Places
Estimated daily costs per person in rupees, excluding travel to get there. Backpacker means hostels or homestays and local food; mid-range means hotels and sit-down meals.
High passes, monasteries and cool air
Photo: Saurabh Kumar / UnsplashWhere the Ganga leaves the mountains: white-water rafting, yoga schools, evening aarti on the ghats, and easy hikes into the foothills.
Photo: Naman Sood / UnsplashA high-altitude cold desert of monasteries, fossil villages, and some of India's most dramatic roads. Spiti rewards slow travel and punishes rushing.
Photo: Aashh Subba / UnsplashTea gardens on steep slopes, a century-old toy train, and sunrise over Kanchenjunga. A classic hill town that pairs well with Sikkim.
Photo: titas gurung / UnsplashA lakeside town under the Annapurna range, with boating, paragliding and the start of Nepal's most popular treks. Relaxed, walkable and good value.
Photo: Naweedey / UnsplashHouseboats on Dal Lake, Mughal gardens, and alpine meadows under snow peaks. Srinagar is the base for some of India's most beautiful valleys.
Photo: Bhaskar Palit / UnsplashKanchenjunga at sunrise, monasteries above the clouds, and a clean, easygoing capital. Sikkim is small but mountainous, so distances take longer than the map suggests.
Photo: Aditya Rao / UnsplashHigh passes, turquoise lakes, and monasteries on every ridge. Ladakh is simple to reach by air and demanding once you're there: the altitude sets the pace.
Coves, islands and slow coastal days
Photo: Shashank Hegade / UnsplashA temple town with a string of cliff-backed beaches, linked by a coastal trail. Quieter and slower than Goa, a few hours down the coast.
Photo: Niranjan B S / UnsplashA former French colony on the Bay of Bengal: mustard-yellow streets, seaside promenades, cafés, and the experimental township of Auroville.
Photo: Sumit Sourav / UnsplashTwo Goas in one small state: lively beaches and markets in the north, quiet coves in the south, with Portuguese churches and spice farms in between.
Photo: tatonomusic / UnsplashWhite sand, clear water, and coral reefs in the Bay of Bengal. India's best beaches for snorkeling and diving, with a dark colonial history in Port Blair.
Rainforest, coffee hills and wildlife
Photo: @pavi_thra_ / UnsplashBackwaters, tea hills, spice gardens, and cliff beaches, all within a few hours of each other. Kerala is one of India's easiest states to travel independently.
Photo: bluedeadpixel / UnsplashMisty hills, coffee and pepper estates, and homestays run by Kodava families. Coorg is a slow, green escape from Bengaluru and Mysuru.
Photo: Amit Jain / UnsplashLiving root bridges, some of the wettest places on Earth, and rivers so clear that boats seem to float on air. Meghalaya is lush, walkable, and still uncrowded.
Photo: Rahul / UnsplashKarnataka's coffee country: misty Western Ghats ridges, estate homestays, waterfalls and the state's highest peak. A favourite long-weekend escape from Bengaluru.
Photo: Kedar Bhusal / UnsplashNepal's first national park, on the plains near the Indian border: one-horned rhinos, gharials, more than 500 bird species and, with luck, a tiger.
Forts, temples and old cities
Photo: Aryan Nikhil / UnsplashHome of the Golden Temple, one of the world's great spiritual sites, where a free community kitchen feeds tens of thousands every day.
Photo: Pavan Kumaar / UnsplashThe ruins of a 14th-century imperial capital scattered across a landscape of giant boulders. Hampi is best explored slowly, by bicycle, with sunrises and sunsets from the rocks.
Photo: Martijn Vonk / UnsplashOne of the world's oldest living cities, where life and ritual play out on the stone steps of the Ganga. Intense, crowded, and unforgettable.
Photo: pj bhumika / UnsplashThe Golden City of the Thar Desert: a sandstone fort still lived in, carved merchant havelis, and nights under the stars in the dunes.
Photo: Aditya Siva / UnsplashThe Pink City: hilltop forts, a palace still lived in by royalty, and some of India's best bazaars. An easy first taste of Rajasthan.
Photo: Pranav Panchal / UnsplashThe City of Lakes: palaces reflected in still water, rooftop cafés, and some of Rajasthan's most beautiful forts and temples within a day's drive.
Photo: Jovyn Chamb / UnsplashHome of the Taj Mahal, plus two more World Heritage Sites: Agra Fort and the abandoned Mughal city of Fatehpur Sikri.
Photo: Aaditya Shah / UnsplashThree old royal cities, two of Asia's great stupas and Hindu temples on the Bagmati, all within an hour of each other. No visa for Indians, and a short flight from Delhi.
