India is located in South Asia, bordered by Indian Ocean in the south, Arabian Sea in the west, Bay of Bengal in the east, and Himalayan Range in the north. Countries whose borders India shares are Nepal and China in the north, Pakistan in the west, and Bangladesh and Myanmar in the east.

India has a total area of 3,287,263 square kms and falls into three major geological regions. The great arc of the Himalaya encloses the North. Along their Southern flank lie the alluvial plains of the Ganges, and to the South again is the peninsula, separated by the 30 km wide shallows known as Adam's Bridge. In contrast, the island chains of the Lakshadweep and the Minicoy off the Western coast of India, and the Maldives to the South West and coral atolls, formed on three submarine ridges under the Arabian Sea.

India has several tourist destinations of particular interest to offer to the travelers. But, as the size of India is too big with tourist destinations all around. Tourist circuits have been created keeping in mind the needs choices of the tourists as well as convenience based on distance. Here is a list of TEN most popular tourist circuits of India...

  Golden Triangle -Delhi-Agra-Jaipur
  North India & Nepal - Delhi-Jaipur-Agra-Khajuraho-Varanasi
  Kerala Backwaters - Trivandrum-Kovalam-Cape Camorin-Varkala-Kumarakom-Periyar-Kottayam-Alleppey-Cochin-Calicut
  Goa Beaches
  Buddhist Circuit - Delhi-Jaipur-Agra-Varanasi-Sarnath-Bodh Gaya-Rajgir-Nalanda-Vaishali-Kushinagar-Lumbini-Kapilvastu-Sravasti-Balrampur-Lucknow-Delhi
  Forts and Palaces of Rajasthan-Delhi-Mandawa-Bikaner-Jaisalmer-Jodhpur-Bundi-  Udaipur-Pushkar-Jaipur-Agra-Delhi
  The Great Himalayan Wonder - Delhi-Leh-Kargil-Zanskar-Manali-Delhi
  Golden Triangle II - Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark
  Gateway to India and South - Mumbai-Goa-Belgaum-Badami-Hospet-Hassan-Madikeri-Mysore-Bangalore
  Golden Triangle III - Chennai/ Kanchipuram/ Mahabalipuram
 

It is difficult to say, which tourist destination is the most popular in India. Every important tourist destination in India gives the tourists something different to look for. Still there are some destinations in India that are undoubtedly more popular than the others. We are providing you with the TEN most popular tourist destinations in India, but there are many more that may be equally popular among certain segments of tourists...

  1. Agra
  2. Jaipur
  3. Delhi
  4. Goa
  5. Kerala
  6. Rajasthan (other than Jaipur)
  7. Khajuraho
  8. Varanasi
  9. Ladakh
  10. Hill stations of Himachal Pradesh

Tourist attractions are the mascots, which pull travelers from all over the world to a particular destination and India has hundreds of them. We have selected TEN most popular tourist attractions in India...

  1. Taj Mahal, Agra
  2. Hawa Mahal Jaipur
  3. Qutub Minar, Red Fort, and Jama Masjid, Delhi
  4. Gateway of India, Mumbai
  5. Temples of Khajuraho
  6. Ruins of Hampi
  7. Beaches of Goa
  8. Forts of Rajasthan
  9. Kerala Backwaters
  10. The Ganges in Varanasi

India is well connected to almost all the countries in the world through air network. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata (Calcutta), and Thiruvananthapuram are the International gateways for India from where most of the flight take off takes place. Out of these airports, Delhi and Mumbai are the most preferred gateways as they are near to famous tourist destinations like Agra, Rajasthan, and Goa. Major international airlines flying to India are United Airlines, Lufthansa, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, Swiss Air, Air France, Emirates, SAS, Austrian Airlines, Al Italia, Air India, Indian Airlines (for neighboring countries and Middle East), Virgin Atlantic etc.

India can be also entered through certain road entry points from Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. These entry points are beneficial especially when one is moving from India to Nepal and Nepal to India.

India has a tropical climate. Summers, April to July, are quite hot in the northern India. Monsoon, last week of June to August, brings with it a lot of rain mainly in most parts of the country. Winters, third week of September to end of February is quite cold in entire Northern India, but mild in the Southern Peninsula.

There are large climatic variations in India due to its size and difference in the altitude and nearness to sea of the places. While some parts of Himalayas are quite enjoyable during the summers, North India reels under the blazing sun. In fact, India is a destination for every season. Himalayan ranges in the summers, North India in the winter, and Southern Peninsula throughout the year.

As we said, India is a destination for every kind of tourist and not without reason. There is plethora of tourist activities that you can participate in India. We are going to list some of the activities with the places where they can be enjoyed most below.

1. River Rafting - White water rafting in the Ganges is a sheer thrill. Rishikesh in the state of Uttaranchal is a major river-rafting destination of South Asia. Apart from Rishikesh, there are many more river-rafting circuits in India, mainly in Zanskar Valley near Ladakh and Teesta and Rangeet rivers in Sikkim.

2. Trekking and Hiking - One of the first engagements of humankind, trekking and hiking are still the most demanding of adventure sports. And there is no better place to enjoy the thrills of discovering something unknown, than the high hills of Himalayas in India. Trekking options are abound in this region and cater to an amateur as well as professional trekkers.

3. Safaris - Safaris are perhaps the best way of knowing a region, its culture, traditions, and people. Camel safari in the deserts of Rajasthan, jeep safari across the Himalayas, or elephant safaris in the wildlife sanctuaries of India are some of the activities difficult to forget in one life.

4. Other activities that you can participate in India are angling in Himalayan and South Indian rivers, mountaineering in Himalayas, aero sports like ballooning, paragliding, hand gliding, bungee jumping, scuba diving in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

There are no restrictions on wearing particular clothes in India, but cultural difference between the west and the east makes it mandatory for the tourists to follow some self-regulations. It is expected of the travelers, not to wear outrageous clothes (outrageous clothes by Indian standards), do not carry or wear any leather cloth inside the places of worship, and put something on the head if visiting a Gurudwara. Geographical necessities make it imperative for the travelers to follow the general guidelines regarding clothes. Light cotton for the summers and light woolen for winters are best for Indian plains. For places in the Himalayan region, take along with you, heavy woolen and sleeping bags for the winters and light woolen as well as some light cotton clothes for summers.

This is an indicative list of documents that you should carry with you when coming.

1. Passport
2. Visa
3. Medical documents (related to vaccinations if needed and prior history in case of any emergency)
4. Special and Innerline Permits, if you are intending to visit a place in the restricted zone. Though, you can get these permits in India also, but it is better if you have the prior access to these documents.

Note: This is an indicative list and not the exhaustive list.

India is a country of thousands of languages, some big while some spoken by only a miniscule part of the population. Hindi is the national language and spoken by a large number of people in the North India. In South India on the other hand, you will find many other languages being spoken such as Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam. English is spoken and understood by a large part of educated population and acts as a lingua franca for the people. It should be of tremendous benefit for the tourists coming to India. You will find English-speaking population everywhere on the tourist destinations and moving around should not be a problem.