We love India. But it doesn’t take much convincing to agree that India is a country without a simple description. It is a place that hits you with that wave of energy the moment you step off the plane, and a destination that permanently expands your worldview and your senses all at the same colourful time.
Coming from little old New Zealand, our home country is undoubtedly beautiful, peaceful, and green. But let’s be honest – back in NZ, we don’t get to zip through traffic in a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw, and we certainly don’t have an intricate, sprawling railway network connecting historic kingdoms. India offers an entirely different kind of magic.
Yup; We Love India
It’s fair to say that our love affair with the subcontinent has stood the test of time. After seven incredible trips to India – first exploring as a young backpacker and later returning six times as a family with my husband Gavin and our boys, Harry and Oscar – we have travelled by almost every means imaginable. We have run custom travel Group Trips here, explored remote desert dunes, and fallen completely in love with the rhythm of the country.
If you are on the fence about planning a trip, or simply wondering what makes this destination so intoxicating, here is exactly why we love India and why it keeps drawing us back time and time again.
1. That Cliché Explosion of Colour
The very first thing that captures you in India (chaos and busy aside) is the sheer brilliance of its colours. It feels as though someone turned the saturation dial of the world all the way up to the maximum. But in a good way!
From the golden sandstone walls of Jaisalmer in the desert to the brilliant, pink-washed Jaipur, every city has its own distinct visual palette. Then there are the amazing colours of clothes. I love India for the beautifully bright coloured clothes! (More about that later). Even the trucks driving down the highway are heavily decorated with hand-painted folk art, tassels, and bright colourful slogans.
2. The Colourful Clothing & Kurta Shopping
That love of colour is all about what people wear. Seeing local women walking through dusty streets or working in fields wearing brilliant fuchsia, emerald, and marigold saris is a daily joy.
One of my absolute personal favorite things to do in India is shopping for local kurtas (traditional tunic tunics). Slipping into a beautifully lightweight, block-printed cotton kurta is not only culturally respectful and perfectly suited for the heat, but it makes you feel connected to the vibrant artistic heritage of the region. Hunting through local textile markets for the perfect fabric and print is an addiction I happily indulge in on every single visit!
3. We Love India for its Food (in India)
Indian cuisine is a masterclass in flavour, and it goes so far beyond what you find at your local takeaway joint back home. The food here literally changes dramatically every few hundred kilometres.
In the north, you are treated to rich Mughlai curries, garlic naan pulled fresh from a clay tandoor oven, and piping hot chole bature on the street corner. In Jaisalmer, Delhi or in the south it’s totally different again.
For us, some of our best travel memories are centred entirely around food! (No shame admitting that one!). In India that might be watching our boys happily slurping sweet, cold lassis out of traditional clay cups in the old streets of Jaipur or gathering around a sizzling street food stall to try crispy hot jalebi in Bikaner.
You gotta love India for its food. It just tastes better in India!
Read How To Avoid the Dreaded ‘Delhi Belly’ Travelling in India.
4. History That Is Right There and Real
In many parts of the world, history is something locked away behind glass barriers in a quiet museum. In India, history is alive, breathing, and completely accessible.
You can walk through historic stepwells hidden in the middle of bustling modern neighbourhoods, explore hilltop fortress complexes like the Amber Fort, and wander through decades-old bazaars that have operated the exact same way for centuries. It is incredible to even think about.
In places like Jaisalmer, you can even stay inside a “living fort” – an ancient sandstone castle where a quarter of the city’s population still lives, works, owns shops, and calls the historic ramparts home. It makes history tangible and incredibly exciting. Especially while in New Zealand our visible history is much, much younger!
5. Transit and Transport is an Adventure
Again, coming from New Zealand, this is such a contrast. Transit for us back home means hopping in a car or a standard domestic flight. While in India, getting from point A to point B is an epic adventure in its own right!
Before our first visit, we had never really ridden proper long-distance trains before. Fast forward through our seven journeys, and we have ridden trains galore!
