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The delights of India
North.South.
Delhi
Mystery, magic, mayhem. Welcome to Delhi, City of Djinns, and 25 million people. Like an eastern Rome, India’s capital is littered with the relics of lost empires. A succession of armies stormed across the Indo-Gangetic plain and imprinted their identity onto the vanquished city, before vanishing into rubble and ruin like the conquerors who preceded them. Modern Delhi is a chaotic tapestry of medieval fortifications, Mughal mausoleums, dusty bazaars, colonial-era town planning, and mega malls.
Fort Cochin
Serene Kochi has been drawing traders and explorers to its shores for over 600 years. Nowhere else in India could you find such an intriguing mix: giant fishing nets from China, a 400-year-old synagogue, ancient mosques, Portuguese houses and the crumbling remains of the British Raj. The result is an unlikely blend of medieval Portugal, Holland and an English village grafted onto the tropical Malabar Coast. It’s a delightful place to spend some time and nap in some ofIndia’s finest homestays and heritage accommodation. Kochi is also a centre for Keralan arts and one of the best places to see Kathakali and kalarippayattu.
Mainland Ernakulam is the hectic transport and cosmopolitan hub of Kochi, while the historical towns of Fort Cochin and Mattancherry, though well-touristed, remain wonderfully atmospheric – thick with the smell of the past. Other islands, including Willingdon and Vypeen, are linked by a network of ferries and bridges.
Varanasi
Brace yourself. You're about to enter one of the most blindingly colourful, unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. Varanasi takes no prisoners. But if you're ready for it, this may just turn out to be your favourite stop of all.
Pushkar
Pushkar has a magnetism all of its own – it’s quite unlike anywhere else in Rajasthan. It’s a prominent Hindu pilgrimage town and devout Hindus should visit at least once in their lifetime. The town curls around a holy lake, said to have appeared when Brahma dropped a lotus flower. It also has one of the world’s few Brahma temples. With 52 bathing ghats and 400 milky-blue temples, the town often hums with puja (prayers) generating an episodic soundtrack of chanting, drums and gongs, and devotional songs.
Jaipur
Jaipur, Rajasthan’s capital, is an enthralling historical city and the gateway to India’s most flamboyant state.
Varkala
Perched almost perilously along the edge of 15m-high red laterite cliffs, the resort of Varkala has a naturally beautiful setting and the cliff-top stretch has steadily grown into Kerala's most popular backpacker hangout. A small strand of beach nuzzles Varkala’s cliff edge, where restaurants play innocuous trance music and stalls sell T-shirts, baggy trousers and silver jewellery. It's touristy and the sales pitch can be tiring, but Varkala is still a great place to watch the days slowly turn into weeks, and it's not hard to escape the crowds further north or south where the beaches are cleaner and quieter.
Munroe Island,
Munroe Island is in a heavenly location between multiple distributaries of the Kallada river and the Ashtamudi lake, and has a network of backwater canals criss-crossing it.
The Malayil Cottage is in a 16 acre coconut farm overlooking the trees rall around. The Kallada's branches fringe the property and numerous canals run through it.
The island village is a tourism destination where one can watch coir retting and weaving, fishing, prawns feeding, migratory bird watch, narrow canals and waterways, coconut farms on the lake shore, lagoons, mangrove plants and the beautiful tiny islands.
flights.
Daily London to Delhi or to Bangalore with British Airways amongst other airlines.
The best way to see the country is by train travel. India has some of the most spectacular and unforgettable rail journeys in the world. Here you experience a simple way to find out everything you need to know in one easy place. There's no better way to enjoy India's outback, cities, coastal towns and regional areas in comfort.