When to go

The Indian sub-continent is vast and has substantial climatic fluctuations from north to south and east to west. Generally speaking, there are three well-demarcated seasons: the hot, the rainy and the less hot. From June to mid-October, monsoons take over most of India, with greater or lesser intensity from year to year. As a rule, a large part of the country is under cloudy conditions and intense humidity and, as such, the sun only appears very rarely or not at all and it can rain heavily for days on end. 

By November, the monsoons have completely dissipated and temperatures remain lower until mid-February. Thereafter, the heat gradually intensifies until May or June and “pulls” the monsoon winds back to the area.

The ideal area of ​​India to avoid the effect of the monsoons is Rajasthan, in the semi-desert northwestern tip of the country. The areas that allow you to escape the usual torrid sun from mid-February to May are the highlands on the slopes of the Himalayas. The same applies to monsoons but only to the north of the first slopes of the mountain range. During the monsoons, many villages on the first south-facing slopes of the mountain range – for example Darjeeling – are under the first impact of clouds against the Himalayas and are hit by incessant rains.