Where to base yourself

City

Cities, hill towns, temple towns and villages — everywhere worth basing a trip.

Tripura

Agartala

Agartala is the capital and largest city of Tripura, on the Haora river near the Bangladesh border, and the second-most populous city in Northeast India after Guwahati. It is the state's commercial and administrative hub, known for its Bengali and tribal culture, markets, temples and colonial-era landmarks.

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 good. Go to the Taj at sunrise, and know that it closes on Fridays. The marble changes colour through the first hour in a way no photograph has ever conveyed; by nine the light has flattened and the crowd has arrived. If you only have one slot, take that one. Agra Fort is the thing people skip and should not. Shah Jahan spent his last years imprisoned in it, looking downriver at the tomb he built for his wife, and you can stand where he stood. It is a working piece of Mughal military architecture rather than a monument to grief, and it is quieter. For the view most people never see, cross the river to Mehtab Bagh in the late afternoon and look at the Taj from the back, across the Yamuna, with nobody in front of you. The city outside the monuments is hard work — persistent touts, heavy traffic, little to hold you. Sleep here for the sunrise, then move on.

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. The heritage walk from Swaminarayan temple to Jama Masjid takes a couple of hours and goes through the pols — dense residential quarters, each historically one community, with shared courtyards, carved wooden facades and bird feeders on tall poles. Doing this without a guide means missing all of it, because the pols look like ordinary lanes from outside. The Sidi Saiyyed mosque's stone jaali — the tree-of-life screen — is the image the city is known for, and it takes five minutes to see. The Adalaj stepwell, half an hour out, takes longer and gives more. Gandhi's Sabarmati Ashram is plain and unglamorous by design. Sit in it for a while rather than walking through. Gujarat is a dry state; alcohol is not served. The city eats vegetarian extremely well as a result — the Gujarati thali here is one of India's great meals. November to February. April and May routinely pass forty-two degrees.

Mizoram

Aizawl

Aizawl, the capital of Mizoram, is a hill city draped across steep ridges at around 1,100 metres. Known for its warm Mizo culture, churches and lively markets, there are long views from Durtlang Hills and landmarks such as Solomon's Temple, all set among green northeastern hills.

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. Book an overnight, and if you can, book a smaller boat that can leave the main channel. The big two-storey ones are restricted to the wide canals where they queue up alongside each other; the small ones get into the narrow waterways between the paddy fields, which is where the backwaters stop being a boat trip and start being a place where people live. Better still, spend a morning on a public ferry. The government service from Alleppey to Kottayam costs almost nothing, takes a couple of hours, stops at village jetties, and carries schoolchildren and shopping. You will see more of the actual backwaters from its deck than from most houseboats. The paddy fields here are farmed below sea level, kept dry by dykes and pumps — Kuttanad is one of the few places in the world where that is done. October to March. The monsoon has its own case, and the snake boat races in the wet season are worth planning around, but the water is high and the light is grey.

Punjab

Amritsar (Golden Temple)

The Golden Temple sits lower than the ground around it, and you walk down steps to reach the water. That is deliberate: nearly every other temple in India makes you climb up to it. It has four doors, one on each side, for the same reason — the building is meant to be entered from any direction, by anyone. Head covered, shoes off, feet through the water channel at the entrance, and nobody will ask you anything else. The langar behind the complex feeds on the order of a hundred thousand people a day, more at weekends, on donated food and volunteer labour. The dish hall takes anyone who turns up to help, and half an hour in it tells you more about the place than any guidebook. The Akal Takht faces the sanctum across the water. It is the seat of temporal authority in Sikhism, and those two buildings looking at each other across a pool is the whole argument of the faith in one view.

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 tunnels and viaducts. Known for tribal culture, coffee plantations, waterfalls and the Borra Caves, it is Andhra's favourite hill escape.

