India is huge country with too much of diversity but most of us do not know to cop up with it. May be that’s the reason many tourist like to move around particular zone other than exploring some great spots within the country. Obviously political situation has restricted our movements(especially with family) in and around some of the spectacular sites. Still there are too many other places to go and explore the richness of this great country. Selecting enjoyable destination should not be a problem in India. Let me share my opinion.
Northeast
I am from Northeast, so let me start from there. I know very few people go there on holidays due to distance from other parts of the country and political unrest. During summer plains of Northeast is not that comfortable due to very humid atmosphere. But it’s Blue Hills are paradise. I will recommend Arunachal, one of the seven sisters of Northeast. Itanagar is the capital and one can plan trekking from there with the help of local guides.
You cannot afford to miss Shillong and Kaziranga Sanctuary when you go to Northeast from the other corner of this huge country. You have to go to Gauhati to go to other places in Northeast. One should go to Kamakhya Temple at Gauhati.
East India
Darjeeling is one place that cannot be missed out from my list. Darjeeling is best place for Rappelling / Mountaineering. One can go to Siliguri by air, train, and road. From there one can go to Darjeeling by the toy train which is a meter gauge train operating over breath taking scenery. Traveling time is about seven and half hours. One can also go by Taxi / Bus and traveling time is about four hours.
Hub in the east is Calcutta so I will suggest spending 2/3 days to see this old city so that you can cover places like Belur and Shantiniketan. There are some reviews with very adverse comments on Calcutta but people write such thing even for Bangalore and Bombay – after all, it is your choice.
I have never been to Orissa but there are great places over there.
Western India
In Western part of the country my most favorite places are Mahabaleshwar and whole of Goa. Lot of people goes to Matheran or Lonvala for short visit especially from Mumbai and Pune.
Mount Abu is a hill station in Rajasthan where people from Gujarat and north go there for various reasons – a cool hill station very near to the desert. Jain Temple in Mount Abu is very famous.
Great beaches in Maharashtra – Murud, Kashid, Harihareswar, Ganpatiphule.
Great cities in Western India are Bombay, Pune, Barodra.
North India
I have not seen much of it. Delhi and Agra are the only two familiar places and Mathura to some extent.
Once in lifetime, one should go to Agra to see Majestic Taj Mahal. In Delhi there is lot to see and will suggest to read some useful review. There are good spots in Central India but I do not have any personal experience.
South India
I think south get maximum tourist from all over the world. You get every thing there - a mixture of Old and New Culture, Dazzling Discos to Deep Forest, Sea with fascinating beaches to Bull hill of western Ghats. Only thing you miss is a Desert.
Great hill stations are Ooty and Kodai kanal. I consider Kovalam as the best beach in this country.
Big cities those deserve a visit are Chennai, Cochin, Bangalore, Mysore, Hydrabad.
I do not want to write much because 8 k is not enough to write about South India. I will suggest checking with tourism departments of each state.
~
Now all states have tourism departments. I will suggest to check their internet sites before finalizing your travel plan.
Enjoy Holidays