Delhi
Delhi
Red Fort, residence of Mughal emperors for 200 years, was originally built in white limestone.
Destinations
Every region is a different country
Six regional blocks, from Himalayan cold desert to mangrove delta. Pick a region or scroll the lot.
North India
Mughal capitals, Himalayan passes and the plains of the Ganga.
Punjab
Amritsar
The Beating Retreat Ceremony at the Attari-Wagah border features a perfectly synchronised parade by both nations' soldiers.
Ladakh
Leh
One of the highest permanently inhabited places on earth, and once a vital stop on the ancient Silk Road.
Jammu & Kashmir
Srinagar
Dal Lake is famous for its houseboats and Shikara rides against the Himalayan backdrop.
Uttar Pradesh
Varanasi
The Ashokan pillar at Sarnath inspired India's national emblem, the Lion Capital.
Rajasthan
Udaipur
Inspired by Jag Mandir Palace, Shah Jahan designed the Taj Mahal in Agra.
Uttarakhand
Valley of Flowers
Snowbound most of the year, it erupts into hundreds of alpine species each monsoon.
Himachal Pradesh
Spiti Valley
A cold desert of whitewashed monasteries, reachable by road only a few months a year.
Rajasthan
Jaisalmer
A living fort; thousands still reside inside the golden sandstone walls.
Rajasthan
Bundi
Kipling wrote here. Stepwells hide down ordinary lanes and the crowds never arrived.
Uttar Pradesh
Fatehpur Sikri
A perfect Mughal capital, abandoned after fourteen years, most likely because the water ran out.
Ladakh
Pangong Tso
A lake that changes colour through the day and freezes solid at 14,000 feet despite being saline.
Northeast India
Living bridges, river islands and hundreds of distinct communities.
Meghalaya
Cherrapunji & Nongriat
The living root bridges are grown, not built: Khasi villagers train rubber-fig roots across rivers over decades, and they get stronger with age.
Assam
Majuli
One of the world's largest river islands, and seat of 500-year-old Vaishnavite monasteries called satras.
Arunachal Pradesh
Tawang
India's largest monastery sits at 10,000 feet, founded in the 17th century.
Manipur
Loktak Lake
The world's only floating national park, Keibul Lamjao, drifts on mats of vegetation and shelters the rare sangai deer.
Nagaland
Kohima & Kisama
The Hornbill Festival each December gathers every major Naga tribe in one place.
Sikkim
Gangtok & Yuksom
Sikkim became the world's first fully organic state.
Arunachal Pradesh
Ziro Valley
The Apatani people farm rice and fish in the same flooded paddies.
Meghalaya
Mawsynram
Among the wettest inhabited places on earth; villagers weave cane “knup” shields to work through the rain.
Assam
Kaziranga
Holds roughly two-thirds of the world's greater one-horned rhinos. UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Meghalaya
Mawlynnong
Widely called Asia's cleanest village.
South India
Temple towns, coffee hills, backwaters and granite sculpture.
Kerala
Kochi
Cochin International Airport is the world's first to run entirely on solar energy.
Tamil Nadu
Madurai
The Meenakshi temple's gopurams carry thousands of painted figures, repainted by hand every twelve years.
Tamil Nadu
Mahabalipuram
Pallava sculptors carved entire temples from single granite boulders.
Tamil Nadu
Thanjavur
The Brihadeeswara temple's granite tower has stood a thousand years without mortar.
Karnataka
Mysuru
The palace is lit by tens of thousands of bulbs on Dasara nights.
Karnataka
Coorg / Kodagu
India's coffee heartland, with homestays on working plantations.
Puducherry
Pondicherry
Street signs still read Rue; Auroville nearby is an experiment in living without money or nationality.
Kerala
Munnar
Once every twelve years the hills turn violet when the Neelakurinji blooms.
Kerala
Alappuzha
900 km of interconnected backwater canals; snake boat crews number over a hundred rowers.
Tamil Nadu
Rameswaram
One of the longest pillared temple corridors in the world.
Telangana
Hyderabad
The Golconda mines produced the Koh-i-Noor; a clap at the fort gate still carries to the hilltop pavilion.
Karnataka
Belur & Halebidu
Hoysala carvers signed their work; the soapstone friezes were cut with lathes. UNESCO-listed.
Karnataka
Gokarna
A temple town with quiet crescent beaches reached only on foot.
Andhra Pradesh
Araku Valley
A narrow-gauge train climbs through tunnels into tribal coffee country.
Central & East India
Rock-cut cathedrals, mangroves and the oldest universities.
Maharashtra
Ellora
The Kailasa temple was carved downward out of a single cliff, with no way to correct a mistake.
Maharashtra
Ajanta
Monks painted these cave walls two thousand years ago, then the jungle swallowed them.
Odisha
Konark
The Sun Temple is a stone chariot with 24 carved wheels that work as sundials.
Madhya Pradesh
Khajuraho
Of 85 Chandela temples, about 25 survive.
Madhya Pradesh
Sanchi
The Great Stupa was begun by Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE.
Madhya Pradesh
Bhimbetka
Rock shelters painted across tens of thousands of years.
Odisha
Puri
The Rath Yatra chariots are rebuilt from scratch every single year.
West Bengal
Sundarbans
The world's largest mangrove forest, and the only place tigers routinely swim between islands.
Bihar
Bodh Gaya
The Mahabodhi temple stands beside a descendant of the Bodhi tree.
Bihar
Nalanda
A university teaching thousands of students centuries before Oxford existed.
West Bengal
Kolkata
Victoria Memorial, working tram lines, and India's oldest Chinatown.
Chhattisgarh
Chitrakote Falls
India's widest waterfall, turning red with silt in monsoon.
West India
Salt deserts, Harappan cities, Portuguese churches and Art Deco.
Gujarat
Rann of Kutch
A salt desert blinding white under a full moon, and underwater for part of the year.
Gujarat
Statue of Unity
The world's tallest statue, with a viewing gallery inside the chest.
Gujarat
Gir
The only place on earth where Asiatic lions still live in the wild.
Gujarat
Patan
Rani ki Vav is a stepwell turned upside-down into a temple; it appears on the ₹100 note.
Gujarat
Dholavira
A Harappan city with the earliest known water-conservation system. UNESCO-listed.
Goa
Old Goa
The Basilica of Bom Jesus holds the remains of St Francis Xavier.
Maharashtra
Elephanta
A three-headed Shiva carved 20 feet high in a cave on an island in Mumbai harbour.
Maharashtra
Mumbai
One of the largest Art Deco collections anywhere, and two UNESCO-listed ensembles.
Islands
Volcanoes, reefs and rainforest in the Bay of Bengal.
Andaman & Nicobar
Sri Vijaya Puram
Barren Island is the only confirmed active volcano in South Asia.