Hyderabad (Charminar & Golconda), Telangana

Weekend Getaways

All destinations

Quick escapes that fit into a weekend.

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Browse weekend getaways

Things to do

Individual sights and experiences, rather than whole places to stay.

Ahmedabad

Manek Chowk Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad

Khao Gali, Law Garden, Ahmedabad

Amritsar

Amritsar Food Walk

Bengaluru

Bengaluru Thindi Trail

Bhopal

Bhopal Food Trail

Bikaner

Bikaner Food Trail

Chennai

Chennai Tiffin Trail

Delhi

Old Delhi Food Walk

Goa

Goa Food Trail

Guwahati

Guwahati Assamese Food Trail

Hyderabad

Hyderabad Old City Food Trail

Indore

Indore Food Trail

Jaipur

Jaipur Food Walk

Jodhpur

Jodhpur Food Trail

Karaikudi

Chettinad Food Trail, Karaikudi

Kochi

Kochi Food Trail

Kolkata

Kolkata Street Food Walk

Kozhikode

Kozhikode Malabar Food Trail

Explore weekend getaways

Filter by state, or keep scrolling — 25 states for short breaks.

State

Uttarakhand

Bhimtal Lake

Bhimtal is the largest lake in Nainital district and the largest in Kumaon, the region known as the lake district of India, and second in Uttarakhand by…

Telangana

Kuntala Waterfall

At 150 feet this is the highest waterfall in the state, dropping in two steps on the Kadam river in Adilabad district.

Jharkhand

Panchet Dam

Panchet closed out the first phase of the Damodar Valley Corporation, the last of four multi-purpose dams the DVC built in that round, opened in 1959 across…

Maharashtra

Shrivardhan Beach

Shrivardhan is a historic town in Raigad district, roughly 185 km south of Mumbai.

Maharashtra

Aksa Beach

Located in the western suburbs of Malad in Mumbai, Aksa Beach sits along the city's northern coast overlooking the Arabian Sea, roughly 30 km from South Mumbai.

Maharashtra

Kashid Beach

Nestled between two coastal hillocks in the Raigad district, Kashid is situated 125 km south of Mumbai and 30 km from Alibaug.

Daman & Diu

Ghoghla Beach

A clean, quiet Blue Flag beach on the Gujarat border offering gentle waves, golden sand, and parasailing.

Gujarat

Ubharat Beach

A popular weekend destination surrounded by palm groves, offering open sea views and local food vendors.

Gujarat

Dumas Beach

Famous for dark black sand, local legends, and street food stalls serving Surati snacks like bhajiya and sweet corn.

Gujarat

Shivrajpur Beach

A pristine Blue Flag-certified beach known for turquoise waters and fine white sand. It is ideal for swimming, scuba diving, and water sports.

Gujarat

Chotila Hill

Chotila Hill rises abruptly from the flat plains of the Surendranagar district in Saurashtra, a near-symmetrical cone standing about 350 metres high.

Gujarat

Idar Hill (Idargarh)

Idar Hill rises out of the Sabarkantha district of North Gujarat, a rough mass of pink granite boulders balanced one on top of another.

Gujarat

Kalo Dungar (Black Hill)

Kalo Dungar, or Black Hill, is the highest point in Kutch, rising about 462 metres above the desert not far from the Pakistan border.

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…

Gujarat

Don Hill Station

Don is a hill village deep in the Sahyadris, in the Dang district of South Gujarat.

Gujarat

Valsad

Valsad, once known as Bulsar, sits at the southern tip of Gujarat on the Arabian Sea.

Gujarat

Navsari

Navsari is an old town near the Purna river delta in south Gujarat, long linked with neighbouring Surat.

Gujarat

Gondal

Gondal is a royal town in the Rajkot district of Saurashtra that has kept most of what it had.

Gujarat

Mehsana

Mehsana is a busy city in northern Gujarat, known for the Dudhsagar dairy — one of India's largest cooperative dairies — and for its oil and gas fields.

