Best time to visit India, month by month

India has three seasons that matter to a traveller. The cool, dry winter runs from about October to March and is the best time for most of the country. The hot season, April to June, pushes the northern plains above 40 °C. The south-west monsoon usually reaches Kerala in early June and spreads north over the following weeks, bringing rain to most of India until about September. Ladakh, high and dry behind the Himalaya, follows its own calendar.

Our seven lands cover all of these patterns, which means there is a good choice in every month of the year. The table below gives our first choice for each month, a second option and the places to avoid. After it we explain the year season by season, with the festivals worth planning around. Festival dates, park openings and pass openings change from year to year, so check current status before you travel.

We use three grades. Best means the weather and access are at their peak. Also good means very worthwhile with a caveat, such as heat, rain, cold or morning fog. Avoid means heat, heavy rain or closures make the trip hard to enjoy at our level of comfort. A dash means none of our lands falls into that grade for the month.

October is when India reopens. The monsoon has cleared, Rajasthan is dry and warm at about 19–33 °C in Jaipur, and Nepal has its clearest mountain views of the year after the rains. The North East is clearing too, and UP & Bihar are comfortable again. Dashain and Tihar, Nepal's great autumn festivals, usually fall in October or November, and the Pushkar Camel Fair takes place in October or November around Kartik Purnima.

November is the one month when six of our seven lands are at their best; only Ladakh is too cold, with its high roads closing for winter. Kerala and Goa dry out, Dev Deepawali lights the ghats of Varanasi, and Kaziranga usually reopens for the season. December keeps the good weather in the south and in Rajasthan, and the Hornbill Festival fills Kohima from 1 to 10 December. Agra's winter fog begins from mid-December.

January and February are the peak months for Rajasthan, Kerala and Goa, with clear skies, warm days and cool desert nights. Jaipur runs at about 8–23 °C in January, Kochi 23–32 °C and Panjim 20–32 °C. The North East is dry, and Kohima and Shillong are crisp. In Agra and Varanasi, dense morning fog can hide the river and the Taj until late morning from mid-December to late January, so we keep a spare morning in the plan.

This is also the season for snow leopards in Ladakh, when the cold brings the cats and their prey lower into the valleys around Hemis and Ulley, with Leh at about −14 to −2 °C in January. February or March brings Goa's Carnival before Lent, and March usually brings Holi, at its most colourful in Braj. By March Nepal enters its spring season, with rhododendrons on the hills, and UP & Bihar are at their best before the heat.

From April the plains heat up quickly. Jaipur passes 37 °C in April and 41 °C in May, and we do not plan Rajasthan trips again until the autumn. Kerala and Goa grow humid before the monsoon, and Varanasi reaches about 41 °C in May. Nepal is still good in April, with warm days and some afternoon showers, and the hills of the North East stay pleasant for a few more weeks before the rain arrives.

Ladakh is the answer for late spring and summer. Flights to Leh run all year, and the high roads usually open between May and June as the snow is cleared from the passes; check current status before you travel. Leh sits at about 3,500 m, so every trip begins with two quiet nights to acclimatise. Hemis Tsechu, the region's best-known monastery festival, falls in June or July according to the Tibetan calendar.

In July and August most of India is in the monsoon. Ladakh remains our first choice, dry and sunny, with Leh at about 11–25 °C. Kerala and Goa are green and quiet, with heavy rain broken by sunny spells and much lower hotel rates, and Kerala's monsoon is the traditional season for Ayurveda. Rajasthan cools a little and Udaipur's lakes fill, though Ranthambore's core zones close from roughly July to September.

Nepal, the North East and UP & Bihar see their heaviest rain in these months, with landslides possible on hill roads and parks such as Kaziranga closed for the season. September is the turning point: rain eases across the north, Onam brings Kerala's harvest festival in August or September, and Ladakh has some of its clearest days before the cold sets in. By the end of the month, the season begins to turn again.

Festivals bring colour and crowds in equal measure. Hotels near the main events fill early and raise their rates, so we book festival trips nine to twelve months ahead where we can. Most of these follow lunar or regional calendars, which means the dates move by several weeks from one year to the next; check current status before you travel. These are the ones we plan journeys around most often.

• Dashain and Tihar, Nepal: between late September and November, set by the lunar calendar.
• Pushkar Camel Fair, Rajasthan: October or November, around Kartik Purnima.
• Dev Deepawali, Varanasi: the full moon of Kartik, usually in November, when the ghats are lit with lamps.
• Hornbill Festival, Kohima: 1 to 10 December each year.
• Goa Carnival: the days before Lent, in February or March.
• Holi in Braj: usually March, with Lathmar Holi at Barsana a few days before the main festival.
• Hemis Tsechu, Ladakh: June or July, by the Tibetan calendar.
• Onam, Kerala: August or September, the harvest festival with its great vegetarian feast.

If your dates are fixed by school holidays or work, tell us the month and we will suggest the two or three lands that suit it, with the festivals and parks that are open at that time. The simple rules below cover most trips.

• Start with the month you can travel, then choose the land; it is easier than the other way round.
• For a winter trip across two lands, pair a northern land with a southern one, such as Rajasthan with Kerala, or UP & Bihar with Goa.
• From May to September, build the trip around Ladakh, and add Kerala or Goa in the monsoon for green landscapes and Ayurveda.
• Book October to March trips six to nine months ahead, because the best rooms sell first.
• Keep a spare morning in Agra and Varanasi from mid-December to late January, when fog is common.