It is hard to find a country with as much variety and contrast as India. It is a mind-blowing experience in this truly amazing country, which boasts a wealth of culture, art and history, stunning scenery and wildlife, adventure, spirituality, hot cuisine and a multitude of traditions, customs and entertainment. This country really contains something for every taste and for everyone. India to the visitor is an everlasting journey of discovery.

It is a land with cultural variety, where many civilizations flourished, kingdoms rose and fell — living behind an array of splendid historic attractions with unique destinations. In India, you can discover the luxury of modern cities, experience the calm of its villages, explore the splendor of its exotic historic wonders, eternal temples, wildlife conserves, handicrafts and much more... India has something for everyone. It is a land vibrant with festivities. A great center for intellectual enlightenment, spiritual awakening, and self discovery and meditation.

India is a vast country with a history that goes back to five thousand years. Its vast geographical diversity, heritage and culture, fairs and festivals, and monumental attractions that span a Subcontinent cannot be condensed between the two covers of any book.

India lies in South Asia, between Pakistan, China and Nepal. To the north, it is bordered by the world’s highest mountain chain, the Himalayas, where foothill valleys cover the northernmost of the countries 29 states. Further south, plateaus, tropical rainforests and sandy deserts are bordered by palm fringed beaches.

Side by side with the country’s staggering topographical variations is its cultural diversity, the result of the co-existence of a number of religious as well as local traditions. The fathomless experience of variant cultures, traditions and lifestyles, the rare movements of its mountains, rivers, hill tracts.... the brilliant experience of a land without any full stop.

India is a haven of tourism delights, a civilization to tour through. Tourists come to India for its wealth of sights, cultural exuberance, diversity of terrain and in search of that special something, an extra punch that only India promises and delivers. Teeming with over a billion people who voice over a million concerns in 1,500 different languages, India is where people live with variety, thrive on diversity and are too familiar with largeness to let it boggle them. Mud huts and mansions face off across city streets. Lurid luxury and limp living are inhabitants of the same lane.

From the smoky mangroves of the Sunderbans to the steaming Thar Desert, sizzling cities like Mumbai and Delhi to the scintillating villages of Khajuraho and Hampi, from the heights of the Himalayas to the deep blue waters around the Andamans, India is a travel haven — a tour package that frustrates and delights.

But what exactly is it that gets two and a half million people to wing their way to India? Given that this is the land of the Taj, granted too that tea, tobacco, tempestuous democracy and terrific travel are a great combination but surely that’s not reason enough.

India has inspired more than any one place’s fair share of travel lore. And, perhaps that’s what it is — the legends of India — that’s what inspires people from far and near to travel here, to sort out for themselves what’s true and what’s just a whole lot of tourism pamphlet hype.

All major towns and cities offer a vast infrastructure of hotels that caters your needs ranging from the five star, luxury, heritage, to budget accommodation that provides good value for money. India has its own very distinct pleasure. Indian cities provide a vast experience as they come alive with cultural feasts of music and dance studded with medieval forts & palaces.

As far as sight-seeing is concerned, among the most favored tourist destinations in India, Kerala for its scenic beauty, Agra for Taj Mahal, Khajuraho for its sculptures, Goa for its beaches and some pilgrim centers are the most important.

Blessed with probably the widest array of topographical and cultural diversity that was ever packed into one time zone, there’s an India for everyone. India’s jungles, rivers and streams are simply bursting with wildlife; much of it protected in her 80 National Parks and 441 Sanctuaries. Popular ones are Corbett, Rajaji and Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh), Kanha, Pench (Madhya Pradesh) and Sasan Gir (Gujarat). Sariska and Ranthambor (Rajasthan), Kaziranga, Manas (Assam), Mudumalai, Bandipore and Wyanad (Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve — Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala) are the other well known game sanctuaries. Keoladeo Ghana, Bharatpur (Rajasthan) is a famous bird sanctuary. Find yourself as you lose the cares of life in the city.

Windswept or sunny, India’s beaches are peculiarly Indian. Crowded and cheery, sometimes dirty, always delightful, you’ll find them in Kerala’s Kovalam, in the Andamans and Lakshadweep, in Goa, quiet Gokarna, and ‘templescaped’ Puri, Kanyakumari and Mahabalipuram

Ruins of forts, palaces, picturesque ‘havelis’ (large private houses) and mausoleums pepper the landscape. In and around Delhi, Agra, Rajasthan, all over the country actually, historical sites intrigue the history enthusiast. Important sites are Hampi, Khajuraho, Mandu, Aurangabad, Bikaner, Goa, Gwalior, Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Mahabalipuram, Tanjore and Mysore.

Museums, business centers, nightlife, large markets, embassies and consulates mark space in the bigger cities of India. Bustling with activity, bristling with high voltage energy, busy-busy-busy, New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Calcutta, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad make up India’s urban landscape. The legacy of spiritual succour lives on in the land of exotica. In Pune, Pondicherry, Puttaparthy and Dharamsala, Osho, Auroville, the Sai Baba and Buddhist monks explore a new life, of what is and what could be.

The world’s highest mountains form a tall 2500 km long wall along India’s northeast frontier and are prime climbing territory for the outdoor types. The mountainous regions of Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Leh are high altitude trekking options. The “blue mountains” of the Nilgiri Hills in the Deccan and the lower reaches of the Himalayas in Garhwal, Kumaon and around Darjeeling are simpler and ideal for a leisurely hike

From stark White Mountains framed against sheer clear blue to forested hills that enclose rushing streams, there is endless variety for the hiker. In the hills, in tiny towns with winding ‘mall roads’ survive the British legacy of “hill stations”. These cool getaways from the simmering plains continue to entertain weekend tourists in the summers. Shimla, Manali, Kasauli and Mussoorie in the north, Shillong, Darjeeling and Kalimpong in the east, Ooty and Munnar in the south are the most popular.

So much to do, so much to see.....so little time! That holds completely true for the Indian experience. Don’t push yourself to do it all because that’s well nigh impossible but choose well and plan little, open your mind and be gathered up by the experience that the world calls “India”.

According to the Word Travel and Tourism Council estimates, by 2015, tourism in India could contribute $121.4 billion in economic activity and 26 million jobs by 2015. The travel and tourism industry holds tremendous potential for India’s economy. That is why tourism has been included the core sectors of the Indian economy.

Despite the numerous problems, tourism industry was the second-largest foreign exchange earner for the country during the year ended March 2003. During 2002, 2.2 million foreigners visited India. Conde Nast ranked India amongst the top 10 tourist destinations. JBIC ranked her as the fifth most attractive investment destination. The World Social Forum, Ad Asia, World Bamboo Congress, Commonwealth Games, Laureus World Sports Academy Global Submit, F1 along with some of the biggest expos and conferences of the world chose her to play host.