India

Description

India, Zanskar

Immense India, a colorful jigsaw of peoples, cultures, landscapes and climates, is a continent in its own right. The high snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas rise up across the north of the country, to form a natural border with China (Tibet). Also to the north are India's Himalayan neighbour states Nepal and Bhutan. The famous Ganges river and several of its tributaries flow from the Himalayan ranges and then turn east to form the scorchingly hot expanse of the Indo Gangetic Plain. Further south hills rise up again, such as the Aravalli range across arid Rajasthan, and the low Vindhya and Satpura ranges of Central India. Towards the southwest, parallel to the coast, several ranges collectively called the Western Ghats run all the way to India's southern tip. Their humid ridges, covered in sandal wood trees and coffee plantations, rise up well over 1000 m, and occasionally over 2000 m. In the east of India are several lower ranges of mountains and hills, known as the Eastern Ghats.

So what about hiking in India? Is it a popular local pastime? True, many Indians like to escape from the summer heat of the low plains to catch up on some fresh air in one of many hill stations, vestiges of the British colonial era. Yet, to actually set out on a multi-day hike for pleasure appears to be a primarily foreign visitors affair. Exceptions to this rule are the pilgrimages in different parts of India, most notably those in the foothills of the Himalayas, which draw whole families, the old and young alike from all walks of life. Strikingly lively and colorful events, little known by foreigners, and more of a bustling social occasion than a true hike. But then, India is changing too, and hiking is becoming increasingly popular with students and other young people.

For long distance hiking and trekking into the quietude of nature, some parts of India clearly stand out in popularity. First and foremost in the north, there are the relatively accessible western Himalayan ranges of Himachal Pradesh, with valleys such as Kangra, Kullu, Sangla and the more remote and arid Spiti and Lahaul. Altitudes in Himachal Pradesh vary widely, from the 600 m high Shivalik hills to peaks rising up well over 6000 m!

To the southeast of Himachal Pradesh is another attractive hiking and trekking region: Uttarakhand (formerly Uttaranchal), bordering on both Tibet and Nepal. The famous Hindu pilgrimage centers of Haridwar and Rishikesh are main gateway to the Uttarakhand Garhwal Himalaya's. Some lovely and not too difficult high altitude hiking and trekking options here.

Rather less easily accessible are the high altitude valleys of Zanskar and Ladakh, in India's far north. Like neighbouring Spiti and Lahaul (both part of Himachal Pradesh), these are located on the northern flanks of the Great Himalayan range. Sheltered from the monsoon rains, climate here is much more arid. Summers are pleasant and dry, but winters long and harsh.

Towards the southwest of Zanskar and Ladakh, back on the south side of the Greater Himalayan range, are the more populated valleys of Kashmir. A lovely area for hiking, but alas, bordering on Pakistan and currently not safe for foreigners.

Let's travel east now. The Himalayan range continues, and is covered by Nepal and Bhutan. However, squeezed in between these two is the former kingdom of Sikkim, now part of India. A popular area for multi-day treks at medium and high altitudes, and rightly so. For less demanding treks with great views of high peaks like Kanchenjunga (8586 m), set out from Darjeeling, a nearby old hill station surrounded by tea plantations just to the soutwest of Sikkim. Both Sikkim and Darjeeling have a monsoon season, so avoid this and go hiking from late March to May or from late September to early December.

Continue east past Bhutan, and tucked away in the far northeastern corner of India are the Himalayan ranges of Arunachal Pradesh. Although little known or explored as yet, there are some high altitude trekking possibilities here, as well as medium altitude treks through forested valleys and with great views of the snow-capped western Himalayas.

And there are so many places other than the Himalayas to go hiking and trekking in India. Most of India's countless National Parks and Nature Reserves offer guided walking safari's, day-hikes mostly. To name a few other options: Nagaland, Meghalaya, Western Ghats, Nilgiri Hills, Eastern Ghats, Orissa, Munnar Hills, Karnataka, Periyar, and so on.