Uttarakhand

Auli

India's winter skiing destination, with panoramic views of Nanda Devi and snow slopes. Auli is a high-altitude hill station at an elevation of roughly 2,909 metres in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand. Flanked by coniferous and oak forests, it has some of the highest and longest ski slopes in Asia.

Uttar Pradesh

Ayodhya

Ayodhya is a deeply revered, ancient historical city along the banks of the sacred Saryu River, celebrated as the birthplace of Lord Rama. As one of the seven primary holy cities in Hinduism, the destination has undergone a monumental civilizational and infrastructure transformation following the historic consecration of the grand, newly constructed Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir. The city's urban layout integrates centuries-old temple heritage with modern tourist corridors. The core of the spiritual experience pivots around the wide pedestrian plazas of the Ram Mandir, constructed without using any iron or steel elements. From the high stone steps of Hanuman Garhi to the evening illumination reflecting off the water at Ram Ki Pauri ghats, Ayodhya radiates an atmosphere of deep devotion and civilizational identity.

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. Lalbagh and Cubbon Park are the reason the place was liveable, and early morning in either is the best hour of the day. The Lalbagh rock is one of the oldest exposed surfaces on the subcontinent and almost nobody goes up it. VV Puram's food street after dark, the Russell Market in Shivajinagar in the morning, filter coffee standing up at a darshini — those are the actual experiences here. The city has the best independent bookshops in India and a working craft beer scene, both of which are genuine, not manufactured for visitors. What it does not have is a monument you must see. Tipu Sultan's summer palace and Bangalore Palace are both twenty-minute visits at most. The traffic is as bad as you have heard. Plan two things a day, in the same part of town, and use the Metro where it goes. The weather is the point — pleasant almost year-round, which is why everyone moved here.

Gujarat

Bhavnagar

Bhavnagar is a historic oceanfront city founded in 1723 by Maharaja Bhavsinhji Gohil, strategically positioned along the western rim of the Gulf of Khambhat. Long serving as a major maritime trading capital exporting rich regional goods, the city has evolved into a base for corporate and heritage travelers. Its urban landscape features grand colonial architectures, public squares, and unique hilltop temples with panoramic vistas over active industrial shipping lock gates, while functioning as the primary transit gateway for the world-famous Velavadar Blackbuck savanna ecosystems.

Gujarat

Bhuj

Bhuj is the historic capital of the Kutch district. Highly resilient following major earthquake eras, it is a maze of royal palaces, historic stepwells, and ancient markets, serving as the ultimate jumping-off point into the vast salt flats of the Great Rann of Kutch.

Rajasthan

Bikaner

Bikaner gets a fraction of Jaisalmer's and Jodhpur's visitors and is a better city for it. Nothing here is queued. Junagarh, begun in 1589, is unusual among Rajasthan's forts in standing on flat ground rather than a hill, and it was never taken — which is why the painted interiors survived intact. The lacquer ceilings and the gold-leaf Anup Mahal are the reason to come, and the museum has a First World War biplane in it. Inside the old walls the city is a grid of red Dulmera sandstone havelis, the Rampuria cluster being the best of them and most still lived in. Bhujia was invented here. The Karni Mata temple at Deshnoke, thirty kilometres south, is the one with the rats — you go barefoot or you do not go. October to March. April to June sits well over 40°C.

Himachal Pradesh

Bir Billing

Bir Billing is India's paragliding capital and one of the best free-flight sites in the world, set against the Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh. The twin spots — the take-off at Billing and the landing meadows at Bir — have turned a quiet Tibetan-settlement village into a buzzing hub for adventure seekers, digital nomads and cafe-hoppers. Beyond paragliding, Bir has quietly become a workation favourite, with fast Wi-Fi cafes, co-working stays, Tibetan monasteries, a tea-garden landscape and a thriving long-stay community. It blends adrenaline, Buddhist calm and remote-work comfort in a way few Indian towns do.

Bihar

Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya is the most sacred site in Buddhism — the place where Prince Siddhartha attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree to become the Buddha. The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and monasteries built by Buddhist nations worldwide make it a global pilgrimage centre.

