Indien

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.

Länge har de avlägsna öarna som tillhör Indien varit utom räckhåll för turister. Nu blir det ändring på det, efter ett beslut från landets inrikesminister.

The rolling hills around Munnar, South India's largest tea-growing region, are carpeted in emerald-green tea plantations, contoured, clipped and sculpted like ornamental hedges. The low Western Ghats scenery is magnificent – you’re often up above the clouds watching veils of mist clinging to mountaintops. Munnar itself is a traffic-clogged administration hub, not unlike a North Indian hill station, but wander just a few miles out and you'll be engulfed in a sea of a thousand shades of green.

The west is in some ways quintessential Rajasthan, with all the romance of desert dunes, majestic forts and camel caravans. Most of the region is covered by the Thar Desert, which also extends into Punjab, Gujarat and Pakistan. The Thar is the world’s most populous arid zone, mostly covered by scrub vegetation, with plentiful villages eking out a living from their animals and maintaining a richly colourful desert culture. Three ancient and atmospheric cities form the focus of travel here, each with a monumental fort at its heart. Proud Jodhpur is a halfway house between the relatively urbane cities of eastern Rajasthan and the state’s wild west. Bikaner and above all Jaisalmer are relatively remote desert cities and popular starting points for desert safaris. You won’t quickly forget nights sleeping under the desert stars or your camel’s rhythmic progress across the landscape.

The glittering highlight of this otherwise understated region is Amritsar’s unmissable Golden Temple. Punjab is studded with gleaming gurdwaras (Sikh temples), but it's the Golden Temple that everyone comes to see. Visiting it is a spiritual experience that will stay with you long after you leave India.

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

The quiet, leafy, largely affluent neighborhood of South Delhi is where many expats and middle-class Delhiites choose to make their homes. For tourists, it makes a nice escape from the mayhem of the city centre, with most visitors focusing their attentions on the boutique shops, cafes and restaurants of Hauz Khas or Shahpur Jat Village.

North Goa is the Goa you might have heard all about: crowded beaches, upbeat nightlife, Goan trance, cosmopolitan cuisine, hippie markets and yoga retreats. If you like a fast pace and plenty of things to do, this is the place.

This ethereally beautiful valley stretches up through touristy, forest-ringed Kasol and the busy if grubby little pilgrim hot-springs town of Manikaran to a collection of villages around Barshani with glorious views of 5000m Himalayan peaks. Places like Pulga and Kalga here are key stops on the pre-Goa 'hummus trail' for young Israeli travellers, while Kasol and Tosh increasingly draw young Indian travellers and weekenders. The valley has plenty of hippie/backpacker hang-outs, with cheap accommodation, international food and nonstop music. The well-deserved reputation for charas (hashish) is most noted at the very odd village of Malana. Police sometimes make spot checks for drugs.

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.