Notes from the road — written by Karni and the team. Less polished, more honest. Tell us what to write about next.
Planning a Jim Corbett National Park tour? Zones, opening dates, how many safaris to book and how to get there from Delhi, from our Jaipur team.
The best time to visit Kerala, month by month, from our Jaipur office: when the two monsoons fall, when Munnar is at its best and which months we advise against.
A 9-day Gujarat tour itinerary from our Jaipur office: Ahmedabad, Patan, the craft villages of Kutch and the white Rann, with real drive times and honest advice on what to skip.
Twelve India travel mistakes we see first-timers make, from cramming in too many cities to fake visa sites, and how to avoid them.
How hiring a private car with driver in India works: which vehicle to pick, what the price should include, drive times and tipping.
India trip cost, line by line: flights, hotels, car and driver, monument fees and food, with realistic ranges for a two-week private tour.
Is India safe for tourists? A Jaipur operator's straight answers on roads, scams, solo women travellers, health and the numbers to save.
An India packing list by season: what to wear in winter, summer and monsoon, temple dress rules, and the small things our guests wish they'd brought.
How the India e-Visa works for US, UK and EU passport holders: which one to pick, fees, the new e-Arrival Card and the mistakes we see.
Where to stay in Udaipur, area by area, plus what to see, day trips and the best time to go, from people who plan it every week.
How long to stay in Varanasi, a day-by-day plan, where to sleep on the ghats and what we'd skip, from a Jaipur tour operator.
A 12-day South India itinerary for winter, Chennai to Kochi by road: Mahabalipuram, Chettinad, Madurai, Munnar, a houseboat night and Fort Kochi.
How to choose a Kerala backwaters houseboat: Alleppey or Kumarakom, overnight or day cruise, rough prices and the small traps we steer guests around.
Ranthambore or Sariska? We compare tiger sightings, drive times from Jaipur and Delhi, safari zones, costs and season to help you pick one.
How a guided rhino safari in Kaziranga works: ranges, season, costs, getting there from Guwahati or Jorhat, and how many nights to plan.
A Rajasthan 15 days itinerary we've driven many times: Delhi, the desert, Udaipur, Jaipur and Agra, with drive times and honest advice.
Marwar Festival Jodhpur: when it falls around Sharad Purnima, what you'll see, venues, RIFF overlap and where to stay.
Meera Mahotsav fills Chittorgarh Fort with devotional music around Sharad Purnima. What happens, when to go, where to stay and how to fit it into a route.
Bundi Utsav brings folk music, a town procession and a dawn lamp ritual on the Chambal. When it falls in 2026, where to stay and how to plan it.
Ganesh Chaturthi begins on Monday 14 September 2026. What a traveller sees depends hugely on where they are: ten days of street pandals and immersion processions in Mumbai and Pune, and something far more local in Jaipur.
Most people know Pushkar for one week in November. The other fifty-one weeks it is a small, vegetarian, alcohol-free pilgrim town around a lake, and for many of our guests it is the calmest stop in Rajasthan.
Diwali falls on Sunday 8 November 2026, and where you spend that night changes the festival completely. Jaipur, Udaipur, Amritsar, Kolkata, Varanasi and more, from a Jaipur operator who plans around it every year.
Nine nights of dancing, then an evening when a giant effigy of Ravana is set alight. Here are the 2026 dates, what a visitor actually sees, and what it means for booking.
Whenever someone asks me what they should eat in India, I never quite know where to begin. There is simply too much to choose from.
Three hours north of Jaipur is a region of merchant mansions covered floor to roof in frescoes, and almost no coach tours go there. Here is how to see it properly.
A day-by-day Golden Triangle plan from the people who drive it every week — real distances, honest timings, and the two stops most seven-day itineraries leave out.
November to February is the easy answer. Here is the honest one: what each month of the Rajasthan year does to your comfort, your bill and your photographs, and the two fortnights we tell people to avoid.
Sariska is the tiger reserve you can reach from Delhi in four and a half hours. How the gates, zones, permits and seasons actually work, and how we fit two nights of safari between Delhi and Jaipur.
Inside the Karni Mata temple at Deshnoke, 30 km from Bikaner, where 25,000 sacred rats live beneath silver doors given by a maharaja. What a visit is really like, when to go, and how we fit it into a Rajasthan itinerary.
A 9th-century stepwell 13 storeys deep, an hour and a half from Jaipur, and the two-day folk festival held beside it each September. What to see, when to go, and how we fit it into a Golden Triangle route.
Which state celebrates Teej, the difference between Hariyali, Kajari and Hartalika Teej, and how to watch Jaipur’s royal monsoon procession — from a tour operator based two streets away.
The most beautiful night of the year in Jaipur, and also the loudest. What the five days actually involve, how to be part of a home festival as a visitor, and the practicalities nobody mentions until you are there.
A temple town of twenty thousand takes in two hundred thousand visitors and tens of thousands of camels. After twenty years of sending guests, here is our honest guide to the trading days, where to stay, and whether it is worth planning a trip around.
Hi, I am Mahima, and I'm writing this as a personal note to my father, India Karni—his other child, Popular India Vacations—and to you, our guest, whom I'll have the pleasure of welcoming to India alongside him.
