Top 10 unusual holidays in India

It’s easy to have an unusual holiday in India with Responsible Travel – we have well over 300 ways to explore the country, many of which go beyond the tried and tested tourist sites to give you more authentic experiences. Think yoga and volunteering, kayaking and cycling, or taking a tour that homes in on architecture or textiles.

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Top 10 unusual holidays in India

Don’t feel like a tourist in India: feel like a cyclist, a kayaker, a yogi, a photographer – or, in a homestay, part of the family. Our unusual holidays aren’t weird for weird’s sake – they are designed to take you off the beaten track, meet real people, and see the country in new ways and lights.

Turn that Golden Triangle into a platinum polygon – add in unexpected sights and delicious detours. Here’s to seeing India through a viewfinder, by train, on two wheels, through the eyes of its tribal people, and through its food and culture. Read on for our top 10 unusual holidays.

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1. Don’t just spot tigers, but lions too

India is home to the tiger, but did you know it is also the last remaining home of the Asiatic lion? Just a few hundred live in the Gir forests in western India – the only place you can see lions outside of Africa. On our holidays to the adjacent states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, you can see both lions and tigers on one trip – plus have chances to spy the reticent sloth bear and elusive leopards. That’s the kind of experience you can’t get anywhere else.

Best time to go: December to March
Our top safari trip: India safari holiday, lions, tigers and bears
See all our trips: India wildlife holidays
Read more: Asiatic lions in Gujarat

2. Explore more on two wheels

Cycling through livestock herds, overtaking laden oxcarts, and being overtaken in turn by children pedalling to school and scooters where pillion passengers in saris wave as they go: the road is for everyone – including you – on rural routes through India. Responsible Travel’s cycling holidays take you on pre-planned itineraries away from the busy roads. You’ll cycle through plantations and forests, hilly estates, along the coast, and put money into lesser-visited places. You’re well off the tourist trail here.

Best time to go: September to May
Our top cycling trip: Kerala cycling tour
See all our trips: India cycling holidays
Read more: Cycling in India travel guide

3. Traverse northern India by train

When travellers say they’re going to north India, they normally mean the Golden Triangle. There’s a lot more to the north though, and India’s rail system – one of the most impressive in the world – helps you see it. On our rail holidays you can travel from Kolkata, close to the border with Bangladesh all the way to Amritsar, right on the border with Pakistan – a distance of over 1,700km. Sleep in bunk beds and wake up at the Taj Mahal, take the UNESCO-listed toy train up into Shimla hill station, and watch as cities and vast plains sweep into view.

Best time to go: October to March
Our top rail trip: Calcutta to Amritsar rail journey
See all our trips: India rail holidays
Read more: India by rail travel guide

4. Get your camera out at tribal festivals

How to begin capturing India in a viewfinder? Look to the fascinating north-east tribal belt. India has the most tribal people in the world, many concentrated here. Go village to village with a local guide who can make sure that all interaction is respectful. Our trips often include festivals – including the Hornbill Festival in Nagaland – where tattooed Konyak Naga elders once again don their boar tusk and feather headdresses: perfect for portraits. You’ll take thousands of snaps: it’s a case of photograph in haste, edit at leisure.

Best time to go: November to March
Our top photography trip: Assam and Nagaland photography tour in India
See all our trips: Photography holidays
Read more: Photography in India travel guide

5. India’s culture by way of its fabulous fabrics

India’s textile traditions tell you the stories of marginalised communities: the lives of female bandhani makers, of nomadic tribes who embroider messages along hems, and the vendors of Bhuj’s evening market. The best place to go? There’s a high concentration of traditional techniques in the state of Gujarat where you’ll find workshops, markets and master craftspeople. You can weave many stories into a single bolt of cloth, and, by block printing your own scarf on one of our tours, tell your own.

Best time to go: November to February
Our top textile trip: Textile tour of Gujarat
See all our trips: Gujarat holidays
Read more: Gujarat textile holidays travel guide

6. Trekking in the high altitude Ladakh region

India’s Ladakh region is a trekker’s paradise: seriously high altitude walking can be achieved without mountaineering experience and it’s far less busy than many of the popular routes in Nepal. You can conquer impressive peaks or trek in the valleys – both afford fantastic views of a surreal rain shadow landscape where massive mountains, mineral rich and colourful, rise out of vivid green agricultural valleys. It’s the home of snow leopards, Tibetan monasteries and the bustling capital of Leh. Climb to monasteries and viewpoints above the vivid valley floor, or challenge yourself with the Markha Valley trek.

Best time to go: July to September
Our top trekking trip: Ladakh mountains trekking adventure
See all our trips: India walking holidays
Read more: Trekking in Ladakh travel guide

7. Take to Kerala’s backwaters by kayak

These tranquil channels look so peaceful, it would be a sin to make a ripple – but your double kayak slips through with barely a wake. Kerala’s 900km of waterways and lakes, known as its backwaters, are agricultural and fishing heartlands, popular for houseboat cruising on kettuvallams – traditional barges. Slim down to a kayak and you can explore smaller waterways and mangroves and stay in homestays along the way. Your only duty is keeping a permanent kingfisher watch.

Best time to go: December to March
Our top Kerala trip: Kayaking in the Keralan backwaters
See all our trips: Kerala holidays
Read more: Kerala travel guide

8. Escape to the country

Whilst some of India’s population are city dwellers, some 60 percent are not. A huge part of the country is distinctly un-urban, agricultural, and often beautiful. Visiting the tribal villages on the fringes of tiger reserves is a beautiful way to round out a tiger safari. Responsible tourism here helps marginalised groups gain from the tourism industry: whether you visit craft collectives, shop at roadside stands, or visit agricultural projects.

Best time to go: November to March
Our top rural India trip: India village holiday, forest and fables
See all our trips: Rural India holidays
Read more: Rural India travel guide

9. Wellness in the spiritual home of yoga

Yoga has been practised in India for thousands of years. There’s no better place to go to understand its principles than at source. Take a yoga retreat where you can enjoy Ayurvedic treatments at the beach or combine yoga with volunteering: seva, or ‘selfless service’ is a pillar of Karma yoga. After a morning yoga session, spend the day helping local women with English or IT, with evenings and weekends free. Explore the self, selflessness and the surrounding world, all on one holiday.

Best time to go: All year round
Our top yoga trip: India yoga and women’s empowerment holiday
See all our trips: Yoga holidays
Read more: Yoga holidays in India travel guide

10. Food, glorious food

Don’t just see the Golden Triangle, eat dozens of them – delicious samosas are a mainstay street food snack in India, but if you take a food focused tour you’ll want to save room: for meeting with spice sellers, lunches at Sikh temples, Mughlai cooking demonstrations, and wandering through farms to see how turmeric is grown. Local restaurants and suppliers form the backbone of our foodie-focused trips – so enjoy with gusto.

Best time to go: September to April
Our top food trip: India food adventure holiday
See all our trips: Cooking holidays
Read more: India food travel guide