Things to do in India

30 places worth the trip in India, grouped by what they are. Every guide explains what to see, the best time to go and the practical details, checked against official sources. Best time to visit India: Oct–Mar.

Heritage (12)
Mosques & temples (6)
Mountains (3)
Landmarks (2)
Cities (2)
Nature (2)
National parks (1)
Beaches (1)
Viewpoints (1)

Heritage in India

Ochre walls and domed towers of Amber Fort under a blue sky, Jaipur

Amer, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Amber (Amer) Fort

A honey-coloured sandstone palace-fortress on a ridge about 11 km from central Jaipur, famed for its mirrored Sheesh Mahal and its reflection in Maota Lake.

Red sandstone gateway and round bastions of Agra Fort under a deep blue sky, with visitors entering

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Agra Fort

Akbar's red sandstone citadel, later filled with Shah Jahan's marble palaces, where the emperor spent his last years looking towards the Taj Mahal. A UNESCO site since 1983.

Humayun's Tomb on its arcaded platform beyond a fountain pool and garden path, in warm afternoon light

Nizamuddin East, New Delhi, Delhi

Humayun's Tomb

The tomb of Emperor Humayun, commissioned by his widow Bega Begum in the 1560s, which UNESCO calls the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent and a forerunner of the Taj Mahal.

The tiered Panch Mahal pavilion beyond a red sandstone courtyard, with carved stone brackets in the foreground

Fatehpur Sikri, Agra district, Uttar Pradesh

Fatehpur Sikri

The ridge-top capital Emperor Akbar built between 1571 and 1585, with palaces, the great Jama Masjid, the Buland Darwaza and the revered tomb of Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chishti.

The pink sandstone facade of Hawa Mahal with rows of latticed windows and domed kiosks under a blue sky

Old City, Jaipur, Rajasthan

Jaipur Old City: Hawa Mahal, City Palace and Jantar Mantar

Jaipur's walled Pink City, founded in 1727, packs the honeycomb facade of Hawa Mahal, the royal City Palace and the giant instruments of Jantar Mantar into a few walkable blocks.

Row of Chinese fishing nets on wooden frames over the sea, silhouetted against the setting sun

Fort Kochi, Kochi (Ernakulam district), Kerala

Fort Kochi and Mattancherry

Kochi's historic peninsula, where Chinese fishing nets rise over the harbour mouth and Portuguese, Dutch, British, Jewish and Kerala heritage meet in walkable streets.

The Lahori Gate of the Red Fort with domed towers and the Indian flag flying above the red sandstone ramparts

Old Delhi, Delhi

Red Fort and Chandni Chowk

The red sandstone palace-fort of Shah Jahan's capital, where India's independence is celebrated each year, and Chandni Chowk, the bazaar laid out by Princess Jahanara in 1650.

The Qutub Minar rising between the ruined arches and pillared colonnades of the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque

Mehrauli, South Delhi, Delhi

Qutub Minar Complex

A UNESCO-listed ensemble of early Islamic India: the fluted 72.5 m Qutub Minar, the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque, the ancient Iron Pillar, the Alai Darwaza and the tomb of Iltutmish.

Mehrangarh Fort on its rocky hill above the rooftops of Jodhpur under a pale sky

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Mehrangarh Fort and the Blue City, Jodhpur

Founded by Rao Jodha in 1459, Mehrangarh rises about 122 m above Jodhpur, its museum and palaces looking down on the indigo houses of the old city.

Rounded sandstone bastions of Jaisalmer Fort with houses inside the walls and the town spreading below

Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

Jaisalmer Fort and the Thar Desert (Sam Dunes)

Built in 1156 on Trikuta hill, Jaisalmer's golden fort is still home to thousands of residents; the Sam dunes, about 40 km away, offer camel rides and desert sunsets.

Carved stone chariot and the ruined gopura of the Vittala Temple complex with granite boulders under dramatic clouds

Hampi, Vijayanagara district, Karnataka

Hampi

The last capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, with more than 1,600 surviving monuments, from the living Virupaksha Temple to the stone chariot of Vittala, scattered across a boulder-strewn landscape.

A tall sandstone temple with clustered spires on a high platform, framed by lawns, trees and white clouds

Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh

Khajuraho Group of Monuments

Khajuraho's sandstone temples, built under the Chandella dynasty around 950 to 1050 CE, are covered in finely carved sculpture. UNESCO lists the Hindu and Jain group as a World Heritage Site.

Mosques & temples in India

Riverside ghats and old buildings of Varanasi seen across the Ganges in soft morning haze

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

Varanasi Ghats and the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh

A long arc of stone steps, temples and old palaces lines the Ganga in Varanasi. Every evening at dusk, priests at Dashashwamedh Ghat perform the Ganga Aarti with tiered brass lamps, conches and chanting.

The red sandstone and marble prayer hall of Jama Masjid between two minarets, with visitors crossing the courtyard

Old Delhi, Delhi

Jama Masjid, Delhi

Old Delhi's principal mosque, built by Shah Jahan of red sandstone and white marble, with three gateways, two tall minarets and a courtyard that Delhi Tourism says holds 25,000 worshippers.

Crowds of pilgrims in prayer caps under canopies on the approach to the white domed shrine at Ajmer

Ajmer, Rajasthan

Ajmer Sharif Dargah

The resting place of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, who died in 1236, is one of South Asia's most revered Sufi shrines, welcoming pilgrims of every faith.

