Local guides. Written by people who live there.
Neighbourhood walks, food finds, transport tips, and the small details that change a trip — filed from the cities we cover.
Worth your attention this week.
5 reasons to wake before dawn in Jaipur
The Pink City at 6am is a different city entirely. Here is what you will miss if you sleep past 8.
Jaipur food guide: where to eat like a local
Dal baati churma, pyaaz kachori, laal maas, and the specific class of Rajasthani sweets that will ruin supermarket mithai for you forever.
What to eat in Varanasi: chai, chaat, and thandai
Varanasi food is not famous in the way that Lucknow or Delhi food is famous. It should be. The morning kachori at Kashi Chat Bhandar is worth the flight.
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More from the cities we cover.
The complete guide to Varanasi's ghats
Varanasi has 88 ghats. Most visitors see three. Here is what you miss by staying near Dashashwamedh — and why the southern ghats are where Varanasi is actually itself.
The lake that Udaipur forgets: Fateh Sagar at 5am
Every visitor goes to Pichola. Nobody goes to Fateh Sagar in the early morning, when the fishermen are out and the Aravallis turn pink and the entire city smells of marigolds.
Udaipur in 3 days: a slow itinerary
Three days in Udaipur without a tour operator, without the obvious route, and without paying four times the fair price for a boat on Pichola.
The hidden markets of Jaipur that tourists walk past
Johari Bazaar gets all the attention. But the fabric dealers of Bapu Bazaar, the lac bangle makers of Maniharon ka Rasta, and the wholesale spice market behind the clock tower are where Jaipur actually shops.