Gujarat

Dakor

Dakor is a temple town in the Kheda district of central Gujarat, built around the Ranchhodraiji Temple and the stone-stepped Gomti Lake.

Gujarat

Bhavnagar

Bhavnagar is a historic coastal city, founded in 1723 by Maharaja Bhavsinhji Gohil on the western rim of the Gulf of Khambhat.

Gujarat

Gandhinagar

Gandhinagar is Gujarat's planned capital, laid out on the west bank of the Sabarmati by the architects H.K. Mewada and Prakash M.

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…

Gujarat

Vadodara

Vadodara, historically Baroda, is the cultural capital of Gujarat, and the Gaekwad dynasty made it the grand city it is.

Gujarat

Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad's old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the way to see it is a walk that starts at seven in the morning.

Gujarat

Kevadia (Ekta Nagar)

Kevadia, now officially Ekta Nagar, is home to the Statue of Unity — at 182 metres, the tallest statue in the world — on the banks of the Narmada River.

Sikkim

Gangtok

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

Himachal Pradesh

Dalhousie

Dalhousie is a peaceful colonial-era hill station built across five distinct hills of the Dhauladhar mountain range, sitting at an altitude of 1,970 metres.

Himachal Pradesh

Kullu

Kullu is the valley Manali sits at the top of, and the town itself is an administrative centre with a bus stand rather than a resort.

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.

Jammu & Kashmir

Pahalgam

Pahalgam is a valley settlement at 2,130 metres in the Anantnag district of Kashmir, where the fast Lidder River meets the Sheshnag stream.

Jammu & Kashmir

Patnitop

Patnitop is a plateau at 2,024 metres above the Chenab on the Jammu–Srinagar highway, and almost everyone who stops there was on the way somewhere else.

Rajasthan

Jaipur

Jaipur repays getting up early more than almost anywhere in Rajasthan, because by ten the coaches have arrived and Amber Fort stops being a fort and becomes a…

Rajasthan

Jodhpur

Mehrangarh is the best fort in India, and if you only climb one in Rajasthan it should be this one.

Uttar Pradesh

Taj Mahal (Agra)

The Taj Mahal stands in white marble on the southern bank of the Yamuna River at Agra.

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.

Goa

Anjuna Beach

A North Goa icon of the hippie era, Anjuna is famous for its rocky-edged golden sands, the legendary Wednesday flea market, trance parties and cliffside cafes.

Kerala

Kovalam Beach

Kerala's most famous beach resort, Kovalam is known for its crescent Lighthouse Beach, ayurvedic spas, seafood shacks and gentle swimming bays near Trivandrum.

Uttar Pradesh

Fatehpur Sikri

Fatehpur Sikri is a planned Mughal city and fort complex near Agra, built entirely of red sandstone, that served briefly as Emperor Akbar's imperial capital.

Kerala

Cherai Beach

On Vypin Island near Kochi, Cherai is a long golden beach where the sea meets backwaters, known for dolphin sightings, calm swimming and seafood.

Andhra Pradesh

Rishikonda Beach (Vizag)

A golden crescent near Visakhapatnam backed by green hills, Rishikonda is Andhra's water-sports beach with surfing, jet-skiing and clean sands.

Maharashtra

Alibaug Beaches

Located right in the heart of Alibaug town, this historic beach sits just 95 km from Mumbai by road, or a quick 45-minute ferry ride from Gateway of India to…

Goa

North Goa (Baga & Calangute)

Baga and Calangute are the commercial heart of North Goa, a continuous stretch of golden sand on the Arabian Sea and the busiest coast in the state.

Himachal Pradesh

Khajjiar

Khajjiar is a high plateau meadow at an elevation of 1,920 metres inside the Kalatop Khajjiar Sanctuary perimeter.

Maharashtra

Mumbai

Mumbai runs on its trains, and the fastest way to stop being a tourist here is to work out which line you need and get on it.

