North India Trip Itinerary (The Best Places To Visit In North India)
Last Updated: March 1 2021
India is a country that is on many people’s bucket list. India can be hard to travel though for sure, but some places will truly blow you away! Also, who doesn’t want to eat curries every day, right? There are so many incredible experiences to have during your North India trip!
In this blog post, we will go through the best places to visit in north India, where you should stay and how to get there. There are plenty of holiday destinations in North India to choose from, but we have chosen the best places to visit so you don’t have to!
Our itinerary changed so much whilst we were travelling through India, as we only had 4 weeks. Due to this, we decided only to travel through Northern India and leave South India for another trip. Here is our full North India trip itinerary!
North India trip itinerary
There are so many places to see in North India, that we struggled to prioritise the destinations we should travel to. This is the North India itinerary that we chose and we visited some incredible places and had amazing experiences.
North India travel map
Our North India travel route
New Delhi – Jaisalmer – Jaipur – Sawai Madhopur – Agra – Manali – McLeod Ganj
Our Journey included 5 overnight journeys on buses/trains which saved us paying extra for accommodation on these days! India is such a large country, and the distances from one place to another can easily be 9+ hours. Overnight journeys are a great way to reach other destinations.
New Delhi (3 nights)
New Delhi was our first real stop on our North India trip, and boy oh boy did we experience a culture shock! From the dirty streets to the cows roaming around every corner it was definitely an eye-opener for us! There are much nicer places to stay in India so we recommend only spending 2-3 nights here.
Although it isn’t the prettiest of cities, there are still plenty of nice things to see in New Delhi.
Click here to read our ’10 awesome things to do in New Delhi – the ultimate guide’ blog post.
How to get there?
New Delhi is one of the main entry points to India through flying. However, if you are arriving from the south trains are readily available to New Delhi. However, it can be a pretty long journey! We originally flew into Hyderabad, but our itinerary changed so we flew straight to New Delhi. This was to avoid the 24-hour train journey!
Where to stay?
We stayed in Backpackers Heaven @ New King. The hostel is located on a narrow side street which isn’t very pleasant to walk down. However, the owners can help book your whole trip as they are a tour company. They offered us a very packed North India tour and the prices were very reasonable, we just didn’t have the budget, unfortunately. However, they also helped us book onward transport, a tour of New Delhi and the rooms were also really comfortable!
Jaisalmer (3 nights)
Jaisalmer is a desert town located in the Thar desert, in the state of Rajasthan. Its temperatures can get above 50 degrees, so definitely a place for sun cream! Jaisalmer is known as the golden city, and you can get some pretty incredible views from the fort. There are plenty of forts in India, but Jaisalmer fort is pretty special!
You can also stay overnight in the desert, which we have heard is pretty special however we didn’t have the chance to do this. If you are wanting to do this, take a jeep into the desert. Most overnight stays include a camel safari, however, we have heard the animals aren’t treated in the best way so best to avoid these packages.
Click here to read our ‘Staying in a medieval fort in Jaisalmer, India’ blog post.
How to get there?
We arrived in Jaisalmer from New Delhi by overnight train, which took 18 hours. It may sound rough but we travelled third class AC and honestly, it was fine and we slept most of the way! Jaisalmer can also be reached by government-run buses and overnight buses from other areas in Rajasthan.
Where to stay?
We stayed in Surya Paying Guest House which is located within Jaisalmer Fort. It was super cheap, although we recommend going for the air-conditioned room when it is the dry season! They have a rooftop cafe on the fort with amazing food, and also a restaurant inside for when it is too hot.
Jaipur (2 nights)
Jaipur is known as India’s pink city, with it having lots of beautiful pink buildings. Places to visit include Hawa Mahal, Patrika Gate and Amber Fort which is located just outside of the city centre. Some of the sights are located quite far apart so it may be best to hire a driver for the day!
Jaipur is one of the cleaner cities in India, and should be on your list for a four week northern India itinerary! It is one of the main tourist spots in Rajasthan and in our opinion is one of the best tourist places in North India.
Click here to read our ‘2 Day Jaipur Itinerary (The Best Places To Visit In Jaipur, India)’ blog post.
How to get there?
We arrived in Jaipur by overnight bus from Jaisalmer which took around 12 hours. Some of the overnight buses in Rajasthan are awesome, where you have your own little pod with a door, air conditioning and plug socket. Government buses (RSRTC) also run to Jaipur, as well as trains.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Nahar Singh Haveli and had a really comfortable stay. They have a rooftop cafe and air conditioning which is a must when travelling through the state of Rajasthan!
Sawai Madhopur – Ranthambore National Park (3 nights)
Sawai Madhopur is the closest town to Ranthambore National Park. Ranthambore is one of the best places to spot tigers in the world, with the absolute best time to visit during April – June. This is because the likelihood of seeing a tiger increases with the hot weather, as they roam around for water.
We did two safaris here, and had the best experience seeing a tiger! He was so close to us and walked straight past the jeeps. We found it to be very difficult to book a safari here and found the best way to do it is to book through your hotel.
If you want to see tigers in the wild then Ranthambore national park is one of the best places in North India to go on a tiger safari. Definitely include it on your North India trip!
Click here to read our ‘Seeing wild tigers in Ranthambore National Park – What you need to know’ blog post.
How to get there?
We arrived from Jaipur by train to Sawai Madhopur. Trains also run from Agra, New Delhi and other areas. Buses also run from Jaipur to Sawai Madhopur, but we aren’t sure where else you can get the bus from.
Where to stay?
