Maharashtra

Maharashtra centres on Mumbai, India's financial and film capital, a city of colonial-era landmarks, seafront promenades and relentless energy. Inland, the Ajanta and Ellora caves hold some of the finest rock-cut Buddhist, Hindu and Jain architecture and painting anywhere in India, carved directly into hillsides over more than a thousand years. Closer to Mumbai, the Western Ghats hill town of Lonavala offers an easy monsoon-season escape with waterfalls and valley views.

October to March suits Mumbai and a visit to the Ajanta and Ellora caves, avoiding both the intense pre-monsoon heat and the heaviest rains. Lonavala inverts this: it is at its greenest and most dramatic during the June-to-September monsoon, when its waterfalls run full, though the hill roads can be affected by heavy rain.

Mumbai alone is comfortably covered in two to three days. The Ajanta and Ellora caves, near Aurangabad, are usually visited as a dedicated two-day side trip rather than a rushed day excursion, given the distance from Mumbai. Lonavala works as a one- or two-night weekend escape.