Since I began traveling around, I have had amazing experiences at various places. Few were not as great as expected, but some of them have blown my mind away. Not just because of the details in the architecture but also the memories they have given me. These only include the places I’ve been to and moments that I have found best. Do share your list as well in the comments below.

Taj Mahal, Agra

It might be cliched but yes, the Taj does stand on top. My childhood experience while visiting the Taj was probably the worst. It was hot, sunny and crowded. We were pushed, pulled around, and I couldn’t do much to erase that memory. Nevertheless, when I recently visited the Taj, it blew my mind away, more because I planned well and went early in the morning. There still was some amount of crowd, but the moment I set foot inside the gate, I only felt spellbound and couldn’t stop gazing at the giant structure.

Golden Temple, Amritsar

My visit to Amritsar was one of my first solo ventures. I was really skeptical about how I would feel, and I initially didn’t plan to stay long. However, after visiting the temple and the surrounding area on the first day it felt so amazing that I decided to stay longer. I visited the temple again the next morning. Its beautiful, peaceful and you need to experience it both, during the morning and the night when the lights are on.

Mysore Palace, Mysuru

The Mysore palace is no doubt beautiful in the daytime, but the palace at night was one of the experiences that I had been waiting to have for a long time. I finally got a chance on New Year’s Eve when the lights were on for a good amount of time. Not only did I see the palace up, close like here in the picture. I even went on top of Chamundi Hills nearby and caught sight of the aerial view from the hill.

Vivekanand Memorial, Kanyakumari

This is probably one of the lesser hyped places in India. If you’re visiting places down south, Kanyakumari is a must. You get a ferry to the memorial, and you get to spend hours over there watching the deep-blue ocean. You can either meditate in peace inside or enjoy watching beautiful waves of the ocean from all directions while walking around the memorial. It was such a positive atmosphere I could never forget.

Jaisalmer Fort, Jaisalmer

The Jaisalmer fort is a fun place to visit. You can either sit at a cafe and sip some coffee, or you could shop for a few collectables, and of course you need to enjoy the marvelous carvings and architecture on the sandstone. The Jain temples in particular, have a lot of detail in their carvings. But even if you don’t want to do any sightseeing, just walking around the place felt good to me.

Hampi and Badami

Hampi, the ancient town consisting of over 1600 ruins is a popular tourist destination. You can explore the town on foot, by cycle or a moped. The history behind each monument and how it was made or constructed centuries ago will blow your mind away. You can also figure out a number of cool places to hangout around this city. The lesser-known city Badami has similar temples but the stone is a completely different reddish colour.

Aamer Fort, Jaipur

If you’ve been to Rajasthan, you’ve definitely been to the Amer fort, also called Amber palace. Located on the Aravali ranges, each section in the palace has a different elevation. There are various features for travel enthusiasts like, the paintings that are maintained in their original plant based colours, the design of the summer and winter palace, methods used to recycle and purify water in the earlier times, etc.

Ajanta and Ellora

Like Amer Fort, the paintings even in these caves have been maintained in their original form. I had a great time walking around these two caves and learning about the Buddhist, Jain and Hindu sculptures and structures that were carved several years ago. Some of them even took generations to build.

PS: All the pictures have been clicked by me or my friends.