Arunachal Pradesh

Bomdila

Bomdila is a scenic Himalayan hill town in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, perched around 2,400 metres with sweeping views of snow-capped peaks. Home to the Monpa people and a large Buddhist monastery, it is a popular stop on the mountain road to Tawang, surrounded by apple orchards and craft centres.

Rajasthan

Bundi

Bundi is what Rajasthan looked like before the tour buses found it, and it is an hour off the Jaipur to Udaipur road that most people never take. The palace above the town is only partly open and partly falling down, and the Chitrashala inside it holds some of the finest surviving Rajput miniature wall painting anywhere — blue-green, crowded with detail, and you will very likely see it alone. Above the palace, Taragarh fort is overgrown and full of monkeys; go up for the view over the lake and the blue houses, and take a stick for the langurs. Raniji ki Baori is the stepwell to see. Bundi has dozens of them, most neglected, and this one is deep, precise and almost always empty. There is very little here in the way of nightlife, shopping or restaurants, and that is the point. Two nights, on foot. October to March. The town is at its best right after the monsoon when the lake is full — by April it draws down and the setting loses a good deal.

Mizoram

Champhai

Champhai is Mizoram's third-largest town, a district headquarters on the India-Myanmar border roughly 180-195 km from Aizawl. Built around a valley of terraced paddy fields, it is known as the 'rice bowl of Mizoram', functions as a border-trade hub via the nearby Zokhawthar crossing, and its hamlets hold old Mizo memorial monoliths.

Chandigarh

Chandigarh, India's first planned city designed by Le Corbusier, is famed for its orderly sectors, modernist architecture and green spaces. The whimsical Rock Garden, the vast Sukhna Lake and the Capitol Complex (a UNESCO site) make it a uniquely walkable, design-led city.

Karnataka

Chikmagalur

Chikmagalur is the coffee heartland of Karnataka, a lush hill district in the Western Ghats where rolling estates, misty peaks and waterfalls draw a steady stream of young travellers from Bengaluru and beyond. It is a top weekend and workation pick for those wanting estate-stays, treks and great coffee within easy reach of a big city. Home to Mullayanagiri (Karnataka's highest peak), Baba Budangiri and dense shola forests, Chikmagalur blends gentle adventure with slow plantation living. Coffee homestays, trekking trails and cafe culture make it a favourite for couples, friend groups and remote workers.

Uttarakhand

Chopta (Tungnath)

An offbeat hill station popularly dubbed the 'Mini Switzerland of Uttarakhand', serving as the base for the trek to the world's highest Shiva temple. Chopta is a small, hamlet comprising untouched alpine meadows and evergreen forest stretches in Rudraprayag district. At 2,680 metres it forms part of the Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary.

Tamil Nadu

Coonoor

Coonoor is the second-largest of the Nilgiri hill stations in Tamil Nadu, quieter than neighbouring Ooty and wrapped in rolling tea gardens. Reached by the UNESCO-listed Nilgiri Mountain Railway, it has cool air, old bungalows, Dolphin's Nose and Sim's Park.

Karnataka

Coorg (Madikeri)

Coorg is coffee country, and the point of coming is to stay on an estate rather than in Madikeri, which is a hill town with traffic. Both arabica and robusta grow here under shade, with pepper vines climbing the same trees. Arrive around March and the coffee is in flower and the whole district smells of it for about a week — the best time to be here, and almost nobody plans for it. Abbey Falls runs through a private estate and is full only in the monsoon. Namdroling at Bylakuppe is the largest Nyingma monastery outside Tibet, and foreign nationals need a permit for it. Talakaveri, where the Kaveri rises, is a drive up and often inside cloud. Kodava food is worth hunting down and is on few menus — pandi curry and kadambuttu, usually only at homestays, and usually only if you ask the night before. October to March is dry. June to September is heavy rain, and the leeches come out on the walks.

