Uttar Pradesh

Dudhwa National Park

Swamp grasslands and sal forests on the Nepal border — tigers, swamp deer and the one-horned rhino.

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

A thin green ribbon along the Sharda canal — one of India's newest tiger reserves with dense sal cover.

Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary

Gharial pools of the Girwa river and emerald phanta grasslands — part of the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve.

Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary

Dry deciduous forest wrapping the Rajdari and Devdari falls — blackbuck, chinkara and resident gharials.

Kaimur Wildlife Sanctuary

The Vindhyan plateau's wildest edge — waterfalls, sandstone cliffs and a sanctuary rarely visited.

Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary

A lakeside stopover on the Lucknow–Kanpur highway — wintering pintails, shovellers and sarus cranes.

Sandi Bird Sanctuary

A 3 sq km wetland in Hardoi — dabchick, coot and whistling teal on a quiet reservoir.

Bakhira Bird Sanctuary

UP's largest natural wetland — sarus cranes, bar-headed geese and a mirror-flat dawn.

Okhla Bird Sanctuary

A Yamuna backwater at Delhi's edge — over 300 recorded species and an easy boardwalk loop.

Patna Bird Sanctuary

A tiny jheel near Jalesar — one of India's smallest sanctuaries, famed for wintering waterfowl density.

Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary

A hilly forest along the Nepal border — leopards, sloth bears and a ridge walk above Koilabas.

Rajdari & Devdari Falls

Twin sandstone cascades inside Chandraprabha Sanctuary — post-monsoon is peak flow.

Lakhania Dari Falls

A Sonbhadra curtain fall set among shelter-stone shelters with ancient rock paintings.

Mukkha Falls

An offbeat multi-tier fall deep in Sonbhadra's Kaimur slopes — rocky scramble from the trailhead.

Wyndham Falls

A gentle three-step cascade 15 km from Mirzapur — popular monsoon picnic and colonial ruins nearby.

Tanda Falls

A lush Mirzapur cascade where the Tanda stream plunges into a forested pool — a short walk from Drummondganj.

Sirsi Falls

A hidden curtain fall near the Sirsi dam — reflected in a still reservoir and surrounded by sal forest.

Chunar Fort

A sandstone fortress on a Ganga bend — Sher Shah's tomb view and sunset over the river below.

Difficulty: Easy100 m

Vijaygarh Fort

Sonbhadra's hilltop sentinel — a climb past ramparts, water tanks and rock-cut sculptures.

Deogarh Fort & Temples

Gupta-era Dashavatara temple above the Betwa — a walk through Jain shrines on a forested spur.

Agori Fort

A medieval fort on a knuckle of the Rihand river — wade or boat across to its mossy battlements.

Kalinjar Fort

A Vindhyan citadel of legend — sculpted Neelkanth cave temple and seven rock-cut gateways.

Jhansi Fort

Rani Laxmibai's granite keep on a Bundelkhand outcrop — cannon-walks, sunsets and the old city below.

Kamadgiri Hill

The sacred Chitrakoot hill — a 5 km parikrama trail through forest shrines said to mark Rama's exile.

Hanuman Dhara

A cliff-side shrine above Chitrakoot fed by a perpetual spring — 360 stone steps to the summit.

Gupt Godavari Caves

Twin cave passages with a hidden stream — wade through narrow sandstone to a secret rock chamber.

Triveni Sangam

The confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati — boat out at dawn for a clean mist-line.

Varanasi Ghats

An 84-ghat walk along the Ganga — Assi to Rajghat at dawn, with Ganga Aarti on Dashashwamedh at dusk.

Sarnath Buddhist Circuit

Where the Buddha preached his first sermon — Dhamek stupa, the Ashoka pillar and a quiet deer park.

Rihand Reservoir

Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar — India's largest man-made lake, with shoreline walks and birding coves.

Ranipur Tiger Reserve

UP's fourth tiger reserve on the Bundelkhand plateau — dry deciduous forest and Ken river canyons.