Plan Your
Trip
India's Top 12
1Agra & Taj Mahal
A timeless monument to love
The exquisite tomb of an emperor's beloved wife, the Taj Mahal is arguably the world's most beautiful building, and has been enshrined in the writings of Tagore and Kipling. Built by Emperor Shah Jahan in adoration of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, this white marble mausoleum is inlaid with calligraphy, precious stones and intricate floral designs representing paradise, and represents the pinnacle of Mughal architecture as well as romance.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
2Kerala
Drifting dreamily on the backwaters
It’s like heading into a dream, lazily navigating the tropical backwaters of Kerala: 900km of interconnected rivers, lakes, canals and lagoons lined by coconut groves and picturesque villages. Cruise the waterways on a teak-and-thatch houseboat as the sun sinks behind the trees, while snacking on succulent Keralan seafood – and forget all about life on land for a while.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
3Jaipur
An enthralling, quintessentially Indian city
Jaipur encapsulates the chaotic, colourful magic of the state that it's capital of, Rajasthan. It's a city of seething bazaars selling everything from saris to jewellery to local meenakari enamel work, honking traffic, wonderful palaces, mighty fortresses and an extraordinary old observatory. And in between seeing the sights there's wonderful shopping, fine dining and even balloon flights over the majestic Amber Fort.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
4Varanasi
City of life and death
Welcome to one of India's most revered sacred cities. Pilgrims flock here to worship, take a holy dip in the Ganges River, or cremate loved ones. Hindus believe the Ganges' waters cleanse away sins, and dying here is deemed particularly propitious as it offers liberation from the life-and-death cycle. Varanasi will sweep you into its dizzying spiritual whirlwind – just take a deep breath and immerse yourself in pondering the meaning of life, death…and beyond.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
5Goa
Palm-fringed tropical beach paradise
With palms nodding on one side of the sugar-white sands and powder-blue waves lapping on the other, Goa's coastline is lined by beautiful beaches and has an easy-going hedonistic atmosphere like nowhere else in India. It's not an undiscovered paradise: this cool coastal strip bustles with fellow travellers, vendors and beach-shack eateries. Goa appeals to social creatures and fans of creature comforts who like their seafood fresh and their holidays easy.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
6Delhi
Fallen empires, fine food, fabulous shopping
India’s throbbing capital bears the mighty remnants of former empires, from great Mughal tombs to grandiose British-era mansions. There's so much to see here, from the crumbling splendour of Old Delhi to the wonders of the Qutb Minar and Mehrauli. Add the many fine eateries, superb museums and amazing shopping, and it's easy to see why Delhi mesmerises many.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
7Darjeeling
Time for tea at a classic hill station
One of those British-founded mountain retreats known as hill stations, Darjeeling spreads over a steep Himalayan ridge staring at the world's third-highest mountain, Khangchendzonga. It's a cool escape where you can visit estates growing the tea that has spread Darjeeling's name around the world – and if you're the energetic type, trek some spectacular routes in the mighty Himalaya.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
8Mumbai
India's eclectic film-star city
Mumbai absorbs influences into its midst and inventively makes them its own. Architecturally, the art-deco and modern towers lend the city its cool, but it’s the dramatic flourishes of its Victorian-era structures that are the essence of Mumbai's visual magic. Today, the city is gathering culinary threads from around the world and leads India in the inventiveness of its restaurants. It's the country's capital of cinema, fashion and nightlife too.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
9Jaisalmer
Castles and camels in the desert
A gigantic, golden sandcastle rising like a mirage from the deserts of Rajasthan, Jaisalmer's 12th-century citadel is a fantastical structure and a small town in itself, elegantly blending with the toffee-gold hues of its desert environs. It rises above a city whose narrow lanes conceal magnificent havelis (traditional, ornately decorated residences) carved from the same golden-honey sandstone. Take a camel safari outside town to experience the full desert magic.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
10Himachal Pradesh
Himalayan experiences for all comers
The green valleys and snowy peaks of this wonderfully scenic Himalayan state, north of Delhi, are a canvas on which many kinds of traveller can paint their picture. Trek, ski, raft, mountain bike, paraglide or just chill out at the hippie hangout cum adventure centre of Manali; or soak up the Buddhist and Tibetan vibes at McLeod Ganj, home of the Dalai Lama.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
11Ajanta & Ellora
Stunning millennia-old works of sacred art
Renunciation of the worldly life was never so serenely sophisticated. The temples, monasteries and prayer halls carved out of remote rock faces by Buddhist, Hindu and Jain monks at Ajanta and Ellora, between one and more than two millennia ago, were not just places of worship and retreat but supreme artistic homages to the divine. Few works of ancient match the conception and execution of Ajanta's murals and Ellora's sculptures.
INDIA'S TOP 12 PLAN YOUR TRIP
12Karnataka
India future and past
This southern state encompasses many faces of India. The booming IT capital of Bengaluru (Bangalore) is arguably India's most progressive city. Not far away, Mysuru (Mysore) is home to one of the most glittering of all India's princely palaces. A bewitchingly different vibe envelops Hampi, the vast ruined capital of a medieval Hindu empire set among rice paddies, red earth and giant boulders.
