Travel style
Festivals
Planned around the calendar
Festivals are the best and the hardest time to travel: rooms sell out, roads fill and dates shift with the moon. We hold rooms early, find vantage points and keep a quieter base nearby.
Every festival page lists the usual month and how to confirm the year's date. Check current status before you travel.
Journeys
Routes in this style
Places
Where it fits best
Brick squares, potters and the five-tiered Nyatapola temple
Stupas, temples and royal squares in Nepal's capital valley
The birthplace of the Buddha, in the plains of southern Nepal
Newar temples, a palace museum and bronze casters across the river
Stepwells, murals and a palace on the hillside
The pink city of forts, bazaars and royal hotels
A living golden fort at the edge of the Thar
The blue city below Mehrangarh Fort
A holy lake town of ghats, temples and roses
Ladakh's richest monastery and the snow leopard's valleys
One of Ladakh's oldest monasteries above the eroded moonland
Naga hill capital, war memorial and the Hornbill Festival
Vaishnava monasteries on a great Brahmaputra river island
India's largest monastery, high in the eastern Himalaya
The Apatani rice valley and its September music festival
Houseboats, Kuttanad paddy and the snake-boat races
A sea fort, quiet backwaters and Kerala's far north
Theyyam country, looms and the old Malabar forts
Five centuries of spice traders on one small peninsula
Kerala's cultural capital, temples and the great Pooram
Villa lanes, flea markets and a clifftop fort in north Goa
River islands of paddy, mangroves and hilltop churches
The UNESCO churches of Portugal's lost Asian capital
Goa's riverside capital and its painted Latin quarter
Krishna's homeland on the Yamuna, an hour from Agra
The Sangam, the Magh Mela and the home of the Kumbh
Dawn boats, evening aarti and the oldest lanes on the Ganges
Shape your own journey Tell us your dates and what you hope to feel. We draw the route around you. Begin Not sure where to start? We match the land to your month, your pace and the people travelling with you. Begin Talk to a planner A first route and an indicative price within one working day. No payment to start. BeginStays
Rooms that suit it
Kathmandu's most characterful hotel, built in Newar style around brick courtyards set with carved windows, doors and pillars rescued from old valley buildings. It sits in …
The former home of the Maharajas of Jaipur, run by Taj, set in large Mughal-style gardens about 15 minutes from the old city. It is the …
A low-rise resort on the eastern edge of Jaipur, built as a Rajasthani fort-village with courtyards, pools, luxury tents and private villas. Quieter and more private …
A golden sandstone Art Deco palace on Chittar Hill above Jodhpur, completed in 1943 and still home to the royal family of Marwar in one wing. …
A boutique hotel inside the walled old city of Jodhpur, built around a restored 18th-century haveli directly below Mehrangarh Fort. Clean contemporary rooms, a courtyard pool …
A palace-style hotel built in golden Jaisalmer stone on the road to the Sam dunes, about 15 km west of the city. It is the most …
A heritage hotel on the Fort Kochi waterfront, rebuilt on the site of a Victorian boatyard, where every room faces the harbour channel and ships pass …
A small, art-filled heritage hotel in a restored 18th-century house beside Parade Ground in Fort Kochi, with a courtyard pool and a quiet, personal style. It …
A Taj resort on the backwaters behind Kappil beach near Bekal Fort, with villas inspired by Kerala houseboats, many with private pools, a large spa and …
Shape your own journey Tell us your dates and what you hope to feel. We draw the route around you. Begin Not sure where to start? We match the land to your month, your pace and the people travelling with you. Begin Talk to a planner A first route and an indicative price within one working day. No payment to start. Begin