The Best of Central India
12 Days / 11 Nights
Private Tour
Temples & Tigers
Central India is where the tigers are, where the medieval temples are, and where the vast majority of travellers to India never go — which means it rewards the effort of the journey with a quality of experience that the overcrowded northern circuit cannot currently offer.
This itinerary builds its structure around the two things that Central India does better than anywhere else in the country: wildlife and stone carving. Bandhavgarh and Kanha are the finest tiger reserves in India, and Khajuraho's temples are the finest example of medieval Hindu sculpture anywhere in the subcontinent. Putting them together in a single journey produces an itinerary whose contrast — the animal immediacy of a dawn tiger sighting followed by the stone permanence of a Chandela temple frieze — is one of the most satisfying available in Indian travel.
The practical knowledge required to do Central India well — which zones of Bandhavgarh to request, which season produces the best conditions at Kanha, how to structure the Khajuraho visit to get the Western Group temples in the early morning light before the afternoon heat — is exactly what this itinerary encodes. We have been running this circuit for twelve years and the guides and drivers and safari operators we use have been working it for longer.
Fly into Khajuraho, connecting via Delhi if needed, and transfer to your hotel. The rest of the day is free, with an optional evening sound and light show at the Western Group of Temples.
A full day at Khajuraho's UNESCO World Heritage temples, built between roughly 950 and 1050 CE by the Chandela dynasty, with intricate sandstone carvings depicting deities, dancers, and daily life. The Western Group, including the Kandariya Mahadev Temple, is the most elaborate; the Eastern Group offers a quieter, less-visited counterpoint.
Drive roughly four hours to Orchha, a small town on the Betwa River that was the capital of a Rajput kingdom until the 17th century, and has changed remarkably little since.
Explore the Orchha Fort complex, including Raja Mahal and Jahangir Mahal, then visit the riverside chhatris — memorial cenotaphs to Orchha's former rulers, often photographed at sunset reflected in the Betwa River.
A longer drive of roughly six hours to Bandhavgarh National Park, often considered the best place in the world to reliably see a tiger in the wild due to its unusually high tiger density.
Morning and afternoon jeep safaris into Bandhavgarh National Park, a former hunting reserve of the local maharajas, now a tiger reserve since 1993, also home to leopards, sloth bears, and ancient rock-cut caves with ancient inscriptions.
Drive roughly five hours to Kanha National Park, the real Central Indian landscape that inspired Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book," with its sprawling sal forests and grasslands.
Morning and afternoon jeep safaris through Kanha, home to the only surviving population of hard-ground barasingha (a swamp deer subspecies), alongside tigers, leopards, and over 300 bird species.
A change of pace with a guided nature walk through the lodge's surrounding forest, followed by a visit to a nearby Gond tribal village to see traditional architecture and daily life away from the safari circuit.
Drive roughly three to four hours to Jabalpur, with an afternoon visit to the Bhedaghat marble rocks, a dramatic gorge on the Narmada River, best seen by boat as the cliffs catch the late-afternoon light.
A free day to rest after several days of early-morning safaris, or take an optional second boat ride at Bhedaghat at a different time of day to see the gorge in different light.
Transfer to Jabalpur Airport for your onward or departing flight, connecting via Delhi or Mumbai.
| Tier | Accommodation Category | Price Per Person |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | 3-star hotels throughout, standard jungle lodges at Bandhavgarh and Kanha | From $2,250 |
| Comfort | Heritage-style hotels in Khajuraho and Orchha, Kings Lodge, Kanha Earth Lodge | From $3,450 |
| Premium | 5-star properties throughout, premium cottages at both jungle lodges | From $5,600 |
Pricing is per person, based on double occupancy, and varies with season and current accommodation rates. Both Bandhavgarh and Kanha close for safaris on Wednesday afternoons and on Diwali and Holi; we plan around these closures when building your detailed itinerary. All prices are estimates based on current published rates and are confirmed in writing before booking.
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