Spring: Tigers

Spring is a great time to visit India, especially for wildlife viewing and tiger spotting.

If you are a wildlife enthusiast and a tiger safari is on your travel bucket list, then a visit to India in the Spring, should be on the cards. The country is home to about 70% of the world’s dwindling tiger population.

Spring, encompassing the months of March to May, is the best season for tiger spotting in India. For the most part, temperatures in early Spring are very warm to very hot, making this the best season to spot a tiger, and other animals, who flock to water holes. Here’s a Guide to the animals of India to learn more.

Head to either Kanha National Park, or Bandhavgarh National Park, or Satpura National Park in the heart of the country, for intrepid tiger trailing. In the springtime, these parks are teeming with wildlife. Swamp deer, leopard, chital, sloth bear, wild dog and jackals can be seen, freely wandering the park grounds. This is the type of jungle habitat that was brought to life in the classic Jungle Book stories of Rudyard Kipling. Other tiger reserves that deserve mention include Jim Corbett National Park near Nainital in Uttarakhand. It is the country’s oldest national park and was one of the first parks to adopt the Tiger Project, a long-standing tiger conservation initiative.

One of the best months for tiger spotting in Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan is the month of May. The park’s deciduous forest forms a shady canopy for nilgai, chital, leopard, sloth bear and of course tigers.

Bandipur National Park along with adjacent Nagarhole, in the South Indian state of Karnataka, make for premier tiger spotting territory and were once the hunting grounds of Indian royalty. For an offbeat adventure, make the trip to Sunderbans National Park, in West Bengal.

Hill stations

Towards late Spring, especially the month of May, it might be a good idea to escape to higher altitudes, in search of cooler temperatures. We suggest visiting Shimla, a hill station at the foothills of the south-western Himalayan range and the erstwhile summer capital of British India.

Darjeeling is another charming hill station in the state of West Bengal, that has Mount Kanchenjunga as it’s awe-inspiring backdrop.

Rishikesh, a city of temples, located on the banks of the river Ganges at the foothills of the Garwhal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, is another city to plot on the Springtime India trip itinerary. Apart from being a city of pilgrimage, Rishikesh’s claim to fame is manifest in having hosted The Beatles during their visit to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram.

Whether you visit for the wildlife or to experience the charm of India’s colonial hill stations, a trip to India in the Springtime will guarantee a rewarding and unique travel experience.