India Through My Eyes

I'm Scott — an American travel planner who fell in love with India. These are the destinations I keep coming back to, the food I actually eat, and the prices I actually paid.

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Scott Murray
2003 First Trip
20+ Return Trips

"My first trip changed my life."
Jenice Murray
2015 First Trip
Goa + Mumbai Journey

"India captivated me long before I arrived — and exceeded every expectation when I finally did."

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North India
7 destinations

The Golden Triangle and beyond. Mughal architecture, holy cities, desert forts, and Himalayan foothills.

Delhi Jaipur Varanasi Udaipur Agra Rishikesh Jodhpur
South India
3 destinations

Backwaters, ancient ruins, and tech-city culture. A completely different India from the north.

Kerala Bangalore Hampi
West India
2 destinations

India's financial capital and its beach paradise. Bollywood glamour meets laid-back coastal vibes.

Mumbai Goa
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In-Depth Guides

Every price verified. Every restaurant visited. Every tip from personal experience.

north

Delhi

Seven successive capitals in one city — Mughal Red Fort, Lutyens' colonial boulevards, Old Delhi's Chandni Chowk chaos, and Humayun's Tomb which served as the architectural prototype for the Taj Mahal. Delhi doesn't ease you into India. It drops you straight in.

From $25/day
west

Mumbai

India's maximum city where Dharavi slum operations and Bollywood sets and art deco Marine Drive exist within 5km of each other. Vada pav from a cart at Dadar station costs ₹15 and is genuinely one of the world's great street foods. The city runs on a ferocious collective energy that is impossible not to feel.

From $30/day
north

Jaipur

Rajasthan's capital is painted terracotta pink under a maharaja's 1876 decree — Amber Fort's elephant ramp and mirror palace, Hawa Mahal's 953 latticed windows built for royal women to watch street processions, and bazaars where gemstone cutters and block-print textile shops have operated for centuries.

From $20/day
west

Goa

450 years of Portuguese colonialism left Goa with Baroque churches, a Catholic-Hindu culture fusion, and a beach culture unlike anywhere else in India. North Goa parties; South Goa is quiet coves and cashew feni. Old Goa's UNESCO basilica holds the preserved body of St. Francis Xavier — on display once a decade.

From $20/day
south

Kerala

Sleep on a houseboat drifting through Alleppey's backwater canals under a canopy of coconut palms — the silence is extraordinary. Munnar's tea estates turn the hillsides emerald, Kochi's Fort area holds Chinese fishing nets from the 1400s, and the coastal seafood eaten on banana leaves is one of India's great cuisines.

From $25/day
north

Varanasi

The oldest continuously inhabited city on earth — at dawn, a boat on the Ganges watching 80 ghats come to life simultaneously, with pilgrims bathing, priests performing puja, and smoke rising from the burning ghat where cremations run 24 hours. Varanasi is the most intense travel experience in India. There is nothing else like it.

From $15/day
north

Udaipur

The City of Lakes where white marble palaces float on Lake Pichola — the Lake Palace Hotel looks like it emerged from the water, the City Palace complex is the largest in Rajasthan, and sunset from the hilltop Monsoon Palace turns the entire lake gold. The most romantic city in India.

From $20/day
north

Agra

The Taj Mahal at sunrise, when the first light hits the white marble and the crowds haven't arrived — there is nothing else like it in the world, and the photos don't capture the scale. Stay until the hour before closing and the light turns amber. Agra Fort and Fatehpur Sikri alone are worth the journey.

From $20/day
north

Rishikesh

Where the Ganges runs emerald-green out of the Himalayas and the Beatles spent 1968 at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram writing most of the White Album. The Laxman Jhula suspension bridge, white-water rafting, 200-hour yoga teacher trainings, and an evening Ganga Aarti ceremony that stops time.

From $15/day
south

Bangalore

India's Silicon Valley with a 900-year brewing tradition — Bangalore's craft beer scene is the best in India, Lalbagh Botanical Garden predates the city's tech campus, and the restaurant culture reflects a young, international, well-travelled population. The most immediately livable city in India for foreign visitors.

From $25/day
north

Jodhpur

A sea of indigo-painted houses cascading beneath Mehrangarh Fort's walls — one of India's most imposing fortresses, rising 125 metres above the old city on a sheer rock outcropping. The blue was originally a Brahmin caste marker; now the whole old city is painted it. The clock tower's spice market at dusk is essential.

From $18/day
south

Hampi

The ruins of Vijayanagara — once the world's second-largest city — scattered across a landscape of giant orange boulders that look like they were arranged by a god. Virupaksha Temple is still active after 7 centuries. Rent a bicycle, get lost between monuments, and watch the sun set from a boulder with no one else in sight.

From $15/day
Jenice Murray

From Jenice — Travel Writer & Cultural Guide

"Before I ever stepped foot in India, the country lived in my imagination in two very specific ways — the undeniable grace of the Indian women I watched on the international pageant stage, and the profound kindness of a missionary nun from India who stayed with my family in the 90s. In 2015, I finally went. Goa's Portuguese churches gave me a feeling I recognized — a Filipino in a place that was also shaped by Iberian history, also left with cathedrals and contradictions. Mumbai's spice markets bent my frame of reference entirely. India is a land of contrasts, history, and heart. I feel so fortunate to have seen these parts of the world firsthand."
Read Jenice's full India story →

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My First Time in India: Goa's Colonial Charm and Mumbai's Sensory Explosion

Jenice shares her 2015 journey through Goa and Mumbai — Portuguese churches, sacred cows on the beach road, and spice markets that defied every expectation.

Jenice · Mar 3, 2026
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What Makes This Different

No press trips. No sponsored stays. Just two decades of personal experience.

Real Prices

"Every price is one I paid"

₹200 thali at a Jaipur dhaba. ₹2,500/day car rental in Rajasthan. I verify every number on-site.

Personal Experience

"I've walked every street I recommend"

The chai stall in Old Delhi, the sunrise at Varanasi's ghats, the hidden beaches in Goa. This isn't research — it's lived experience.

No Sponsored Content

"We don't take press trips"

No hotel comps, no tourism board deals. We pay full price and tell you what we actually think.

Your Guides

An American travel planner with a passion for India — multiple trips, every destination personally explored.

Most India travel advice comes from bloggers who visited for two weeks. I've been exploring India across multiple trips, from the chaos of Old Delhi to the backwaters of Kerala. I bring a logistics obsession and genuine love for this country to every guide I write.

Scott Murray

Scott Murray

Multiple trips across India

Logistics, Route Planning & Budget

Train schedules, budget breakdowns, and the practical stuff that makes or breaks an India trip.

Explore by Interest

Snorkeling circuits, festival calendars, regional food guides, and WWII heritage trails.

🤿 Snorkeling Best spots in India 🎉 Festivals Celebrations & events 🍴 Food & Cuisine Regional food guides 🏛️ WWII Heritage Historical sites 🥃 The Finer Things Bars, rum & nightlife 🗺️ AI Trip Planner Build your itinerary

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