India

India is a vastly diverse country geographically, encompassing white-sand Arabian Sea beach towns, tiger-filled forests, and the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. The country’s architecture is as varied as its climate, thanks to a legacy of thousands of years of different historical influences. Here you’ll find ancient rock-cut temples, sublime Mughal buildings like the Taj Mahal, and stately colonial-era structures built in the Indo-Saracenic style.

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Overview

Planning your trip

Use these articles, resources, and guides to plan and inspire your next trip to India.

Related guides
  1. Goa
Read Before You Go
In her new book, “Patterns of India,” photographer Christine Chitnis investigates how colors are woven into almost every aspect of daily life and culture throughout the country’s northwestern region.
Hotels
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One of Rajasthan’s most celebrated hotels is grand in both scale and design—and surprisingly family friendly.
The first Raffles hotel in India sits on its own private island on Udaipur’s Udai Sagar Lake.
For the first time ever, the royal family of Jaipur will open up a suite for overnight stays in its famed pink palace to raise money for charity.
Oberoi Hotels and Resorts offers luxury and authenticity—and inspiring India travel itineraries that give back.
The next trend in lodging? The B&B&B (bed and breakfast and bicycle). Here are our picks for where to try it first.
Whether you’re looking for seaside getaways, reinvented spaces, classics reborn, urban sanctuaries, or adventure retreats, these hotels make being on the road feel like home. This is hospitality in the 21st century.
Onetime royals in Rajasthan are holding onto their family estates the best way they can: by inviting us in.
Meet Suján Rajmahal Palace in Jaipur.
These off-the-beaten path destinations have us wishing for 007’s travel schedule.
These hotels know how to make an entrance.
Connect with the great outdoors without having to rough it out.
Resources to help plan your trip
Even the most intrepid and independent travelers benefit from a guide now and then.
Plenty of people resolve to read more every year. And what better reading challenge than to enjoy books by female writers from countries across the globe? Here are some selections to get you started.
Couples in India are selling travelers tickets to their nuptials, giving foreigners a chance to experience the lively cultural ceremonies.
600 miles south of Goa, a small town in Kerala introduces travelers to the ancient practice of Ayurveda. Here’s how to get your wellness on.
Jaipur, the centuries-old home of Rajasthan’s royal family, is beginning to embrace the cutting edge. Samir Andrea Kasliwal, an heir to the 166-year-old Gem Palace, explains.
Every autumn, hundreds of elaborately painted men dressed as tigers march through the streets of Thrissur, in Kerala. Two years ago, women finally joined for the first time.
How a nature-phobic city girl opened her eyes to the wild side of India that seethes beyond the tea plantations and languid rivers.
This winter, the budget carrier will offer new routes from nine major U.S. cities to India’s capital with one-way fares starting at an insanely affordable price.
A nonprofit in India trains and empowers women to run rickshaw tours of the Pink City.
Nate Staniforth always knew he’d be a magician. Here he reveals why you don’t have to be a pro to find enchantment all around you.
A disillusioned American magician rediscovers his sense of wonder in one of New Delhi’s poorest neighborhoods.
Which of these would you like to see?
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