The Indian mountains aren't one trip. The Trans-Himalaya is a cold desert; the Western Ghats are a rainforest. Below is what we know about each region — when to go, how high you'll be, and what people actually travel there for.
Ladakh sits in the rain shadow of the Greater Himalaya — bare ochre ridges, turquoise lakes like Pangong and Tso Moriri, and 700-year-old monasteries at Thiksey, Hemis and Lamayuru. Plan for two days of acclimatisation in Leh (3,500 m) before driving over Khardung La or out to Nubra.
From Kalpa's view of Kinnaur Kailash to the cedar forests of Jibhi and the wind-stripped plateaus of Spiti, Himachal is the most varied mountain state to travel in. Roads stay open year-round in the lower valleys; Spiti's Kunzum Pass closes from November.
Garhwal holds the four sacred shrines and the Nanda Devi sanctuary; Kumaon keeps the older British hill stations and the quieter trekking country around Pindari and Khaliya Top. The monsoon (July–August) brings the wildflower bloom but closes most upper routes.
India's smallest Himalayan state is also its cleanest. Gangtok and Pelling for the postcard views of Kanchenjunga, Yuksom for the start of the Goecha La trek, and Lachen / Lachung in the north for Gurudongmar Lake and the Yumthang valley.
The southern mountains feel nothing like the Himalaya. Misty tea estates roll for hours around Munnar, the Nilgiri tahr grazes above 2,000 m in Eravikulam, and the Periyar tiger reserve borders a lake you can quietly raft across at dawn.
Shimla works as both a destination and a base — the Kalka–Shimla narrow-gauge railway is a half-day trip in itself, and from here you can push on to Narkanda, Mashobra and the apple country of Kotgarh within two hours.
Skip Mall Road and base yourself in Old Manali or the villages around Naggar. From here it's a half-day drive over the Atal Tunnel into the lunar landscape of Lahaul, or a hard day's trek to Bhrigu Lake at 4,300 m.
The Aravalli range runs the length of Rajasthan, peaking at Guru Shikhar (1,722 m) above Mount Abu — the state's only hill station and a cool counterpoint to the desert below. Add Kumbhalgarh's 36-km fort wall, the marble Dilwara temples, and the leopard country around Bera for a week that mixes mountains, heritage and wildlife.
The Kashmir Valley sits between the Pir Panjal and the Great Himalaya — a 135-km bowl of walnut orchards, saffron fields, and houseboat-lined lakes. Srinagar is the anchor: Dal Lake at dawn, the old city markets, and the Mughal gardens of Shalimar and Nishat. From here, Gulmarg opens up to the world's second-highest cable car and snowbound meadows at 3,800 m, while Pahalgam sits at the mouth of the Amarnath pilgrimage route. Sonmarg, the 'meadow of gold', is the base for the Thajiwas Glacier trek and the high-altitude lakes of Vishansar and Krishansar.