India at a Glance: A Travel Highlight for Every State
📚 A quick-reference guide compiled from research rather than personal visits to every state. Written by Debarun Sana.
India's 28 states and 8 union territories each have their own distinct landscape, cuisine, and culture — too much to cover in one trip, but useful to see at a glance when deciding where to go next. Below is one travel highlight per state and union territory, roughly organized north to south, east to west. Where we've already published a full guide, it's linked directly.
States
Andhra Pradesh — Coastal temple towns and the port city of Visakhapatnam ("Vizag"), backed by the Eastern Ghats.
Read our Vizag guide →
Arunachal Pradesh — India's remote, mountainous northeast corner, home to Tawang Monastery, one of the largest Buddhist monasteries outside Tibet.
Assam — Kaziranga National Park, home to the largest population of one-horned rhinoceroses in the world, and the source of Assam tea.
Bihar — Bodh Gaya, where Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree — one of Buddhism's holiest sites globally.
Chhattisgarh — Dense central Indian forest, waterfalls like Chitrakote (often called India's Niagara), and significant tribal heritage.
Goa — Portuguese colonial architecture, beaches, and a nightlife scene that draws both domestic and international travelers year-round.
Gujarat — The white salt desert of the Rann of Kutch, the last wild population of Asiatic lions at Gir National Park, and Ahmedabad's UNESCO-listed old city.
Haryana — Kurukshetra, the setting of the Mahabharata epic and the Bhagavad Gita, alongside Gurugram's modern business district.
Himachal Pradesh — Himalayan hill stations like Manali and Shimla, plus high-altitude trekking routes toward Spiti Valley.
Jharkhand — Waterfalls, dense sal forests, and a strong tribal cultural presence around Ranchi.
Karnataka — Hampi's UNESCO-listed ruined city, Mysore Palace, and Bangalore as India's tech capital.
Kerala — Backwater houseboat cruises through Alleppey, Munnar's tea plantations, and Kochi's colonial-era waterfront.
Read our Kerala guide →
Madhya Pradesh — Khajuraho's intricately carved temples (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and some of India's best tiger-sighting national parks, including Bandhavgarh and Kanha.
Maharashtra — Mumbai's energy, the Ajanta and Ellora cave temples, and the hill stations of the Western Ghats.
Manipur — Loktak Lake, known for its floating phumdi islands, unique to this part of the world.
Meghalaya — Among the wettest places on Earth, known for living root bridges grown from rubber tree roots over generations, and Shillong's hill-station charm.
Read our Shillong guide →
Mizoram — Steep, forested hills and a distinct tribal culture with strong Christian influence, largely off the standard tourist circuit.
Nagaland — The Hornbill Festival each December, showcasing the traditions of the state's many distinct tribal communities.
Odisha — Konark's UNESCO-listed Sun Temple, Puri's Jagannath Temple and Rath Yatra festival, and Chilika Lake's Irrawaddy dolphins.
Personal trip diary → · Complete guide →
Punjab — The Golden Temple in Amritsar, one of the most visited religious sites in the world regardless of faith.
Rajasthan — Desert palaces and forts in Jaipur, Udaipur, and Jodhpur, plus camel safaris into the Thar Desert around Jaisalmer.
Sikkim — Kanchenjunga views, Buddhist monasteries, and India's first fully organic-farming state.
Tamil Nadu — Dravidian temple architecture at Madurai and Thanjavur, and the former French colonial town of Puducherry nearby.
Telangana — Hyderabad's Charminar, Golconda Fort, and a biryani tradition considered among the best in the country.
Tripura — The unusual Neermahal water palace, built in the middle of Rudrasagar Lake.
Uttar Pradesh — The Taj Mahal in Agra, along with Varanasi, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.
Uttarakhand — Rishikesh and Haridwar on the Ganges, and trekking access toward Himalayan peaks and the Char Dham pilgrimage sites.
West Bengal — Kolkata's colonial architecture and literary history, plus Darjeeling's tea gardens and Himalayan views in the hills to the north.
Read our Darjeeling guide →
Union Territories
Andaman and Nicobar Islands — Coral reefs, colonial-era Cellular Jail in Port Blair, and some of India's clearest water for diving and snorkeling.
Chandigarh — A planned city designed by architect Le Corbusier, distinct from almost anywhere else in India architecturally.
Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu — Merged into a single union territory in 2020; Diu in particular retains Portuguese colonial character distinct from mainland Gujarat.
Delhi — India's capital, layering Mughal-era monuments (Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb) with a dense, modern metropolitan sprawl.
Jammu and Kashmir — Reorganized as a union territory in 2019. Known for Dal Lake's houseboats in Srinagar and the Kashmir Valley's mountain scenery.
Ladakh — Separated from Jammu and Kashmir as its own union territory in 2019. A high-altitude cold desert with Buddhist monasteries, Pangong Lake, and some of the highest motorable roads in the world.
Lakshadweep — India's smallest union territory, a coral atoll archipelago in the Arabian Sea known for lagoons and marine life.
Puducherry — A former French colonial territory with a distinct quarter of tree-lined streets, colonial villas, and French-influenced cafés.
This list is deliberately brief — a starting point for deciding where to go next, not a substitute for a full guide. We're steadily adding complete itineraries for individual states as we cover them; check back or explore the linked guides above for the ones already live.
Spot an error or have a suggestion? Email me at dscreationconnect@gmail.com.
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