Ranthambore

Ranthambore was the hunting preserve of the Jaipur maharajas, and the tigers here grew up around people, so they are unusually visible: a tigress may walk straight down a jeep track past Padam Talao and the Jogi Mahal banyan without breaking stride. The reserve covers 1,334 square kilometres of dhok forest, ravines and three lakes, with a 392 square kilometre core divided into ten zones; zones one to five surround the lakes and the fort, and six to ten stretch into the buffer. Morning safaris leave at first light, afternoon ones around 2.30, in open six-seat gypsies or twenty-seat canters, with the park's famous tigress Machli, who died in 2016, still the reference point for every guide.

Between drives, walk up to Ranthambore Fort, built by the Chauhans in the tenth century and besieged by Alauddin Khilji in 1301; the Trinetra Ganesh temple inside receives wedding invitations by post from across India, and the ramparts give a view over the lakes where sambar wade and crocodiles bask. Leopards, sloth bears, marsh crocodiles and more than 300 bird species share the ground. The town of Sawai Madhopur has the Dastkar craft centre, where women from park-edge villages sell block prints.

Summer, from April to June, is the best season for tigers as they come to water, but it is fierce; winter is comfortable and green.