When to travel

Best places to visit in April

April is for hill stations and quiet valleys. The plains heat up, but Manali, Shimla, and Munnar offer cool air and blooming orchards.

Moderate crowds

Jammu & Kashmir

Srinagar (Dal Lake)

Srinagar is a lake city, and the difference between a good stay and a mediocre one is which part of the lake you sleep on.

Crisp spring days with blooming tulip fields nearby.

Busy

West Bengal

Darjeeling

Darjeeling sits at about 2,042 metres on a steep mountain ridge of the Lesser Himalayas in northern West Bengal, under the snow mass of Mount Kanchenjunga…

Delightfully cool daytimes with clear skies and rhododendrons in full bloom.

Busy

Sikkim

Gangtok

Gangtok is where most Sikkim trips begin, and its real value is as a base rather than a destination.

Delightfully cool daytimes under open sunny skies with wild orchids in bloom.

Busy

Himachal Pradesh

McLeodganj & Dharamshala

McLeodganj, the upper town of Dharamshala, is the home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, and one of India's most beloved workation and…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Uttarakhand

Kedarnath

Kedarnath, set at 3,583 metres against a backdrop of snow peaks and the Mandakini valley, is among the holiest of the twelve Jyotirlingas and a cornerstone of…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Andhra Pradesh

Araku Valley

Araku Valley is a lush coffee-growing hill region in the Eastern Ghats near Visakhapatnam, reached by one of India's most scenic train journeys through…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Moderate crowds

Sikkim

Yuksom

Yuksom is a historical village in West Sikkim, the first capital of the old Sikkimese kingdom and the trailhead for the famed Goecha La and Dzongri treks…

Clear spring days, rhododendrons blooming.

Busy

Madhya Pradesh

Pachmarhi

Pachmarhi is Madhya Pradesh's only hill station, a green plateau in the Satpura range dotted with waterfalls, caves, viewpoints and ancient rock-shelter…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Himachal Pradesh

Shimla

Shimla, the former summer capital of British India, is one of the country's most popular hill stations.

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Uttarakhand

Nainital

Nainital is a charming Kumaon hill station built around the emerald, eye-shaped Naini Lake.

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Gujarat

Saputara

Saputara is the most built-up of Gujarat's few hill stations — Don, at the same thousand metres, has almost nothing on it — which makes Saputara modest by…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Uttarakhand

Jim Corbett National Park

Jim Corbett is India's oldest national park and the birthplace of Project Tiger, set in the Himalayan foothills along the Ramganga River.

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Arunachal Pradesh

Tawang

Tawang, at over 3,000 metres in the far Himalayas of Arunachal Pradesh, is home to India's largest Buddhist monastery and the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama.

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Meghalaya

Mawsynram & Nongriat Root Bridges

Mawsynram, the wettest place on earth, and the nearby village of Nongriat anchor southern Meghalaya's wonder-region of living root bridges, deep gorges and…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Nagaland

Kohima

Kohima's war cemetery is the most affecting war memorial in India, and most people who come for the Hornbill Festival never walk up to it.

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Manipur

Imphal

Imphal, the capital of Manipur, is a culturally rich valley city famed for the all-women Ima Keithel market, the WWII Imphal battle sites, classical Manipuri…

Pleasant clear spring days.

Busy

Maharashtra

Renuka Devi Temple (Mahur)

Renuka Devi Temple (Mahur) in Mahur, Nanded, Maharashtra is one of the Shakti Peethas, the sacred shrines of the Divine Mother in the Shakta tradition of…