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South Asia
Things to do in India
A country too large for one trip, but even a slice of it rearranges how you see travel.
Explore India on the map →Budget$
Best for14-21 days
CapitalNew Delhi
Visae-Visa required for most nationalities, apply online in advance
CurrencyIndian rupee (INR)
LanguagesHindi, English, and 20+ official regional languages
InternetGood in cities, variable rural
Typical lodging$15–$35/night
Driving sideLeft
Power & voltage230V / 50Hz (Type C/D/M plug)
Time zoneUTC+5:30 to UTC+6
Emergency number112
Dialing code+91
★★★★★ Culture★★★★★ Food★★★★★ Adventure
Visa rules and emergency numbers can change without notice. Confirm the specifics for your nationality and dates before you travel.
Travel smart
Bottled or purified water only. Not required; small tips are appreciated.
India is less one destination than a continent's worth of them under one flag: a desert state, a tropical coast, and the world's highest mountain range are all within its borders, each with its own language, cuisine and rhythm. Most first-time visitors pick one region rather than attempting the whole country at once, and that's the right instinct.
When to go
WinterDecember–March
India's peak season for most regions: cool, dry and comfortable for sightseeing in Rajasthan, Delhi and the south.
SummerApril–June
Punishingly hot across most of the plains, though hill stations like Shimla and the Himalayan foothills offer relief.
MonsoonJuly–September
Heavy rain across most of the country, Kerala's backwaters and lush landscapes are at their most dramatic, but travel elsewhere gets harder.
Post-monsoonOctober–November
Green landscapes, clearing skies, and one of the best windows to combine sightseeing with more comfortable temperatures.
20 things to do
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Wildlife & nature
1▾
Culture & history
9See the Taj Mahal at sunrise$16
The marble mausoleum changes colour through the day, dawn brings the softest light and the thinnest crowds before tour buses arrive from Delhi.
Explore Rajasthan's forts and palaces
Jaipur's Amber Fort, Jodhpur's Mehrangarh and Udaipur's lake palaces trace centuries of Rajput and Mughal history across the desert state.
Watch the sunrise over Varanasi's ghats
One of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth, where cremation rites, morning prayer and daily bathing all happen along the same riverbank.
Visit Amritsar's Golden Temple
Sikhism's holiest site, plated in real gold and open to visitors of any faith, including the langar hall serving free meals to tens of thousands daily.
Explore Hampi's ruins
The remains of a fourteenth-century Vijayanagara capital scattered across a surreal boulder landscape in Karnataka: vast, half-forgotten, and rarely crowded.
Watch the Ganga Aarti ceremony
An evening fire ritual performed on the riverbank at Varanasi and Rishikesh: chanting, bells and floating oil lamps set adrift on the water.
See the sun temple at Konark
A thirteenth-century temple built as a giant stone chariot with carved wheels, dedicated to the sun god and among India's finest architectural achievements.
Explore the caves of Ajanta and Ellora
Rock-cut Buddhist, Hindu and Jain temples carved directly into cliff faces over a thousand years, among the most significant ancient sites in Asia.
Watch the Wagah border ceremony
A theatrical daily flag-lowering ritual at the India-Pakistan border near Amritsar, performed with high kicks and crowds cheering from both sides.
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Food & markets
3Eat street food in Old Delhi
Chandni Chowk's lanes have fed the city for centuries: parathas, chaat and kebabs from stalls that have often run in the same family for generations.
Take a cooking class in Kerala or Rajasthan
Regional Indian cooking varies dramatically by state, a hands-on class is often the fastest way to actually understand the difference.
Tour a Darjeeling or Assam tea estate
India's two most famous tea-growing regions offer plantation walks and tastings that explain why the leaves from each taste so different.
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Adventure & outdoors
2Trek in the Himalayan foothills
Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand offer accessible multi-day treks through pine forest and alpine meadows without needing high-altitude experience.
Ride the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway
A UNESCO-listed narrow-gauge steam railway climbing into the tea-growing hills of West Bengal, with views toward Kangchenjunga on a clear day.
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Coast & water
2Cruise Kerala's backwaters
A network of canals, lagoons and lakes behind the Malabar coast, traditionally toured on a converted rice barge called a houseboat.
Relax on Goa's beaches
Former Portuguese colony with a beach culture split between backpacker shacks in the north and quieter resorts in the south.
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Cities & design
1Visit Mumbai's Dhobi Ghat and markets
An open-air laundry employing thousands, alongside Crawford Market and Colaba's street stalls: a fast, dense introduction to India's largest city.
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Slow days
2Ride a houseboat in Srinagar
Kashmir's Dal Lake has hosted floating cedar-wood houseboats since the colonial era, with shikara boats still ferrying goods and flowers each morning.
Do a yoga retreat in Rishikesh
The self-declared yoga capital of the world, on the Ganges where it first leaves the Himalayan foothills, ashrams here range from serious to casual.
Common questions
▾Is India safe to visit?
India's major tourist circuits, the Golden Triangle of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur, Goa, Kerala and Rajasthan, are generally safe for visitors who take normal precautions around traffic, food and water, and solo female travelers in particular. Petty theft and scams around major tourist sites are a more common issue than violent crime.
▾How much does it cost to visit the Taj Mahal?
The foreigner entry ticket costs ₹1,300 (about $16), with an extra ₹200 if you want to enter the mausoleum's inner chamber where the actual tombs sit. That's a significant markup over the ticket price for Indian nationals, which runs closer to ₹50, a gap that's common at major monuments across the country, not unique to the Taj Mahal.
▾How many days do you need in India?
12-14 days covers the classic Golden Triangle plus one region beyond it, like Rajasthan's forts or Kerala's backwaters, without feeling rushed. India rewards more time than that if you can spare it, since distances between regions are large and internal flights or long train rides eat into shorter trips.
▾Do I need a visa for India?
Most nationalities need a visa. The e-Tourist Visa costs about $25 for 30 days for most eligible countries including the US, UK, Canada and EU, with longer one-year and five-year options available for more. India has occasionally offered a discounted off-season e-Visa rate, so it's worth checking current pricing before you apply.
▾What's the best time to visit India?
October through March is the most comfortable window across most of the country, avoiding both the pre-monsoon heat and the monsoon rains themselves. Exactly when depends heavily on the region though, since Kerala's monsoon and the Himalayan trekking season run on entirely different calendars than Rajasthan's.
▾Is India expensive?
India is one of the most affordable major destinations in Asia for food, local transport and budget accommodation, even with the Taj Mahal's foreigner ticket price factored in. Costs rise quickly if you stick to international hotel chains or private drivers throughout, but a mid-range trip built around trains and local guesthouses is genuinely cheap by comparison.