Indien

Strung out along a ridge with steep forested hillsides falling away in all directions, the Himachal capital is one of India's most popular hill resorts, buzzing with a happy flow of heat-escaping Indian vacationers. Traffic is banned from the central part of town, so walking is pleasant – even when huffing and puffing uphill. The long, winding main street, The Mall, runs east and west just below the spine of the hill. South of it, the maze-like alleys and stairways of the bustling bazaar cascade steeply down to Cart Rd.

Lahaul is braced for massive changes. For years, reaching this spectacular if desolate region has involved crossing the seasonal, infamously treacherous Rohtang Pass. However, by 2020 the new Rohtang Tunnel is expected to have opened, making access a breeze from Manali. In its wake, you can expect a rush of new tourism.

Palolem is undoubtedly one of Goa’s most postcard-perfect beaches: a gentle curve of palm-fringed sand facing a calm bay. But in season the beachfront is transformed into a toy town of colourful and increasingly sophisticated timber and bamboo huts fronted by palm-thatch restaurants. It’s still a great place to be and is popular with backpackers, long-stayers and families. The protected bay is one of the safest swimming spots in Goa and you can comfortably kayak and paddleboard for hours here.

Ahmedabad (also called Amdavad, Ahmadabad or Ahemdavad), Gujarat's major city, will bowl you over. Its incredible architecture ranges from centuries-old mosques and mausoleums to cutting-edge contemporary design — and then there's the old quarter, where the narrow streets hide excitement around every twisting corner. Throw in some excellent museums, fine restaurants and a bustling street-food scene and you end up with a city that rightly deserves its place as India's first Unesco Urban World Heritage Site.

Ringed by an arc of green mountains, Srinagar's greatest drawcard is mesmerizingly placid Dal Lake, on which a bright array of stationary houseboats and shikara (gondola-like boats) add a splash of color and a unique opportunity for romantic chill-outs. Charming Mughal gardens dot the lake's less urbanized eastern shore; while the old town bustles with Central Asian–style bazaars and a collection of soulful Sufi shrines, as well as a fortress and many historic wooden mosques. Add in a mild summer climate, feisty Kashmiri cuisine and famous local apples, walnuts and almonds, and you have one of India’s top tourist draws.

Long considered the ‘wild east’ of India, Nagaland abounds in primeval beauty and tribal culture. Its dazzling hills and valleys, reaching right up to the India–Myanmar border, are other-worldly places where, until not long ago, headhunting Naga tribes fought off intruders and each other. Today Nagas have abandoned headhunting and turned to Christianity. Traditional lifestyles linger strongest in the north, where many people live in thatched longhouses and follow farming and hunting lifestyles. The sense of Naga identity among the 16 or 17 main tribal groups, with multiple languages but cultural similarities, is strong. Traditional attire comes out in full feather-and-spear colour at the many tribal festivals, above all December's Hornbill Festival near Kohima.

Founded in 1577 by the fourth Sikh guru, Guru Ram Das, Amritsar is home to the spectacular Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine and one of India’s most serene and humbling sights. The hyperactive streets surrounding the temple have been calmed to some extent by recent urban landscaping, including graceful pedestrianised walkways, but duck into any side alley and you’ll soon discover Amritsar’s fantastically frenetic old-city bazaars, sheltering a sensory overload of sights, sounds and smells.

Nu har du chansen att bo i ett riktigt palats. Kungligheten Maharadja Sawai Padmanabh Singh hyr nämligen ut ett rum i den i familjens slott i Jaipur via bokningssajten Airbnb. Kolla in bilderna från palatset:

A little-developed shoreline running south from Mumbai all the way to Goa, this picturesque strip of coast is peppered with picture-postcard beaches, fishing villages and magnificent ruined forts. Travelling through this tropical backwater can be sheer bliss, whether you're off to dabble in the sands with Mumbaikars in Ganpatipule, visiting the stunning Janjira Fort at Murud-Janjira or heading into the blue at Malvan, the last beach town of significance before the sands give way to Goa.

Vandra i världens högsta bergskedja, ro på världens heligaste flod, upplev världens äldsta gränder och ett av världens sju underverk. Ta del av Vagabonds bästa tips på en långresa genom Indien, Nepal, Maldiverna och Sri Lanka.