities
Rishikesh
Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
A holy town on the Ganges at the foot of the Himalayas, the 'yoga capital of the world', with ashrams, yoga courses and the evening Ganga Aarti at Tr…
Buildings
Rumtek Monastery, Sikkim
Gangtok, Sikkim
The largest monastery in Sikkim and the main seat in exile of the Karma Kagyu school of Tibetan Buddhism.
Places to stay
Udai Haveli Guest House, Udaipur
Udaipur, Rajasthan
A small, family-run guest house in the Ganesh Ghati neighbourhood of old Udaipur, a short walk from Gangaur Ghat on Lake Pichola and the City Palace.
Walks and treks
Valley of Flowers
Chamoli, Uttarakhand
A high Himalayan valley in Uttarakhand carpeted with wildflowers in the monsoon, part of a UNESCO site with Nanda Devi National Park.
Buildings
Victoria Memorial, Kolkata
Kolkata, West Bengal
A grand white marble building of 1921 in memory of Queen Victoria, set in gardens, with a museum of the British period and the history of Kolkata.
Natural features
Bhagsu waterfall, McLeod Ganj
Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh
A waterfall in the hills above the village of Bhagsu, about 2 km from McLeod Ganj.
Natural features
Coorg (Kodagu) coffee hills
Madikeri, Karnataka
Kodagu (Coorg) is a misty hill region of coffee and spice plantations in Karnataka.
Places to stay
Sunrise Villa homestay, Shoghi
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh
A homestay on a forested ridge at Shoghi, about 13 km before Shimla on the highway from Chandigarh.