Our favourite places in Malaysia

Gujarat’s biggest city has it all – including World Heritage status – plus a little extra Delhi doesn’t have: a bit of peace and quiet.

Stok offers the unique opportunity to stay in a Tibetan palace, hosted by the monarch-in-exile of Ladakh.

Strung along a mountain ridge overlooking forests of cedar and oak, the former British summer capital is now one of India’s biggest and busiest hillstations.

Religious centre, turned countercultural hotspot, turned yoga retreat, turned adventure sports destination — beautiful, alpine Rishikesh has worn many hats.

An architecturally eclectic mountain village, with mansions built by the wealthy Sood clan with influences from their travels in Europe and Asia.

Along the Nubra River, Ladakh is brilliantly verdant, with lush farmland, traditional villages, and a surreal, sandy desert complete with dunes and camels.

In snow-scoured Leh, Buddhist gompas and Tibetan-style buildings huddle on barren, treeless plateaux, watched over by the peaks of the Himalayas.

Seat of the Dalai Lama and his government-in-exile, this former colonial outpost is popular for its lovely alpine surroundings and Tibetan Buddhist flavour.

Pelling is all about the landscape: Tibetan and Limbu villages, sacred lakes, alpine forests and skyscraping mountains, all watched over by snowy Kanchenjunga.

The river island of Majuli is a shrinking gem, home to bamboo stilt villages, Vaishnavite temples, sleepy farms and Mising tribal culture.

There’s never a dull moment in Kolkata, a city known in India for its cultural and intellectual life, its enthusiastic sports fans, and its delicious desserts.

The unique, flood-prone landscape of Kaziranga national park is one of the last refuges for the endangered one-horned rhino.