We have zipped along on modern, high-speed express trains like the Vande Bharat, watched the rural countryside roll past from old-school open window seated class carriages, and spent nostalgic (good and bad) nights tucked into overnight AC sleeper train berths. We have even navigated long-distance sleeper buses!
There is an almost romance feeling to watching the sun rise from a train window in India while sipping a hot, sweet cup of chai…
6. Everywhere in India is So Different
India is not just one uniform destination. It is one country, but it is more like a massive collection of entirely different worlds bound together. The landscape, language, traditional dress, architecture, and local customs shift completely from state to state.
You can stand in the middle of an empty desert dune one day, and a few days later find yourself floating down a sacred river surrounded by more people and pilgrims than you ever imagined you could see.
The best thing about this variation though – and a reason to love India enough to visit again and again – is that it means you can visit multiple times and still feel like you’ve barely scratched the surface of what there is to discover.
7. The Beautiful, Curious People
Indian hospitality is legendary. Yes, the locals are incredibly curious – sometimes a little too curious! As a travelling family, you will have to get used to people asking for selfies or staring with too much friendly wonder. But beneath that initial curiosity is a deep, genuine warmth.
Over our many visits, we have made lifelong friends across different states. These are people that we can recommend and know that they will welcome you too. The people is definitely a reason to love India.
We have been invited into family homes for home-cooked meals, shared tea with market shopkeepers, and watched our boys play impromptu games of street cricket with local kids.
On one of our visits to Jaisalmer, our family was completely swept up in local hospitality and graciously invited to attend a traditional multi-day wedding celebration – an experience we will treasure forever!
The Challenges of India vs. The Rewards
Let’s be completely fair: travelling in India does come with its fair share of challenges. The noise can be intense, the crowds can be overwhelming, the poverty can be confrontational, and you will almost certainly have to navigate a temporary bout of an upset stomach at some stage.
But the truth is: the reasons to love India far, far outweigh the challenges.
The minor frustrations fade into the background the moment you watch the sunrise hit the white marble of the Taj Mahal or share a laugh with a local guide.
We Love India and Know You Will Too
India forces you to be present, teaches you patience then challenges that patience. But it rewards your curiosity as a traveller. We love India for that.
It is an absolutely incredible country that keeps our family coming back time and time again, and it is an adventure we confidently recommend to anyone with an open mind and an energy for travel!
Ready to plan your adventure? Check out our Ultimate Golden Triangle Itinerary to see how to link Jaisalmer with Jaipur and Agra!
Safe travels, adventurers!
Read More India Inspiration
- Our Detailed & Easy 2-Day Itinerary Of Jaipur.
- Train Travel In India.
- India Tourist e-Visa: Our Step-By-Step Guide.
- 10 Things To Do In Mumbai.
- 10 Things To Do In Kochi & Kerala.
- Best Tourist SIM Card For India.
- What To Wear In India.
- 4-Day Kochi & Kerala Itinerary.
- Travelling India By Bus: Intercity, Tourist & Sleeper Buses.
Travel Planning for India & Beyond
These are the companies we use while traveling and that we would recommend to anyone planning and booking travel.
- Booking.com – The best all-around accommodation booking site. They have the widest selection of budget accommodation. It’s easy to filter and sort into price and availability with all the extras you are looking for personally.
- 12GoAsia – Book trains anywhere in Asia through 12Go.
- Skyscanner – Our favourite flight search engine. They can search small websites and budget airlines that larger search sites often miss. We book all our flights through Skyscanner.
- GetYourGuide – A huge online marketplace for tours and excursions offered all around the world. Everything from walking tours to street-food tours, cooking classes, desert safari’s and more!
- SafetyWing – A global travel insurance that covers people from all over the world while outside their home country. You can buy short or longterm; and even if you are out of the country.
- World Nomads – Travel insurance tailored for short or longterm travel and nomads (including those who have already left home). Make sure you have travel insurance before booking that first trip to India!
Hi! I’m Sarah. I am the self-confessed dreamer, travel-schemer and the main editor behind this blog. I love to write, and it is a dream come true to share so many experiences together and inspire others in our stories.
