India
Central India
The heart of India, and its least visited region: the carved temples of Khajuraho, the forgotten palaces of Orchha, and the forests of Kanha and Bandhavgarh, where tigers are seen more often than almost anywhere.
Madhya Pradesh, the "middle province", sits between Agra and the Deccan. It has some of the finest monuments in India and very few visitors, and its national parks are the forests of Kipling's Jungle Book.
The usual route runs from Agra or Delhi south to Gwalior, Orchha and Khajuraho, then on to the tiger reserves, or east to Varanasi.
Written by the TravelZeg team in New Delhi.
In short
- Best for
- Tigers, temple architecture, travellers who have seen Rajasthan
- Less suited to
- Short trips; the distances are long
- Best time
- October to March for the towns; October to June for the parks, with the best tiger sightings in the heat of March to May.
- Ideal length
- 7 to 12 nights.
Where to go
Where to go in central India
- Khajuraho
- A group of 1,000-year-old temples covered in carvings of gods, dancers and lovers. A UNESCO World Heritage site.
- Orchha
- A small town of riverside palaces and cenotaphs, with almost nobody in them. One of our favourite overnight stops in India.
- Gwalior
- A hilltop fort with painted tiles and a palace still lived in by the royal family; on the fast train line from Delhi.
- Kanha and Bandhavgarh
- Two of India's best tiger reserves, with sal forest and meadows. Bandhavgarh has a high density of tigers; Kanha is larger and wilder.
- Pench and Satpura
- Quieter parks; Satpura allows walking safaris and canoeing.
Our view
What we rate, and what we would skip
What we rate
Three nights in one park
Several drives in the same forest give you the best chance of a tiger.
Orchha at dusk
The cenotaphs over the Betwa river as the light goes.
A naturalist, not only a driver
We book lodges with trained naturalists.
What we would skip
Visiting the parks in July to September
The core zones are closed during the monsoon.
One safari and away
Tigers do not keep appointments.
Rushing Khajuraho
Give it a full day, with the eastern and southern temples too.
Practical
Getting there and around
- Getting there
- Fly to Khajuraho from Delhi or Varanasi; Jabalpur for Kanha and Bandhavgarh; fast trains from Delhi to Gwalior and Jhansi (for Orchha).
- Combine with
- Delhi and Agra; Varanasi.
Plan my journey
Tell us roughly what you have in mind
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