Indien

Sometimes the Seven Sisters of the Northeast (the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura) hardly seem like India at all. The region's hundreds of tribes and subtribes are slowly ceding to modernity, but remain extremely diverse. Nagaland's former headhunters now go to church on Sundays. Many Arunachalis also attend church-like buildings on Sundays – to worship the sun and moon. Cloudy Himalayan valleys near the border of Tibet are dotted with colorful monasteries, echoing with Buddhist chants and clashing cymbals.

Från valhajar i januari till leguaner i december. Vi listar spektakulära möten med vilda djur. Året runt!

The beating heart of India, this incredible neighborhood will knock you sideways with the power of its sights, sounds and smells, and with its unrelenting chaos. But if you can survive that first hit, you'll soon realize you've just landed in one of the world's truly special places. Prepare to be amazed.

Some travelers see Goa as one big beach resort, but the central region – with few beaches of note – is the state’s historic and cultural heart and soul. Wedged between Goa’s two biggest rivers, the Mandovi and the Zuari, this region is home to the state capital, Panaji, the glorious churches of Old Goa, inland islands, bird sanctuaries, spice plantations and the wilds of the Western Ghats.

Udaipur has a romance of setting unmatched in Rajasthan and arguably in all India – snuggling beside tranquil Lake Pichola, with the purple ridges of the Aravalli Range stretching away in every direction. Fantastical palaces, temples, havelis (traditional, ornately decorated residences) and countless narrow, crooked, timeless streets add the human counterpoint to the city’s natural charms. For the visitor there's the serenity of boat rides on the lakes, the bustle and color of bazaars, a lively arts scene, the quaint old-world feel of its heritage hotels, tempting shops and some lovely countryside to explore on wheels, feet or horseback.

Rimmed by layers of alpine peaks, the 140km-long Kashmir Valley opens up as a giant, beautiful bowl of lakes and orchards. Tin-roofed villages guard terraced paddy fields delineated by apple groves and pin-straight poplars. Proudly independent-minded Kashmiris mostly follow a Sufi-based Islamic faith, worshipping in distinctive wooden mosques with central spires, and they are fiercely proud of their homeland. It's a stunningly beautiful place, but one wracked by political violence in recent decades.

Visakhapatnam – also called Vizag (vie-zag) – is Andhra Pradesh’s largest city, famous for steel and its big port, but also doubling as a beach resort for sea-breeze-seeking domestic tourists. During the main December–February holiday season there's a distinctly kitschy vibe, with camel rides and thousands of bathers (though no swimmers).

Myllrande marknader, minglande Bollywoodstjärnor, skyskrapor, hindutempel, coola kaféer och världens bästa gatumat. Följ med till SVT-reportern Malin Mendels Bombay.

There are few more refreshing Tamil Nadu moments than leaving the heat-soaked plains for the sharp pinch of a Kodaikanal night or morning. This misty hill station, 75 miles (120km) northwest of Madurai in the protected Palani Hills, is more relaxed and intimate than its big sister Ooty (Kodai is the ‘Princess of Hill Stations’, Ooty the Queen). It’s not all cold either; days feel more like deep spring than early winter.

If you have time to explore Chennai (formerly Madras), this 284-sq-mi (400-sq-km) conglomerate of urban villages and diverse neighborhoods making up Tamil Nadu's capital will pleasantly surprise you. Its role is as keeper of South Indian artistic, religious and culinary traditions.