Agra
Read the guide→The Taj Mahal and Mughal heritage
Venice of the East — Kerala backwater houseboats
Sacred Shiva ice-lingam cave at 3,888 m
India's Indian Ocean archipelago of beaches and coral reefs
Vishnu's Himalayan shrine — final stop of the Char Dham circuit
India's paragliding capital in the Dhauladhars
Four sacred Hindu shrines in the Garhwal Himalayas
Coffee plantations and misty hills of Karnataka
Tea gardens, toy trains, and Kanchenjunga views
India's capital and gateway to the Himalayas & Golden Triangle
Home of the Dalai Lama and Tibetan Buddhist culture
Source shrine of the Ganga — 3,100m on the Bhagirathi river
Beach state of India — Portuguese heritage and coastal cafés
UNESCO ruins of the 14th-century Vijayanagara Empire
Rajasthan's pink-walled royal capital
Golden fort city at the edge of the Thar Desert
The Blue City under Mehrangarh Fort
Panch Kedar — jata (hair) of Shiva, the only one accessible year-round
India's southernmost tip — where three seas meet
One of 12 Jyotirlingas, 16 km Himalayan trek to Lord Shiva
High-altitude cold desert of monasteries and lakes
Panch Kedar — navel of Shiva, meadow trek with Chaukhamba views
Himachal's year-round mountain resort
Kerala's tea-garden hill station
Palace city of Karnataka, home of Dussehra
Queen of Hill Stations — Nilgiri tea country
French Riviera of the East — white town and Auroville
Sacred lake, Brahma temple, and the famous camel fair
Yoga capital of the world on the Ganges
Panch Kedar — face of Shiva, remote 24 km trek through alpine bugyals
The summer capital of British India, now Himachal's hub
The little Tibet — monasteries in a cold desert
World's largest mangrove delta — Royal Bengal Tiger habitat
Panch Kedar — arms of Shiva, world's highest Shiva temple at 3,680m
The lake city — Rajasthan's most romantic palaces
UNESCO World Heritage park of Himalayan wildflowers
The spiritual heart of Hindu India on the Ganges
Source of the Yamuna — first stop on the Char Dham circuit