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Attraction
Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir
Named after a 1983 Hindi film shot here, which tells you how it is packaged: a fenced, ticketed meadow on the Chandanwari road with the Lidder running through it. Aru, further along, is better and free.
Viewpoint
Orchha, Madhya Pradesh
Cenotaphs to the Bundela rulers standing in a row along the Betwa. Best at the end of the day, seen from the far bank, where nobody charges you anything.
Market
Kullu, Himachal Pradesh
The landmark cooperative weaving centre where visitors can view traditional handloom operations and buy verified Kullu shawls.
Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh
Million-year-old limestone caves with dramatic stalactite formations.
Srinagar (Dal Lake), Jammu & Kashmir
The scenic lakeside promenade lined with distinct numbered wooden boarding ghats for traditional shikara cruises.
Fatehpur Sikri, Uttar Pradesh
One of the tallest gateways in the world, marking the entrance to the Jama Masjid.
Coorg (Madikeri), Karnataka
Namdroling, the largest Nyingma centre outside Tibet, with three gilded figures about sixty feet tall in the main hall. Foreign nationals need a protected-area permit for Bylakuppe, which catches people out.
North Goa (Baga & Calangute), Goa
A grid of stalls behind the beach selling much the same beachwear, shell work and silver as every other stretch of north Goa. Prices open high; the first number is not the price.
Chotila Hill, Gujarat
On the summit of Chotila hill, up a stair of around a thousand steps, with two icons of the goddess in one shrine. Start early: there is no shade going up and the steps get hot.
Mysuru (Mysore Palace), Karnataka
The hilltop temple sanctuary perched above the city, accessible via a 1,000-step stone trail and hosting a colossal monolithic stone Nandi bull.
Delhi, Delhi
Old Delhi's chaotic, historic market famous for street food and spice lanes.
Taj Mahal (Agra), Uttar Pradesh
The four-part garden with the raised tank that gives the reflection everyone photographs. Worth knowing it was originally dense with fruit trees and flowers — the open lawns are a British replanting, which is why the Taj now reads as a monument in a park rather than a building in a garden.
Matheran, Maharashtra
The primary natural water reservoir basin on the plateau, surrounded by dense evergreen forests and hosting an ancient temple shrine.
Hyderabad (Charminar & Golconda), Telangana
Built in 1591 at the centre of the old city, with a minaret at each corner. You can climb one — a hundred and forty-nine steps up a tight spiral — and the view over Laad Bazaar is the reason to. Published heights for the minarets disagree depending on whether they are measured from the plinth, so ignore the numbers and look up.
The tallest thing in Orchha, built to house the Rama image that ended up staying in the palace instead — so the sanctum it was designed around has never held its deity. Steep narrow stairs climb to the upper galleries; go up for the view over the chhatris and the Betwa.
Kochi (Fort Kochi), Kerala
Cantilevered nets worked by four to six men on a counterweight, along the Fort Kochi seafront. Fewer operate every year and some are now only frames. They are lowered at sunset, which is also when the crowd arrives.
Experience
Paradise Beach (Pondicherry), Puducherry
The backwater boat ride that reaches the beach.
Jaipur, Rajasthan
The royal complex at the centre of the walled city, begun by Sawai Jai Singh II when he founded Jaipur and added to by his successors ever since. Chandra Mahal, the seven-storey palace at its heart, is still partly a private residence, which is why parts of the complex are closed and the rest is unusually well kept. What most people come for is Pritam Niwas Chowk, the inner courtyard with four painted doorways, one for each season — the Peacock Gate is the one that ends up on everybody's camera roll. Give it longer than you think: the armoury and the textile rooms are quieter than the courtyards and better than they sound.
Udaipur, Rajasthan
The largest palace complex in Rajasthan, built over nearly four hundred years by successive Mewar rulers. Udai Singh II began it in 1553, when he moved his capital from Chittor to the new city of Udaipur, and every ruler after him added to it — which is why it reads as a run of connected palaces rather than one building. It stands on a ridge on the east bank of Lake Pichola, so the courtyards look down onto the water and across to the island palaces. Glass and mirror work, mosaic courtyards and the Mewar collection are inside; boats to Jag Mandir leave from below it.
Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
A colonial house at the west end of the ridge, seven kilometres out, where built-up Mussoorie stops and the deodar starts. The walk out is better than the building.
Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
A kilometre of paved cliff path cut in the 1870s, with the plains a long way below and a small entry fee. In mist you will see nothing at all, which happens often — go early, before the cloud comes up the valley.
Kolkata, West Bengal
The historic book-market street and famed Indian Coffee House.
Hidden Gem
South Goa (Palolem), Goa
A rocky, isolated cove located just south of Palolem, famous for peaceful eco-cafes and unique natural stone pools.
A municipal garden three and a half kilometres from the Mall, with boating and an aviary. Heavily developed and aimed at families rather than anyone after quiet.
