Wildlife guide
This wildlife travel guide is meant to be like a trailer for the new Attenborough series. Because we also have individual travel guides for more specific wildlife holidays, such as our safaris, bear watching and whale watching.
Best place to see tigers
When you look at the locations of tiger reserves in India, still the best place to see tigers in terms of sightings and safari backup, they spread out in a line from the north to the south of the country. It is almost as if these beauties have created their own catwalk stretching through the heart of their habitat. Striding elegantly, slowly and coolly centre stage, through all the mayhem of human existence. Fans may argue over whether the lion or the tiger is the king of the jungle, but when you see just how much land they cover in India, the tiger is definitely ruling the roost.
Our Tiger safari Holidays
Tiger tour in India, land of the Tiger tour
Wildlife tour through India
From
£2499 to £8899
16 days
inc UK flights
Wildlife holiday in Central India
Best of Indian wildlife with tiger, leopard and sloth bear.
From
Rupee165000 to Rupee195000
12 days
ex flights
Tiger watching holiday in India
A chance to see the majestic tiger in the wild
From
£725 to £950
9 days
ex flights
Golden Triangle with Ranthambore tour, India
Brilliant experiences including Tigers and Temples
From
£1149
11 days
ex flights
Central India holiday, culture and wildlife
The very best of central India's wildlife and history
From
Rupee145000 to Rupee195000
16 days
ex flights
Tadoba National park tiger safari, India
Tadoba the best tiger reserve of India
From
£950 to £1250
8 days
ex flights
Tiger & wildlife tour in Central India
A tour for those who wish to see tigers and other wildlife
From
Rupee135000
10 days
ex flights
Tiger and Kerala beaches tour in India
Tigers safaris in central India with backwaters of Kerala
From
Rupee182000
17 days
ex flights
Tigers safaris in India
Explore India's National Parks in search of elusive Tigers
From
£1630
9 days
ex flights
India tiger watching holidays
Wildlife tour in India, plus the Taj Mahal
From
£2640
11 days
ex flights
Wildlife photography holiday in India
Photograph superb wildlife & even the illusive tiger
From
£750 to £950
10 days
ex flights
Golden Triangle & tigers holiday in India
Rajathan's palaces, the Taj Mahal & tigers
From
£750 to £900
9 days
ex flights
Rural India holiday, culture & wildlife
Authentic exploration of Central Indian village life
From
£2500 to £3000
14 days
ex flights
Bandhavgarh and Kanha tiger safari in India
10 Day Tiger Safari in Bandhavgarh and Kanha National Parks
From
£1395 to £1495
10 days
ex flights
Tigers and rhinos tours in India
Go on safari & see Bengal tigers and Rhinoceros
From
£1200 to £1400
10 days
ex flights
Tiger safari in India, Bandhavgarh & Kanha
Ultimate wilderness experience in two of the best parks!
From
US $1230 to US $2250
7 days
ex flights
India tiger safaris on a budget
Maximum tigers and minimum budget on this safari of India
From
£1400
8 days
ex flights
Tiger safari and Golden Triangle tour in India
Abundant culture, history and wildlife
From
£2650
11 days
inc UK flights
Ganges tour, Delhi to Calcutta
Explore spiritual India sailing on the Ganges
From
£2965
16 days
ex flights
Amur leopard & Siberian tiger photography tour
Unique chance to photograph Siberian Tigers & Amur Leopards
From
£6440
16 days
ex flights
Northern India holidays
The best of northern India in a short itinerary
From
£1459 to £2079
10 days
inc UK flights
Siberian tiger photography tour
A photopraphy unique tour to photograph wild Siberian Tigers
From
£2995
9 days
ex flights
India luxury NP wildlife holidays,
The best national parks in India with abundant wild/birdlife
From
£2399
14 days
ex flights
Central India wildlife holiday, stay in a treehouse
Authentic wilderness experience in Tree Houses, India
From
US $2275 to US $4250
10 days
ex flights
Satpura tiger and sloth bear watching holiday, India
Find India’s rare predators, tigers, dhole, bears & leopard
From
€3795
11 days
ex flights
Track leopards and tigers in Siberia
Track wild Siberian Tigers & photograph rare Amur Leopards
From
£6850
18 days
ex flights
Bangladesh wildlife holiday
Searchthe Sunderbans and rainforests for Tigers and Gibbons
From
£1999
11 days
ex flights
Satpura tiger reserve safari in India
Wlderness experience at Satpura Tiger Reserve.
