Best time to visit each region of India: month wise travel guide
My colleague flew to Manali in August as she had seen pictures of green valleys and was searching for it on different websites. She was left with a blocked road, a landslide warning on day two and three days in a guesthouse watching the rain, which refused to stop. It was a bad break for her. She was uninformed.
India has multiple climates. It is six. The same country, which is heated to 47°C in May, is flooded by monsoons in Kerala for three months starting June. In January the mountains are not accessible but by July they are the most beautiful places on earth. Beaches that are a February paradise are extremely rough by June.
Timing is not an option, it's what makes your trip the best if you are aware of the seasons properly.
Ideal For
Who this guide is written for.
- First time visitors to India. Nothing is washed out or closed, the weather is friendly and destinations are most accessible.
- Trekkers, nature travellers, and anyone who's been putting off going to the Northeast for years and has always found an excuse.
- The December vacationers, adventure tourists and motorcyclists who are travelling along Manali-Leh route.
- Slow travellers, remote workers, nature lovers and those who've been advised not to go to India during the monsoon season and want to see it for themselves.
The best time to visit Rajasthan, Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu is the winter months of January to February.
The temperature of Rajasthan during day is an ideal one in the range of 15-22°C. All are easily reached, all are stunning, and all are much more rewarding in the off-season than in summer. It is a creative energy which gives Jaipur its rose tinted hue after the Pink City Festival, the Jaipur Literature Festival which gets added at the end of January, even if you are visiting it for the first time.
January is the best time of the year in Goa: the sea is calm and the beach is not yet too full, the sky is clear, the beach is clean and the whole scene is relaxed. In February, the streets of Goa get taken over with colour, noises, and that kind of fun that you either embrace as great fun or plan around.
In these months there is dryness, greenery and open spaces in Kerala. Backwaters are undisturbed. The hill stations of Munnar are not inaccessible and are cool and covered with mists.
The temple town of Madurai, Thanjavur and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu are the best to visit at this time before the heat becomes unbearable in the afternoon.
Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Northeast India in March & April
The season to discover the hills is in the month of March. Himachals (Dharamsala, Kasol, Bir Billing) say goodbye to winter and have prepared trails which were covered by snow two months back. No photo ever captured the red and pink hue that they have on the side of the hills.
The Char Dham pilgrimage season starts in Uttarakhand in March/April. Kedarnath and Badrinath welcome pilgrims in the spring after the winter closure, and the excitement of thousands of pilgrims undertaking this pilgrimage is one of the most heart-warming experiences I have seen in the many years that I have traveled around India.
It is a remarkable time in these months in the Northeast (Meghalaya, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh). Green and mist all around the living root bridges of Meghalaya. The rhododendron forests are in full bloom in April in Sikkim. They are India's least talked about places and March-April is the least discussed period in which to visit these places.
The region of Ladakh, Spiti, Andaman Islands is open for May and June.
Manali-Leh highway opens up in May, making Ladakh accessible. June is when the landscape is completely exposed and it is bare, dramatic and lunar in scale. One of the reasons why photographers go to Ladakh in June is because of the number of hours of light, low angle light, and clear air that enhances every shot.
The most remote part of India, Spiti Valley is accessible at its best in June. The road through Pin Valley is not easy to drive during the worst of seasons and even in the best of seasons, it is difficult. June is the closest to ideal time to drive this road.
Beaches at the Andaman Islands are uncrowded and warm waters prior to the onset of the southwest monsoon in May and June. The clarity of the diving conditions in these months is one of the best in the Indian waters at Havelock Island.
By July, August, September — Coorg, Valley of Flowers and Gokarna are in bloom.
With the onset of Monsoon, Coorg is absolutely out of this world — the mists that envelop the coffee estates, waterfalls seen only in these three months, and the fragrance that permeates the air. A monsoon vacation in Coorg is one of the most rejuvenating vacations that India has to offer for those working from home and can have ten vacation days in one place.
The Valley of the Flowers, located in Uttarakhand is a UNESCO World Heritage Site which only flowers during the monsoon. This landscape is most striking from the end of July through mid-August, when it's blanketed by hundreds of species of wildflowers and nowhere to be found after that.
Badly deserted Gokarna in Monsoon. The town is empty, green and locals are back in charge, the prices for accommodation are as if they made a mistake, and the beach is quiet when it's December.
October & November — Pan-India — Top All-Round Window
At any time of year, Varanasi is spectacular, but during the month-long festivals at the Ghats it becomes more than ever. Everyone should attend. Literally everyone. If you can be flexible with your dates, then October and November is the solution to all your "when should I go to India" queries.
December — Goa, Rajasthan, South India Circuit
The South India temple circuit (Madurai, Rameswaram, Kanyakumari and Thanjavur) is best in December, when the skies are clear and pilgrims add a life to the ancient temples that nothing in a history book could ever come across as. One word of honesty: Popular destinations are 40-60% more expensive in December than in October. October is a better response if budget is an issue with similar climate to December.
The One Rule That Covers Everything is the rule that there is no rule.
If I had to give one piece of advice to all Indians travelling to India and asking about the best time to travel, I would say this: Never match the month to the destination, always match the destination to the month.
Avoid selecting the date and then a destination that suits the date. First, select your destination, and then determine which month is perfect for it. India is going to pay for that, with experiences that are clearly tailor-made for you and are indeed.
Common Questions
Quick, practical answers to the questions travellers ask most about India.
