Home Destinations

Seven places
we book every week.

Journey times below are from Delhi, by whichever means we would actually put you on. The suggested nights are what each place needs, not the maximum we could sell.

The lay of the land

Delhi is the best
starting line in India.

Two hours by train puts you at the Taj Mahal. A night on a coach puts you in the Himalaya. Ninety minutes in the air reaches Srinagar, Leh, Goa or Udaipur. Almost nothing worth seeing in north India is more than a day away from R.K. Puram.

That is the argument for planning from here rather than piecing a trip together online: we know which of those options is genuinely faster in your week, and which only looks faster on a booking site.

01 · Two hours by train

Agra

The Taj Mahal deserves its reputation and rewards an early slot: the marble changes colour for the first hour after opening and the crowds arrive later. Agra Fort across the river is the other half of the story, and Fatehpur Sikri, Akbar's abandoned red sandstone capital, sits forty kilometres out on the Jaipur road.

From Delhi: 2 hrs by train, 4 by road
We suggest: Day trip, or 1 night
Best months: October to March
Known for: Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, marble inlay

02 · Forts, lakes, desert

Rajasthan

Four cities, four completely different moods. Jaipur is pink sandstone, forts and the best shopping in the north. Jodhpur is blue houses under the wall of Mehrangarh. Jaisalmer is a living fort in the Thar with dunes an hour away. Udaipur is lakes, palaces and the only place in the state where you will want to slow down.

From Delhi: 5 hrs by train to Jaipur, 2 by air to Udaipur
We suggest: 4 to 8 nights
Best months: November to February
Known for: Amber Fort, Mehrangarh, Lake Pichola, camel safaris

03 · The valley

Jammu & Kashmir

A houseboat on Dal Lake is worth one night of your life, if only for the quiet and the kingfishers at breakfast. Beyond Srinagar: the gondola at Gulmarg that climbs towards Apharwat, the willow-lined valleys around Pahalgam, and the glacier walk at Sonmarg. Saffron in October, snow from December, tulips in April.

From Delhi: 1 hr 20 min by air to Srinagar
We suggest: 4 to 6 nights
Best months: March to October; winter for snow
Known for: Dal Lake, Gulmarg gondola, Mughal gardens

04 · High desert

Ladakh

Cold, dry, empty and completely unlike anywhere else in India: monasteries on ridges, prayer flags over passes above 5,000 metres, and Pangong Tso changing colour through the afternoon. It asks two things of you — a full day of rest on arrival to acclimatise, and travel between May and September, because the passes close.

From Delhi: 1 hr 30 min by air to Leh
We suggest: 5 to 7 nights
Best months: May to September
Known for: Pangong Tso, Nubra dunes, Thiksey and Hemis gompas

05 · Himachal

Manali & the hills

The classic overnight coach out of Delhi, and by breakfast you are among deodars with snow on the ridge. Solang for the valley and the paragliding, the Atal Tunnel through to the Lahaul side, hot springs at Vashisht and Manikaran, and Shimla's colonial ridge if you want to add a second town.

From Delhi: 12 hrs by Volvo, overnight
We suggest: 3 to 5 nights
Best months: March to June, September to November
Known for: Solang valley, Atal Tunnel, Old Manali, Shimla

06 · Coast

Goa

Two Goas, and you should see both. North is Baga, Calangute and the night markets; south is Palolem, Colva and long stretches where nothing happens. Inland sits the Portuguese half: the Basilica of Bom Jesus, Sé Cathedral, and the ochre lanes of Fontainhas in Panjim.

From Delhi: 2 hrs 30 min by air
We suggest: 3 to 5 nights
Best months: November to February
Known for: Beaches, Old Goa churches, river cruises, Dudhsagar

07 · Where it starts

Delhi

Worth two proper days even if you live here. Humayun's Tomb is the rehearsal for the Taj Mahal and quieter than any of them; Qutub Minar is older than most European cathedrals. Then Old Delhi: the Red Fort, Jama Masjid, and Chandni Chowk, which is best walked hungry and without a plan.

From Delhi: You are here
We suggest: 1 to 2 days
Best months: October to March
Known for: Mughal monuments, Chandni Chowk, museums

Timing is everything

The same week in the same place can be a snowfield or a meadow of flowers. Tell us your dates first and we will tell you where they are best spent.

Eating well

Ask us where
to eat, too.

Rogan josh and wazwan in Srinagar, dal baati churma in Jaipur, apricot and thukpa in Leh, fish curry rice in Goa, and in Old Delhi a hundred years of arguments about who makes the best parathas.

None of the good places advertise, and half of them do one dish only. Tell us what you cannot eat — Jain, vegetarian, halal, no onion or garlic — and it is handled quietly at every stop.

Plan a trip around it

Put them together

Pick two or three.
We will make
a route of them.

Tell us which places pulled at you and how many nights you have. We will sequence them so the good hours are spent outside the vehicle.

Send an enquiry See ready-made routes

Call or WhatsApp: +91 98714 59069
Email: smarttripdesk@gmail.com
Walk in: Shop No. 1, Anant Ram Dairy,
Sector 13, R.K. Puram,
New Delhi 110066

Seven placeswe book every week.

Delhi is the beststarting line in India.