From
US $1300 to US $2400
6 days
ex flights
1. Bandhavgarh National Park
2. Bhutan
3. Satpura National Park
4. Kanha National Park
5. Nepal
6. Panna National Park
7. Pench National Park
8. Ranthambore National Park
9. Southeast Russia
10. Sundarbans
11. Tadoba National Park
2. Bhutan
3. Satpura National Park
4. Kanha National Park
5. Nepal
6. Panna National Park
7. Pench National Park
8. Ranthambore National Park
9. Southeast Russia
10. Sundarbans
11. Tadoba National Park
Bandhavgarh National Park
1. Bandhavgarh National Park
Bandhavgarh, in Madhya Pradesh state, is often combined with a trip to Delhi and the Taj Mahal. Very dramatic, with much drier landscape than some of the other parks, and a massive rocky outcrop and Bandhavgarh Fort at its core, thought to be 2000 years old. Around these lie eroded rocks and ruins, caves and chasms, home to the whole gamut of gorgeous wildlife.
Bhutan
2. Bhutan
Tiger safaris are in their infancy here, and so it is essential to travel with a responsible tourism operator who combines the explorative hikes into the Jigme Singe Wanchuck National Park with other remote densely forested mountain regions of this untouched country. It is also important to note that there is approximately only a five percent chance of seeing tigers, so be prepared for the fact that sightings are rare in Bhutan, although there is a wealth of other wildlife.
Satpura National Park
3. Satpura National Park
Nestled in the Satpura mountains, this underrated park is one of the best places to see wildlife in India. It’s home to large herds of deer and antelope, impressive birdlife, and its leopard, sloth bear and rare Asian wild dogs are abundant and relatively easy to spot. Oh, and tigers, too. As well as game drives, you can do walking safaris and canoe the Tawa Reservoir.
Kanha National Park
4. Kanha National Park
Bang in the middle of India, in Madhya Pradesh, Kanha is a natural concoction of grassy plateaus, open misty plains and bamboo forests. About 100 tigers live in this vast park and, along with the leopard, rule the roost as the main predator. The forests are also habitat for the rare swamp deer as well as the sambhar, chital, monkeys and mongoose.
Nepal
5. Nepal
Although sightings of tigers are less common than in India, you are able to explore Chitwan and Bardia National Parks on foot and also via canoe, as well as by jeep. Chitwan is located only half a day from Kathmandu and is also known for its populations of leopards, sloth bears and over 500 one-horned rhinos. Bardia is located in a more remote area of western Nepal, so you will need your explorer hat on.
Panna National Park
6. Panna National Park
With the Ken River running through it, this park, in Madhya Pradesh state, is peppered with prettiness. With ancient rock paintings, ruins from the Gondwana period, acacia trees with omnipresent birds, a different species at every turn, this park is a stunning place to stay. Take a boat trip on the river, or a night safari where you have a better chance to spot tigers which are, sadly, much rarer here than in other parks.
Pench National Park
7. Pench National Park
Although not so well known for its tiger safaris, it is the park that inspired Rudyard Kipling to write The Jungle Book. It is often offered as an optional extra on tiger safaris, as the tigers are less visible here, but leopard do come out to play. You will forget about all your worries and strife here though when you take in the bird populations, with over 210 species thriving at the park's reservoir.
Ranthambore National Park
8. Ranthambore National Park
Don’t just tie this onto the end of a trip to India’s Golden Triangle. Located in Rajasthan, with its magical mixture of Bengal Tigers and Baloo style sloth bears, tropical forest and ruined temples, Ranthambore is not a place to hurry round. Although famous, it isn’t a zoo with tigers at every turn. It’s a wonderful wildlife wilderness, now highly protected, compared with its history as the private hunting ground of the Maharaja of Jaipur.
Southeast Russia
9. Southeast Russia
You will need a big tiger in your tank to make it to this remote part of Russia. Travel with a responsible operator and the rewards will be great, being early explorers into the taiga forest of far eastern Siberia & Amur. Home to 400 Siberian tigers and many Amur leopards, these are still the rarest big cats in the world, therefore sightings are low, which is why tracking them is an important part of this trip.
Sundarbans
10. Sundarbans
Shared between India and Bangladesh, this extraordinary landscape is the largest mangrove forest in the world and one where you can be lucky enough to see tigers from the water. There are approximately 500 of them living in the tangled web of roots and branches here. There is also a plethora of primates, crocodiles, Gangetic and Irrawaddy dolphins to be seen here too. An Attenborough-esque adventure if ever there was one.
Tadoba National Park
11. Tadoba National Park
Located in the Maharashtra state of central India, you are jumping right off the well-trodden tourist track here. Also known as Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, it was named after the god Tadoba or Taru, worshipped by tribal people living in the region’s dense forests and around its eponymous Andhari River. These people still live here and several are now being trained as naturalists and field guides for tourists coming to see their sacred place.