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…

Maharashtra

Mahabaleshwar

Mahabaleshwar sits at 1,353 metres on a broad plateau ridge of the Sahyadri range in Satara district, the highest and most extensive hill resort in…

Karnataka

Mysuru (Mysore Palace)

Mysuru is a small, orderly, easy city, and it has the one palace in India that is worth seeing lit up.

Tamil Nadu

Mahabalipuram

Mahabalipuram, historically known as Mamallapuram, sits on the Bay of Bengal roughly 55 km south of Chennai and is known for its rock monuments carved in the…

Kerala

Munnar

Munnar is a hill station at about 1,600 metres in the Western Ghats of Idukki district, set where three mountain streams meet — the Mudrapuzha, the…

Kerala

Alleppey (Backwaters)

The mistake in Alleppey is the day boat. A houseboat only becomes worth it once the day-trippers have gone home and the water goes quiet.

Kerala

Kochi (Fort Kochi)

Fort Kochi is walkable, layered and unusually easy for a first trip to India — it is one of the few Indian towns where you can simply wander without a plan.

Kerala

Varkala Beach

Varkala, in the Thiruvananthapuram district of southern Kerala, does not look like anywhere else on the Indian coast.

Meghalaya

Shillong

Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, is the cultural and musical heart of Northeast India — nicknamed the 'Scotland of the East' for its rolling hills and…

Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Corbyn's Cove (Port Blair)

The closest beach to Port Blair, Corbyn's Cove is a coconut-palm-fringed crescent popular for a quick swim, water sports and easy island access.

Daman & Diu

Nagoa Beach (Diu)

A famous horseshoe-shaped beach lined with rare Hoka palm trees, offering calm, safe swimming waters.

Puducherry

Paradise Beach (Pondicherry)

Reached by a short backwater boat ride from Chunnambar near Pondicherry, Paradise Beach is a clean golden sandbar between lagoon and sea, popular for day trips.

Kerala

Muzhappilangad Drive-In Beach

India's longest drive-in beach near Kannur, Muzhappilangad lets you drive along 4 km of firm golden sand, with calm swimming bays and paragliding.

Punjab

Amritsar (Golden Temple)

The Golden Temple sits lower than the ground around it, and you walk down steps to reach the water.

Uttarakhand

Nainital

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

Uttar Pradesh

Agra

Almost everyone rushes Agra as a day trip from Delhi, and almost everyone regrets it — the Taj deserves a dawn and the city has a second monument nearly as…

Uttar Pradesh

Mathura & Vrindavan

Mathura, the birthplace of Lord Krishna, and neighbouring Vrindavan, where he spent his childhood, form the heart of the Braj pilgrimage region — a land of…

Delhi

Delhi is not one city, it is seven of them stacked on the same ground, and the reason first visits go wrong is trying to see it as one place.

Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow

Lucknow is a food city that happens to have beautiful ruins, and treating it the other way round is how visitors leave underwhelmed. Eat first.

Madhya Pradesh

Gwalior

Gwalior's fort sits on a sandstone plateau above the city and is one of the least visited great forts in India, which is most of its appeal.

Madhya Pradesh

Orchha

Orchha Fort complex sits on the banks of the Betwa River in Niwari District, Madhya Pradesh, founded by the Bundela Rajput ruler Rudra Pratap Singh; it…

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…

Gujarat

Statue of Unity

The Statue of Unity, at 182 metres the tallest statue in the world, honours Sardar Vallabhbai Patel and stands beside the Narmada dam.

Himachal Pradesh

Shimla

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

Karnataka

Bengaluru (Bangalore)

Bengaluru is not a sightseeing city and trying to make it one is the mistake. Come for a weekend of eating, drinking, walking in the parks, and buying books.

West Bengal

Kolkata

Kolkata is the one Indian metropolis that still feels like it belongs to the people who live in it rather than to the traffic. Do the north first and on foot.