Trails

Regions

Mountains

Books

Stanfords
United Kingdom
2019
  • DK Eyewitness Travel Guide India
  • Your journey starts here. Featuring DK`s much-loved maps and illustrations, walks and information, plus all new, full-colour photography, this 100% updated guide to India brings you the best of this truly incredible country in a brand-new, lightweight format.- full-colour photography, hand-drawn illustrations, and maps throughout-... Read more
Stanfords
United Kingdom
  • A Burning: The Most Electrifying Debut of 2021
  • ”A brilliant character study about politics and power, this assured debut moves at a thriller`s pace but with a meticulous eye for detail.” Nikesh ShuklaA girl walks through the slums of Kolkata holding an armful of books. She returns home smelling of smoke, and checks her most prized possession: a brand-new smartphone, purchased in... Read more
Stanfords
United Kingdom
  • Singapore Lost Guides: A Unique, Stylish and Offbeat Travel Guide
  • `Lost Guides – Singapore` is a unique, stylish and offbeat travel guidebook to Singapore. Featuring over 120 of the most special spots in Singapore, from cool coffee shops and fabulous food (local and contemporary) to authentic Asian art galleries and wild nature walks. The book also includes interviews with local creatives, and pieces of local... Read more
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • Hall of a Thousand Columns
  • All the best armchair travellers are sceptics. Those of the fourteenth century were no exception: for them, there were lies, damned lies, and Ibn Battutah's India. Born in 1304, Ibn Battutah left his native Tangier as a young scholar of law; over the course of the thirty years that followed he visited most of the known world between Morocco and... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • Hall of a Thousand Columns
  • All the best armchair travellers are sceptics. Those of the fourteenth century were no exception: for them, there were lies, damned lies, and Ibn Battutah's India. Born in 1304, Ibn Battutah left his native Tangier as a young scholar of law; over the course of the thirty years that followed he visited most of the known world between Morocco and... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • 21st Century Journalism in India
  • The Indian media is witnessing an explosive situation with newspaper and magazine circulations increasing in great numbers and television news channels-in both English and regional languages-going up by the day. Internet news portals, too, are recording a good number of hits. Journalism, then, holds tremendous promise for both seasoned and... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • 21st Century Journalism in India
  • The Indian media is witnessing an explosive situation with newspaper and magazine circulations increasing in great numbers and television news channels-in both English and regional languages-going up by the day. Internet news portals, too, are recording a good number of hits. Journalism, then, holds tremendous promise for both seasoned and... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
2015
  • Lonely Planet Pocket Kuala Lumpur
  • Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisherLonely Planet Pocket Kuala Lumpur is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Gape at the dizzying views from the top of the Petronas Towers, escape from KL's urban grind to the Forestry Research of... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
2015
  • Lonely Planet Pocket Kuala Lumpur
  • Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisherLonely Planet Pocket Kuala Lumpur is your passport to all the most relevant and up-to-date advice on what to see, what to skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Gape at the dizzying views from the top of the Petronas Towers, escape from KL's urban grind to the Forestry Research of... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • Letters to India
  • Dr. Tuthill began writing her exquisite travel stories in honor of her best friend, the astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who tragically perished in the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003. Tuthill's first collection of stories, "Letters from Africa," lovingly chronicles thrilling safari trips taken throughout southern Africa over the past five... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • Letters to India
  • Dr. Tuthill began writing her exquisite travel stories in honor of her best friend, the astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who tragically perished in the crash of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003. Tuthill's first collection of stories, "Letters from Africa," lovingly chronicles thrilling safari trips taken throughout southern Africa over the past five... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • Travelling Rough on the Hippie Trail
  • In 1967 Asta lives in Sydney's Kings Cross, famous for strip clubs, gambling dens, artists and beatniks. After a failed relationship she drops out of her office job, joins a band led by an Aborigine blues singer and is introduced to LSD by a mysterious older man at a teenage party.When she meets her new partner they decide toseek ‘spiritual... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • Travelling Rough on the Hippie Trail
  • In 1967 Asta lives in Sydney's Kings Cross, famous for strip clubs, gambling dens, artists and beatniks. After a failed relationship she drops out of her office job, joins a band led by an Aborigine blues singer and is introduced to LSD by a mysterious older man at a teenage party.When she meets her new partner they decide toseek ‘spiritual... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • Asia & India
  • Getting the most out of your travels means staying healthy. Healthy Travel Asia & India is a user-friendly guide to minimizing health risks and dealing with problems while on the road. Written by Dr. Isabelle Young, with a team of travel health experts, Healthy Travel Asia & India provides advice on planning your trip, staying healthy while... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • Asia & India
