Travel

The reputation: Goa is expensive. The Instagram version of Goa — beachfront villas, sunset cocktails at ₹600 each, seafood dinners that cost ₹2,000 per person — is real, and it is beautiful. It is also completely optional. The truth: Goa on ₹3,000 per person per day (including accommodation) is entirely achievable — and the budget version of Goa is, in many ways, more enjoyable than the expensive one. Here is exactly how to do it. Accommodation: ₹800–₹1,200 per night The key to affordable Goa accommodation is location strategy. North Goa’s Calangute, Baga, and Anjuna beaches are where the expensive hotels cluster. Move 15 minutes inland or to quieter beaches — Morjim, Mandrem, Agonda, or Palolem (South Goa) — and costs drop by 40–60%. What ₹800–₹1,200 gets you: A clean, fan-cooled room with en-suite bathroom in a family-run guesthouse Often includes breakfast Quieter location, more authentic neighbourhood feel Where to look: Direct bookings (call the property, avoid OTA markup), Zostel Goa (₹700–₹900 for dorm, ₹1,500–₹2,000 for private), or local guesthouses in South Goa villages. … Read more

Most Indians avoid travelling during monsoon season. This is a genuine mistake. Between July and September, when the rest of the country is sweating indoors, some of India’s most dramatic landscapes are at their absolute peak — waterfalls roaring, forests deep green, hillsides covered in wildflowers, and popular destinations blissfully empty of tourists. If you have never travelled during monsoon, this is your sign to try it this year. Here are 10 places across India that are simply better in the rain. 1. Cherrapunji and Mawsynram, Meghalaya These two villages in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya hold the record for the highest rainfall on earth — and in full monsoon, they become something genuinely surreal. Waterfalls appear on every hillside. Clouds move through valleys at eye level, and the living root bridges — ancient structures woven from the aerial roots of rubber trees by the Khasi people — are surrounded by dense, dripping green jungle. The Nohkalikai Falls, India’s tallest plunge waterfall, reaches its maximum volume and power during these months. If you … Read more

Mumbai never stops. The city runs on ambition and adrenaline, and after five days of traffic, deadlines, and the relentless noise of 20 million people, even the most dedicated Mumbaikar needs to breathe. The good news is that within 3 hours of the city — in almost every direction — you will find cool air, green hills, and the kind of quiet that reminds you what silence sounds like. Here are the best hill stations reachable from Mumbai for a weekend trip, ranked by how far they are and what kind of traveller they suit best. 1. Lonavala & Khandala — The Classic Escape (2 Hours) Distance from Mumbai: 83 km | Drive time: 1.5–2.5 hours (depending on traffic) Lonavala is Mumbai’s oldest weekend escape and still the most popular for good reason. Sitting at 625 metres above sea level in the Western Ghats, it offers a combination of scenic viewpoints, lakes, waterfalls, and the kind of misty, moody weather that feels like a different world from the coastal heat of Mumbai. Must-see … Read more

You have seen Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal on every Instagram grid. You have watched Jodhpur’s blue houses appear in more travel reels than you can count. Rajasthan’s famous cities are magnificent — but they are also crowded, expensive, and increasingly curated for foreign tourists rather than curious Indian travellers. The real Rajasthan — the one that feels untouched, where chai costs ₹10 and a local shows you a 400-year-old step well that does not appear on any tourist map — lives in its lesser-known corners. Here are six places that will make you fall in love with Rajasthan all over again. 1. Bundi — The Blue City Nobody Talks About Everyone knows Jodhpur as the blue city. Almost nobody knows that Bundi, tucked in the Hadoti region of southeastern Rajasthan, has streets just as blue, a palace just as grand, and a fraction of the tourist crowd. Bundi Palace sits dramatically against a rocky hill, with elaborate murals covering its walls — paintings so detailed and vivid that Rudyard Kipling reportedly used the palace … Read more