We stayed in Travel Soul Bed & Breakfast and couldn’t recommend this place enough! The staff are extremely helpful and will go out of their way to help you. They booked two safaris for us, and also transport to and from Sawai Madhopur as we couldn’t do it online. After we had a negative experience with the first safari, they got on the phone straight away and managed to change our afternoon safari so we were in the main zone. That safari is where we had our beautiful experience with tigers, and we can’t thank them enough! They also went out of their way to file a complaint to the forestry board, and everything they did went above and beyond.
Agra (2 nights)
Agra is one of the most popular tourist places in North India and is located in Uttar Pradesh. It is where the famous Taj Mahal is found! The Taj Mahal is a UNESCO world heritage site, so make sure you don’t miss it. It is a must for any North India trip!
Although the Taj Mahal is beautiful, Agra is not somewhere you want to be spending a lot of time. We found it to be dirty, chaotic and there were plenty of scammers around that you have to be careful of. We stayed for two nights, which was enough time to visit some other places that Agra had to offer, and then have our experience of Taj Mahal at sunrise the next day before check out.
Click here to read our ‘Visiting the Taj Mahal in India – the ultimate guide’ blog post.
How to get there?
We arrived in Agra by train from Sawai Madhopur. Agra can be reached by bus or by train from multiple destinations. There are plenty of buses and trains to Agra from Delhi, as a lot of people start their trip in New Delhi and then head straight to Agra. Be careful booking accommodation in Agra, travel agents like to take a lot of commission and charge you extra for the tickets.
Where to stay?
We stayed in Sai Palace, which was a 5-minute walk from the ticket offices of the Taj Mahal. They have a rooftop cafe with incredible views of the Taj Mahal and amazing Indian food!
Manali (5 nights)
Manali was our absolute favourite place in India! Located within Himachal Pradesh, Manali gives stunning views of the Indian Himalayas. Far away from the chaos of the big cities like New Delhi, Manali is the perfect place to relax. In our opinion, Manali is one of the most beautiful places to visit in North India.
We would recommend doing some trekking here, but it may be best to hire a guide. Some of the trails can be quite confusing, and it’s known that some of the trails are home to bears and leopards so you can never be too careful! Being able to hike in the snow and be surrounded by snow-capped mountains was bliss for us!
How to get there?
Manali doesn’t have a train station so the only way to get there is by bus or private driver. The buses are generally overnight buses and take around 10 hours from New Delhi; this is how we arrived in Manali. If you do want to travel by train, the best option is to get a train to Chandigarh and then get a bus to Manali.
Where to stay?
We stayed at Manali Top Inn & Cafe and we really couldn’t recommend this place enough! Staying here in April gave us insane views with snow-capped mountains everywhere! They also have a cafe downstairs which has the most amazing food, and the staff will do anything to help you!
They booked us onward transport, and we also booked a day hike with them and had the most incredible experience! Manali can also get chilly so the hot water shower and the thick blankets provided made the stay even more comfortable! The photo below was taken from our balcony!
McLeod Ganj (4 nights)
Mcleod Ganj was our last stop on our North India trip before we were back to New Delhi to catch our flight out. Mcleod Ganj is famous for being home to the Dalai Lama, and is a very peaceful place! There are plenty of walks to do, with there also being options to camp overnight in the mountains.
If we had more money, we definitely would have done this. There are some cool cafe’s with incredible food and also plenty of markets to have a shop around. You can also walk to Dharamshala from McLeod Ganj, which we would recommend to do rather than stay in Dharamshala. McLeod Ganj was a much nicer place to stay!
How to get there?
We got the night bus to McLeod Ganj from Manali. You can also get overnight buses from New Delhi. Pathankot railway station is the closest train station, where we have heard you can then get a bus or hire a private car.
Where to stay?
We stayed in Hotel Forest Hill which was located in the heart of McLeod Ganj. We had hot running water every day, which is often a rarity in India! The rooms also have room service, so you can get yummy curries in your room! It is also only a short walk to the temple of the Dalai Lama.
Other places to visit in North India
If we had longer to travel through India, there are plenty of other North India travel destinations that we would have loved to visit! These include Udaipur, Jodphur and Ladakh up in the very North of India.
We would also have loved to travel up to Northeast India because the scenery is supposed to be beautiful!
How to get around India
Travelling around India can be a task in itself, with it often being difficult to book transport. We very often found that the trains and buses were fully booked weeks in advance, and unless you are an Indian citizen it can be very difficult to book trains online.
This is because we just couldn’t seem to register on the Indian railway website. It doesn’t accept foreign addresses or postcodes and we just could not figure it out. However we did find this useful website after we’d already left India, but it’s helpful for you guys haha. You can find information on how to create an account with IRCTC (The Indian railway website) here.
We mostly travelled by sleeper bus through India which were booked either through our hotel or a local travel agency. There are also plenty of North India tour packages available if you choose to go down this route, or Golden triangle tour options which won’t include the Himalayas but will focus more on the state of Rajasthan.
Thank you so much for reading this post on our North India itinerary! We hope it has helped you plan your North India trip and given you some ideas of places to visit!
Have you ever visited India? If so, we would love to hear your stories in the comments below!
P.S If you want to follow more of our journey, you can find our Instagram here
Thanks,
Jack & Abbie.
MORE INDIA BLOG POSTS
Delhi Itinerary (The 10 Best Things To Do In Delhi, India)
Ranthambore Safari – Seeing Wild Tigers In India (Bucket List Experience)
Taj Mahal Visit (All You Need To Know & The Best View Points)
The Best Places To Visit In Jaisalmer (The Golden City Of India)
The Best Places To Visit In Manali (The Indian Himalayas)
2 Day Jaipur Itinerary (The Best Places To Visit In Jaipur, India)
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I’m one half of Acouplescalling. I'm passionate about all things travel and photography and I love sharing my experiences with others. I've seen a lot of the world already and I want to help as many people as I can do the same thing!