Pushkar town and its lake in a valley ringed by the Aravalli hills

Pushkar, Ajmer district, Rajasthan

Pushkar: Lake, Ghats and the Brahma Temple

A small, vegetarian pilgrimage town around a sacred lake with 52 bathing ghats, Pushkar is known for its Brahma temple and the camel fair around Kartik Purnima.

Brightly painted gopuram of the Meenakshi Amman Temple covered in sculpted deities, framed by green trees

Madurai, Tamil Nadu

Meenakshi Amman Temple

A vast, living temple complex at the heart of Madurai, dedicated to the goddess Meenakshi and Lord Sundareswarar, famed for its painted gateway towers and thousand-pillared hall.

The gold-clad Golden Temple beside the sacred pool, with pilgrims queuing along the covered causeway

Amritsar, Punjab

Golden Temple (Sri Harmandir Sahib)

Sri Harmandir Sahib, the Golden Temple, rises from the Amrit Sarovar in Amritsar. It welcomes people of every faith, and its community kitchen serves free vegetarian meals to all visitors.

Mountains in India

Bright green tea bushes covering rolling hills, with mist drifting over forested slopes behind

Munnar, Idukki district, Kerala

Munnar Tea Hills

A cool hill station about 1,600 m up in the Western Ghats, where clipped tea bushes carpet the slopes and Eravikulam National Park protects the endangered Nilgiri tahr.

Thiksey Monastery crowning a hill above green trees, with mountains and clouds behind

Leh and Ladakh

From Leh, at about 3,500 m, roads lead to hilltop monasteries such as Thiksey and over high passes to Pangong Tso, a vast lake of shifting blues on the border with Tibet.

A small steam locomotive with blue carriages puffing dark smoke past green bushes and trees

Darjeeling, West Bengal

Darjeeling

Darjeeling spreads along a ridge at about 2,000 m in the eastern Himalaya, surrounded by tea estates. Sunrise over Kanchenjunga from Tiger Hill and a ride on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are the highlights.

Landmarks in India

Taj Mahal reflected in the long garden pool lined with cypress trees, Agra

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Taj Mahal

The white marble tomb Emperor Shah Jahan raised for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, set in a walled Mughal garden on the Yamuna and inscribed by UNESCO in 1983.

Mysore Palace with its gilded central tower and maroon domes beneath a dramatic cloudy sky

Mysuru, Karnataka

Mysore Palace

The grand seat of the Wadiyar rulers of Mysore, built between 1897 and 1912 in Indo-Saracenic style and lit by tens of thousands of bulbs on Sunday evenings and during Dasara.

Cities in India

The cream-coloured City Palace of Udaipur rising above the rippling water of Lake Pichola

Udaipur, Rajasthan

Udaipur: City Palace and Lake Pichola

Udaipur's vast City Palace rises from the east bank of Lake Pichola, looking across to the island palaces of Jag Niwas and Jag Mandir against a ring of Aravalli hills.

The tiered Trayambakeshwar Temple on the bank of the green Ganga with forested hills behind

Rishikesh, Uttarakhand

Rishikesh

Rishikesh sits where the Ganga leaves the Himalayan foothills. It draws pilgrims, yoga students and rafters, and its evening aartis at Triveni Ghat and Parmarth Niketan are open to everyone.

Nature in India

Traditional thatched houseboat on palm-lined backwaters beside green paddy fields, Alappuzha

Alappuzha and Kottayam districts, Kerala

Kerala Backwaters: Alappuzha and Kumarakom

A maze of canals, rivers and lakes around Alappuzha and Kumarakom, where converted rice barges called kettuvallams drift past paddy fields, coconut groves and village life on Vembanad Lake.

Wooden houseboats reflected in Dal Lake beneath snow-streaked mountains

Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

Srinagar and Dal Lake

Dal Lake is Srinagar's great centrepiece: carved wooden houseboats, gondola-like shikaras and floating markets, framed by the Zabarwan mountains and the terraced Mughal gardens of Shalimar and Nishat.

National parks in India

A forest track running beneath the hanging roots of banyan trees towards an old stone gateway

Sawai Madhopur, Rajasthan

Ranthambore National Park

Where the Aravalli and Vindhya ranges meet, Ranthambore's dry deciduous forest, lakes and ancient fort make one of India's best-known places to see wild tigers.

Beaches in India

Colourful wooden beach huts beneath tall coconut palms, with small fishing boats on the sand

North Goa and South Goa, Goa

Goa: Beaches and Old Goa

India's smallest coastal state blends about 105 km of Arabian Sea beaches with the Baroque churches of Old Goa, former capital of the Portuguese Indies and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Viewpoints in India

The Taj Mahal and its mosque seen across the Yamuna from the north bank near Mehtab Bagh, in soft hazy light

Agra, Uttar Pradesh

Mehtab Bagh

A restored Mughal charbagh garden directly across the Yamuna from the Taj Mahal, prized for calm, uncrowded views of the mausoleum, especially in the late afternoon.

India holiday packages

Taj Mahal reflected in the long garden pool lined with cypress trees, Agra

CultureNature

India · 9 nights4★ Hotel

Golden Triangle & Ranthambore

Taj Mahal at sunrise
Amber Fort
Tiger safari

Includes accommodation · private transfers · daily breakfast · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$2,028 pp

Ochre walls and domed towers of Amber Fort under a blue sky, Jaipur

BeachHoneymoon

India · 10 nights5★ Resort

Kerala Backwaters & Beaches

Houseboat night
Munnar tea hills
Ayurveda

Includes accommodation · private transfers · daily breakfast · guided sightseeing

Indicative from

$2,378 pp

India travel overview Plan a India trip

India travel guides