  • Getting the most out of your travels means staying healthy. Healthy Travel Asia & India is a user-friendly guide to minimizing health risks and dealing with problems while on the road. Written by Dr. Isabelle Young, with a team of travel health experts, Healthy Travel Asia & India provides advice on planning your trip, staying healthy while... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • A Vanished Road
  • A Vanished Road is a travel story. It is an account of a journey overland through Middle Eastern countries to India in 1971. The world then was a very different place to the one it is today.The countries I and five travelling companions travelled through – by train, boat, bus, local indescribable vehicles and sometimes on foot – were... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • A Vanished Road
  • A Vanished Road is a travel story. It is an account of a journey overland through Middle Eastern countries to India in 1971. The world then was a very different place to the one it is today.The countries I and five travelling companions travelled through – by train, boat, bus, local indescribable vehicles and sometimes on foot – were... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • Finding Mojo
  • What does it take to finally let go of things that just aren t working in your life? The suffering of a broken heart? Losing a job? Or maybe the painful disintegration of a long-standing friendship?It is the cruel fusion of all these things and more that leads Natalie to believe the life she s living belongs to somebody else. On discovering... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • Finding Mojo
  • What does it take to finally let go of things that just aren t working in your life? The suffering of a broken heart? Losing a job? Or maybe the painful disintegration of a long-standing friendship?It is the cruel fusion of all these things and more that leads Natalie to believe the life she s living belongs to somebody else. On discovering... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • A Walk Along the Ganges
  • An enchanting portrayal of northern India along the banks of her holiest river, stretching from the Bay of Bengal up into the Himalayas.The pilgrimage took seven months.Dennison Berwick writes, "I wanted to make a great walk, to set off with no prospect of ending for months. I wanted to see the land that had fired the British imagination for... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • A Walk Along the Ganges
  • An enchanting portrayal of northern India along the banks of her holiest river, stretching from the Bay of Bengal up into the Himalayas.The pilgrimage took seven months.Dennison Berwick writes, "I wanted to make a great walk, to set off with no prospect of ending for months. I wanted to see the land that had fired the British imagination for... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
1998
  • Garhwal and Kumaon
  • A guidebook to trekking in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of the Himalayas of northern India. Garhwal and Kumaon, known together as Uttarakhand, are the mountain regions of Uttar Pradesh in India, bordering Nepal and Tibet. They are situated almost at the centre of the great Himalayan chain with more than 250 peaks above 5500m high, culminating... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
1998
  • Garhwal and Kumaon
  • A guidebook to trekking in the Garhwal and Kumaon regions of the Himalayas of northern India. Garhwal and Kumaon, known together as Uttarakhand, are the mountain regions of Uttar Pradesh in India, bordering Nepal and Tibet. They are situated almost at the centre of the great Himalayan chain with more than 250 peaks above 5500m high, culminating... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
  • And There I Was Volume II
  • This is the second of nine journeys in the "And There I Was" series. In 1991, through a chance meeting in Bangkok with an old CIA station chief and his retired French army counterpart, expeditions were arranged into Cambodia and Laos, both still reeling fifteen years on from the devastating effects of war and genocide. The author's route took... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
  • And There I Was Volume II
  • This is the second of nine journeys in the "And There I Was" series. In 1991, through a chance meeting in Bangkok with an old CIA station chief and his retired French army counterpart, expeditions were arranged into Cambodia and Laos, both still reeling fifteen years on from the devastating effects of war and genocide. The author's route took... Read more
» Click to close
Bol.com
Netherlands
2017
  • Lonely Planet India
  • #1 best-selling guide to India * Lonely Planet India is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Immerse yourself in the sacred city of Varanasi, wonder at the Taj Mahal in Agra, or cruise the tropical waterways of Kerala; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to... Read more
  • Also available from:
  • Bol.com, Belgium
» Click to open
Bol.com
Belgium
2017
  • Lonely Planet India
  • #1 best-selling guide to India * Lonely Planet India is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Immerse yourself in the sacred city of Varanasi, wonder at the Taj Mahal in Agra, or cruise the tropical waterways of Kerala; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to... Read more
» Click to close
More books…

Maps

Stanfords
United Kingdom
  • Singapore & Malay Peninsula ITMB
  • Singapore City on a clear, indexed street plan at 1:10,000 with from ITMB, highlighting numerous places of interest and tourist facilities, plus the Singapore Island shown at 1:100,000 with its road and rail networks.The street plan covers the city’s central districts as indicated in our area coverage image, including the Financial District,... Read more
More maps…

Forum

  1. Cancel