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. Established in the mid-19th century under the British Raj, the town has systematically preserved its old-world charm, characterized by wide pine-fringed walking loops, traditional stone mansions, and vintage Scottish architecture. Tourism in Dalhousie centers around the historic public squares of Gandhi Chowk and Subhash Chowk, linked by wooded walking paths like Garam Sadak. The town is the quiet alternative to the commercial hill stations, with views of the winding Ravi River and the distant snow-covered peaks of the inner Himalayas.

West Bengal

Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a highland town at about 2,042 metres on a steep mountain ridge of the Lesser Himalayas in northern West Bengal. Dominated visually by the snow mass of Mount Kanchenjunga, the third-highest peak on earth, the town is known for its carpeted loops of colonial-era tea estates. The commercial heart of Darjeeling centers around the pedestrian square of Chowrasta Mall, packed with vintage bookstores, old tea lounges, and handicraft stalls. The town features distinct architectural layers combining British colonial masonry with rich Tibetan Buddhist monastic heritages, synchronized with the narrow-gauge Darjeeling Himalayan Railway toy train.

Meghalaya

Dawki & Mawlynnong

Dawki and Mawlynnong sit in the southern hills of Meghalaya near the Bangladesh border, famous for the crystal-clear Umngot River and for Mawlynnong's title as 'Asia's cleanest village'. Together they form one of the Northeast's most photogenic and increasingly popular offbeat circuits. The Umngot River at Dawki is so transparent that boats appear to float on air, drawing travellers for boat rides and camping. Nearby Mawlynnong brings out a model of community cleanliness, living root bridges and a sky-walk viewpoint over the plains of Bangladesh — a uniquely sustainable destination.

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. Old Delhi and Lutyens' Delhi are ten minutes apart on the Metro and belong to different centuries. Give each a separate morning rather than stitching them together — the whiplash is what exhausts people. Start in Shahjahanabad early, before the Chandni Chowk lanes fill and the rickshaws stop being able to move at all. Jama Masjid's southern minaret is worth the climb for the one view that makes the layout of the old city legible from above. The Metro is genuinely excellent and will save you hours; use it and ignore anyone who tells you Delhi traffic is unavoidable. On Thursday evenings there is qawwali at Nizamuddin Dargah, which is the single most affecting hour in the city and costs nothing. Be honest with yourself about when you come. From late October into January the air is often severely polluted, and no amount of planning fixes a week you spend indoors with a headache. February and March are the reward months.

Jharkhand

Deoghar (Baidyanath Dham)

Deoghar, the 'abode of the gods', is home to the Baidyanath Jyotirlinga, one of the twelve sacred Jyotirlingas of Shiva. During the monsoon month of Shravan, millions of saffron-clad kanwariyas walk over 100 km carrying Ganga water from Sultanganj to offer at the temple — one of India's largest pilgrim movements.

Gujarat

Don Hill Station

Don Hill Station is an emerging, hill village deep within the Sahyadri mountain range in the Dang district of South Gujarat. At about 1,000 metres it matches Saputara in elevation but remains entirely untouched by mass commercial commercialization. The destination is a rustic, eco-tourism landscape enveloped by dense bamboo forests, steep valley drop-offs, and small mountain streams. It is inhabited by a small indigenous tribal community, with an authentic rural escape characterized by clean mountain air and rich bio-diversity.

Jammu & Kashmir

Doodhpathri

Doodhpathri is a meadow about forty kilometres out of Srinagar in Budgam district, with almost nothing built on it — no hotels, a handful of stalls. That is the whole appeal, and it also makes this a day trip rather than a stay. The Shaliganga runs through it fast enough over the boulders to churn white, which is where the name comes from: milk meadow. Go on a weekday. At weekends Srinagar families fill it and the single road in becomes the problem. Carry food; what is sold up there is limited. Open roughly April to October, and snowed shut in winter.