Leh · Ladakh
Pangong Tso
The water runs through turquoise, blue and green as the light changes across the day. Best Jun – Sep · remote, moderate effort · permit needed · acclimatise first
Places in India that look unreal
Some places look edited even when they aren't. These are the landscapes and places in our catalogue that most often make people ask where a photo was taken — and every one of them can be visited, if you go in the right season.
How we chose these: Chosen by hand from places already in our catalogue for scenes unlike anywhere else in India; each has at least five photos checked against Wikimedia Commons categories or location data. Best months, effort and permits come from each place's own record — open it for directions, costs and closures.
Water that plays tricks
Dawki · Meghalaya
Umngot River
In the clear winter months, boats on the Umngot seem to hang in mid-air above the riverbed. Best Nov – Apr · some travel needed, easy effort
Bishnupur · Manipur
Loktak Lake
Rings of floating vegetation (phumdis) drift on the lake, and a whole national park floats on them. Best Oct – Mar · some travel needed, easy effort · permit needed
Lahaul · Himachal Pradesh
Chandra Taal
A crescent of still water high in Lahaul that mirrors the surrounding peaks. Best Jun – Sep · remote, moderate effort
East Sikkim · Sikkim
Tsomgo Lake
A glacial lake ringed by prayer flags and grazing yaks; it freezes over in winter (about January to March). Best Apr – Jun, Oct – Nov · some travel needed, moderate effort · permit needed
Tawang · Arunachal Pradesh
Sela Pass
A lake at a high Himalayan pass on the road to Tawang that freezes solid in winter (about December to March). Best Mar – Jun, Sep – Nov · remote, moderate effort · permit needed
Melaghar · Tripura
Neermahal
A royal palace that seems to float in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake, reached only by boat. Best Oct – Mar · some travel needed, easy effort
Bangaram · Lakshadweep
Bangaram Atoll
A teardrop of white sand inside a lagoon so shallow and clear it glows turquoise. Best Oct – May · remote, easy effort · permit needed
Agatti · Lakshadweep
Agatti Island
A narrow strip of coral sand between a turquoise lagoon and the open sea. Best Oct – May · remote, easy effort · permit needed
Cherrapunji · Meghalaya
Nohkalikai Falls
One of India's tallest plunge waterfalls, dropping into a turquoise pool in a deep green gorge. Best Jun – Oct · some travel needed, easy effort
Salt, rock and sand
Kutch · Gujarat
White Rann
Flat white salt crust runs to the horizon; on full-moon nights it seems to glow. Best Nov – Feb · some travel needed, easy effort · permit needed
Kadapa · Andhra Pradesh
Gandikota Canyon
The Pennar has cut a red-rock canyon whose walls drop away below a medieval fort. Best Oct – Feb · some travel needed, easy effort
Jabalpur · Madhya Pradesh
Bhedaghat Marble Rocks
The Narmada runs through a gorge of gleaming marble cliffs. Best Oct – Mar · easy to reach, easy effort
Vijayanagara · Karnataka
Hampi
Giant boulders balanced on boulders, with temple ruins and banana fields between them. Best Oct – Feb · some travel needed, moderate effort
Diu · Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu
Naida Caves
Shafts of light fall through gaps in the roof of a maze of eroded rock. Best Oct – Mar · some travel needed, easy effort
Hunder · Ladakh
Nubra Valley
Sand dunes and double-humped Bactrian camels beneath snow peaks — a desert at over 3,000 m. Best Jun – Sep · remote, moderate effort · permit needed · acclimatise first
Grown, not built
Nongriat · Meghalaya
Living Root Bridges
Bridges grown from the living roots of rubber fig trees, trained across streams by Khasi villagers. Best Oct – May · some travel needed, challenging effort
Satara · Maharashtra
Kaas Plateau
For a few weeks after the monsoon, a bare laterite plateau turns into carpets of wildflowers. Best Aug – Oct · some travel needed, easy effort · permit needed
Chamoli · Uttarakhand
Valley of Flowers
A Himalayan valley covered in hundreds of species of wildflowers at the height of the monsoon. Best Jul – Aug · remote, challenging effort · permit needed
North Sikkim · Sikkim
Yumthang Valley
In April and May the valley slopes turn red, pink and white with flowering rhododendrons. Best Apr – May (rhododendrons) · remote, moderate effort · permit needed
Made by hand
Kailashahar · Tripura
Unakoti
Giant faces and figures carved into rock walls around the 8th–9th centuries, hidden among forest streams. Best Oct – Mar · some travel needed, easy effort
Chandigarh · Chandigarh
Rock Garden
A maze of sculptures, walls and waterfalls built entirely from industrial and urban waste by Nek Chand. Best Oct – Mar · easy to reach, easy effort
Sri Sathya Sai · Andhra Pradesh
Lepakshi
A temple pillar that famously hangs free of the floor, beneath painted ceilings and beside a giant monolithic Nandi. Best Oct – Feb · easy to reach, easy effort
Mountain landscapes
Spiti · Himachal Pradesh
Key Monastery
Tiered white monastery buildings stacked on a conical hill in a cold, bare mountain desert. Best Jun – Sep · remote, challenging effort
Kohima · Nagaland
Dzükou Valley
Rolling hills covered in dwarf bamboo that look like a vast, freshly mown lawn. Best Jun – Sep (lilies), Oct – Nov · remote, challenging effort · permit needed