NORTH INDIA & THE HIMALAYAS

This collection runs the length of the country’s north, from the pine ridges of Himachal Pradesh and the lake towns of Uttarakhand down to the flat, historic plains of Punjab and Braj, then back up to Kashmir’s valley and the cold heights of Ladakh. It is a single geography of great range, and we plan it honestly.

What sets the zone apart is the way it stacks. Hill stations sit a few hours from cities. High passes cross above four thousand metres. The plains hold the Golden Temple, the Taj Mahal and Krishna’s country, each a place people travel a long way to stand in. The mountains ask for acclimatisation and patience with the roads; the plains ask only for the right time of year.

The range here suits most travellers, provided the journey is matched to fitness and appetite. Families take the gentler hill routes and the temple towns. Couples and small groups take the passes and the valleys. We are candid about altitude, driving days and weather, and we build each trip around what you actually want to do.

What you’ll find

• Hill stations and lake towns
• Colonial-era ridges, deodar forests and toy-train lines
• High-altitude passes, monasteries and cold-desert plateaux
• The Golden Temple and the border ceremony at Wagah
• The Taj Mahal, Mathura and Vrindavan across the Braj plains
• Kashmir’s valley, houseboats and the meadows above Pahalgam
• Careful acclimatisation days built into every mountain itinerary

When to go. The Himalayan hill stations are at their best from March to June, before the monsoon, and again in the clearer weeks of autumn. July and August bring heavy rain to the hills, and mountain roads can close on short notice, so we plan those months with care and margin. Ladakh runs a short season, roughly May to September, when the passes are open and the light is long. The northern plains, Amritsar and Agra among them, are most comfortable from October to March, when the heat lifts.