Our top Tiger safari Holiday
Tiger tour in India, land of the Tiger tour
Wildlife tour through India
From
£2499 to £8899
16 days
inc UK flights
Small group travel:
2019: 12 Apr, 11 Oct, 26 Oct, 1 Nov, 8 Nov, 15 Nov, 20 Dec
2020: 31 Jan, 14 Feb, 28 Feb, 13 Mar, 27 Mar, 3 Apr, 10 Apr, 9 Oct, 23 Oct, 6 Nov, 13 Nov, 20 Nov, 18 Dec
2019: 12 Apr, 11 Oct, 26 Oct, 1 Nov, 8 Nov, 15 Nov, 20 Dec
2020: 31 Jan, 14 Feb, 28 Feb, 13 Mar, 27 Mar, 3 Apr, 10 Apr, 9 Oct, 23 Oct, 6 Nov, 13 Nov, 20 Nov, 18 Dec
Helpdesk
Hello. If you'd like to chat about Tiger safari or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help. Rosy & team.
Tips on where to see wild tigers
Paul Goldstein , top tiger safari guide and expert at one of our leading suppliers, Exodus:
“The best parks for seeing tigers are Ranthambore, Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Tadoba. For tiger safaris, it is important to give yourself more time in one or two places than just a tour that ticks of four or five reserves, because there are big distances between them. Also, be prepared for appalling bureaucracy in the parks. You just have to be patient. Most importantly, it’s about moments. It might just be one moment as a tiger walks through a beam of light and then looks straight through you. It’s not just about chalking up six of them.”
Shanane Davis, Director of our supplier, True Luxury Tours, specialising in Rajasthan:
“We have the only privately owned wildlife sanctuary in India as all the sanctuaries were nationalised. We are also offer, unusually, walking safaris as well as night safaris, so it is similar to safaris in Africa. You can see the animals up close on foot during the morning, and then at night by jeep. We also have the highest number of Asian wild cats in the country, as we have brought back the numbers ourselves, so we are proud of that. For other wildlife seekers, I highly recommend Pench and Tadoba National Parks where they have tight controls over the numbers of jeeps allowed in per day, and they don’t have minibuses like in Ranthambhore. The mangrove forests of the Sunderbans are also amazing of course.”
Julian Matthews, founder and chair of tourism action charity Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFTigers) and Tiger Nation, both aiming to use tourism to support tiger conservation more effectively:
"Really, tiger tourism only exists in Nepal and India. Unless you are an avid adventurer, you could go to Siberia or Malaysia, but chances of catching a glimpse are small. Mind you, thirty years ago that is what India was like, with tigers being wholly nocturnal, being hunted and under pressure from grazers and agricultural practices. The reality today is that because tigers born in tourism zones do not now have these human disturbance pressures, they are now diurnal, and habituated to the jeeps and guards that are a part of their daily landscape. There are now 47 tiger reserves in India, but 98 percent of visitors go to fewer than 10 of them, the most well-known ones. These well visited reserves have the key source populations of tigers, and indeed many are now ‘too full’ of tigers, and more land is needed to be restored to cope with the tiger overflow, a major conservation headache to the Forest Ministry."
More about Tiger safari
We can capture a lot of details in our tiger safaris travel guide about where to go and when to go, but we can’t capture that feeling when you finally get to see into the eye of a tiger.
No matter what time of year you choose, it is worth remembering that it's always the tiger who calls the shots about making an appearance.
People travel a long way to see tigers, and it is definitely worth the trip when you do, but it makes good sense to pick a trip that has plenty of other activities alongside the tiger safari.
At Responsible Travel we are lucky to work with some of the world’s most dedicated conservationists, leader guides, naturalists and scientists when it comes to tigers.
Read about the issues affecting tigers today, from habitat loss to poaching and learn how responsible tourism is playing its part in conservation.
Dig a little deeper into the detail of travelling to see tigers in the wild, and find out what tiger safaris entail, so you can plan and prepare with confidence.
Beautiful landscapes, a growing population of tigers and the atmospheric Ranthambore Fort presiding over all make Ranthambore National Park a must-visit for wildlife lovers.
Pench National Park is not one of India’s best known parks and won’t always deliver tiger sightigs, but that has the advantage of keeping visitor numbers low.
Big, wild and beautiful, Kanha National Park is home to around 100 Bengal tigers, plus an abundance of other fascinating wildlife and birdlife.
More relevant guides
Why book with Responsible Travel
Photo credits: [Page banner: Aditya "Dicky" Singh] [Driving into jungle: Paul Asman and Jill Lenob]
[Bandhavgarh national park: Elkhiki]
[Bhutan: Dana and LeRoy]
[Satpura national park: Rajarshi MITRA]
[Kanha national park: Altaipanther]
[Nepal: Dhiroi Prasad Koirala]
[Panna National Park: Brian Gatwicke]
[Pench National park: Roving-Aye]
[Ranthambore national park: Bjoern]
[Siberia: Appaloosa]
[Sundarbans: Kingshuk Mondal]
[Tadoba national park: Mahesh Patil]
[Paul Goldstein advice: Wildness Travel and Photgraphy]
[Sundarbans mangroves: Upananyu Roy]
[Kerala tiger reserve: McKay Savage]
- Recently viewed
