Best places to visit in August

Leh & Ladakh

Zanskar Valley

Zanskar is one of the last genuinely difficult journeys left in India, and that is the whole appeal.

Crisp sunny afternoon hours with dry road tracks.

Maharashtra

Lonavala & Khandala

Lonavala and Khandala are twin hill stations at 622 metres on the sweeping Sahyadri ridges of the Western Ghats, close enough together to be treated as one…

Continuous heavy rainfall with misty weather and high cascades.

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…

Dense mountain fog, flowing waterfalls, beautiful green scenery.

Gujarat

Pavagadh Hill

Pavagadh Hill is a volcanic plateau rising about 822 metres from the plains of the Panchmahal district, at the heart of the UNESCO-listed Champaner-Pavagadh…

Dense green volcanic slopes, misty cliff viewpoints.

Gujarat

Wilson Hills

Wilson Hills is a small hill retreat in the Dharampur area of Valsad district, set around 2,500 feet up in the Pangarbari forests — one of the few hill spots…

Rolling cloud covers, heavy mist, active waterfalls.

Leh & Ladakh

Leh-Ladakh

Leh-Ladakh is a high-altitude desert region cradled by the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges in the union territory of Ladakh.

Peak season continues

Leh & Ladakh

Leh

Leh sits at 3,500 metres and the single most important thing about it is that you cannot skip the first two days.

Pleasant daytime temperatures with light winds.

Leh & Ladakh

Pangong Tso

Pangong Tso is an endorheic lake at roughly 4,225 metres on the Changtang plateau of eastern Ladakh.

Clear days with bright blue water reflections.

Leh & Ladakh

Nubra Valley

Nubra is a three-armed valley north of Leh at an average of nearly 3,048 metres, cut over millennia where the Shyok and the Nubra meet.

Bright sunny afternoons with clear visibility.

Leh & Ladakh

Tso Moriri

Tso Moriri, or Mountain Lake, is an offbeat high-altitude lake tucked away at an astounding elevation of 4,522 metres on the Changtang plateau of southeastern…

Crisp clear weather with high afternoon winds.

Leh & Ladakh

Magnetic Hill

Magnetic Hill is a famous gravity-defying road stretch on the Srinagar-Leh National Highway, roughly 30 kilometres outside the capital town of Leh.

Sunny with comfortable driving conditions.

Himachal Pradesh

Spiti Valley (Kaza)

Spiti is the emptiest place in India that you can still drive to, and the reason to come is the scale of the nothing.

Clear days with bright sunshine over mountain ridges.

Himachal Pradesh

Key Monastery

Key Monastery is a thousand-year-old Tibetan Buddhist monastery belonging to the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage.

Sunny clear afternoons with comfortable tracking.

Himachal Pradesh

Chandratal Lake

Chandratal means Lake of the Moon, and the name comes from its crescent shape.

Sunny afternoons with bright blue water surfaces.

Leh & Ladakh

Hemis Monastery

Hemis belongs to the Drukpa (Dragon) lineage of the Kagyu sect, and it is set back in a mountain canyon on the western bank of the Indus, roughly 45…

Bright sunny afternoons with excellent visibility.

Maharashtra

Ellora Caves

The Ellora Caves are a group of 34 rock-cut shrines carved into the basalt cliffs of the Charanandri Hills near Aurangabad.

Humid rainy afternoons with active hill waterfalls in view.

Mount Kailash

Mount Kailash, a 6,638-metre peak in the remote Tibetan plateau, is among the most sacred mountains on earth — revered by Hindus as the abode of Lord Shiva…

Clear but cold high-plateau days.

Lake Mansarovar

Lake Mansarovar, at 4,590 metres one of the highest freshwater lakes in the world, lies at the foot of Mount Kailash on the Tibetan plateau.

Clear but cold high-plateau days.

Uttarakhand

Valley of Flowers National Park

A UNESCO World Heritage Site in the high Himalayas famed for its vast meadows of endemic alpine flowers blooming in monsoon.