Indien

There are few states more quintessentially Indian than Uttar Pradesh. The subcontinent's historic and religious roots – Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic and secular – intertwine in this land of sacred rivers and vast plains, manifesting in sights of profound importance.

Welcome to the British Raj. New Delhi was designed on an imperial scale after George V decided to move the capital of British India from Calcutta to here in 1911. Much of the colonial footprint remains today, including the circular, colonnaded shopping precinct Connaught Place, the imposing government buildings that look out along Rajpath, and the rambling bungalows, some of which now house museums.

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:

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.

With shimmering turquoise waters fringed by primeval jungle, fantastic diving, and sugar-white, sun-toasted beaches melting under flame-and-purple sunsets, the far-flung Andaman Islands are the perfect Indian escape.

Set on a magnificent estuary, serene Kochi has been drawing traders, explorers and travelers to its shores for over 600 years. Nowhere else in India could you find such an intriguing mix: giant Chinese fishing nets, a 450-year-old synagogue, ancient mosques, Portuguese and Dutch colonial-era houses, and the crumbling remains of the colonial British Raj. The result is an unlikely blend of medieval Portugal and Holland and an English village grafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast. It’s a delightful place to explore, laze in arty cafes and relax at some of India’s finest homestays and heritage hotels. It's also an important centre for Keralan arts (traditional and contemporary) and a standout place to see Kathakali and kalarippayat.

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.

På fastlandet råder alkoholförbud. Men här på ön Diu flödar vinet, ölen och spriten. Inte så konstigt att den före detta portugisiska kolonin blivit ett populärt resmål för indier som vill släppa loss.

Anjuna has been a stalwart of the hippie scene since the 1960s and still drags out the sarongs and sandalwood each Wednesday (in season) for its famous flea market. Though it continues to pull in droves of backpackers, midrange and domestic tourists are increasingly making their way here for a dose of hippie-chic. Anjuna is continuing to evolve, with a heady beach party scene and a constant flowering of new restaurants, bars and backpacker hostels. If anything, Anjuna is having a renaissance.

Bikaner is a vibrant, dust-swirling desert town with a fabulous fort and an energising outpost feel. It’s less dominated by tourism than many other Rajasthan cities, though it has plenty of hotels and a busy camel-safari scene, which attracts plenty of travelers looking to avoid the crowding that occasionally occurs around Jaisalmer-based safaris.