What makes monsoon the most effective season for practice journeys in India

Megha Desai, 36, a senior artwork director at a Mumbai-based branding studio, discovered her good monsoon escape not in a distant hill station, however in a glass-roofed coach on the Executive Vistadome AC (EV) compartment of the Dadar–Madgaon Janshatabdi Express, which runs day by day. “You don’t want a five-star resort within the hills. Just e book a Vistadome seat,” she says.

In July 2024, throughout a break from back-to-back marketing campaign shoots, Megha booked the Vistadome coach on a whim after seeing a pal’s Instagram tales of misty Konkan views. Securing the ticket — which price her round ₹4,160 for a spherical journey — meant checking the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) web site day by day, however the effort paid off. “The practice was packed and everybody wished that cup field view.” As the practice rolled out of Mumbai and into the luxurious Western Ghats (the journey from Dadar to Madgaon takes round 11 hours and 20 minutes), Megha was glued to the panoramic home windows. “It was simply rivers overflowing, waterfalls crashing down rocks, and dense inexperienced cliffs draped in mist. I’ve flown to Goa loads of instances, however this was totally different.”

The Vistadome coaches, which in accordance with a video shared by the Ministry of Railways on X (previously Twitter) in July 2024 quantity 111 in operation throughout India, out there on choose routes like Mumbai–Goa, Mumbai–Pune, and Bengaluru–Mangaluru, provide massive home windows, rear remark decks, and rotating seats — options that made it straightforward for Megha to soak in views from each side. “Near Ratnagiri, the practice slowed and there have been three waterfalls seen directly. I couldn’t look away.”

Would she advocate it? “Absolutely. But e book early,” she laughs. “I obtained fortunate with a cancellation.” She additionally advises checking the Konkan Railway’s particular monsoon timetable, as practice speeds are sometimes diminished.

Chugging alongside

There is one thing about monsoon practice journey that feels actually particular. You are sitting by the window, chai in hand, because the world exterior blurs into inexperienced hills, dashing waterfalls, and misty skies. Even the noisiest cities appear gentler behind rain-speckled glass.

It was this season that nudged Anand Ramaswamy, a 42-year-old product supervisor from Hyderabad, to take a quiet break in June aboard the Vistadome coach from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley — a route that threads via the monsoon-soaked Eastern Ghats. After taking the in a single day Godavari Express from Secunderabad to Vizag, he boarded the morning Vistadome service, drawn in by its promise of glass ceilings, rotating seats, and uninterrupted views of tunnels, waterfalls and deep inexperienced valleys. “You enter a tunnel, then burst out into fog or a cliff dripping with water, everybody simply goes nonetheless,” he says.

In Araku, he checked right into a espresso property homestay, explored the Tribal Museum and Padmapuram Gardens, and spent the night listening to the rain on a tin roof. “Coming from Hyderabad’s dry warmth, it felt like I’d travelled two seasons away in a day,” he says. He returned the following night, rested, and insists he would do it once more. “It’s a kind of uncommon Indian practice rides the place the journey actually is the entire level.” Anand factors out that the Vistadome coach is mostly connected just for the onward journey from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley. For the return journey, passengers should e book a seat in an everyday coach on a special practice. He took the Kirandul Express, which departs later within the day. Departure from Visakhapatnam is round 6.45am or 6.50am, with arrival at Araku Valley round 10.55 am. According to the most recent ticket costs listed on the IRCTC web site, a one-way ticket within the Vistadome coach (EV class) from Visakhapatnam to Araku Valley prices roughly ₹735 to ₹750.

Travelling on India’s boutique trains in the course of the monsoon — or actually, any time — is way over simply getting from one place to a different. It is sluggish journey blended with five-star consolation and cultural depth. Delhi-based impartial journalist Shibani Bawa nonetheless recollects the surreal glamour of her seven-night journey aboard the Deccan Odyssey’s Maharashtra Splendour itinerary in 2016, which runs from October to April, starting and ending in Mumbai, with stops at Nashik, Ellora Caves, Kolhapur, Goa, Sindhudurg, and Ratnagiri. “It was extraordinarily well-maintained and really luxurious,” she says. “The service was simply fabulous — you may inform every thing had been fastidiously thought via.”

Ticket costs for the 2025–2026 season (as per deccan-odyssey-india.com) mirror the all-inclusive nature of the expertise, from gourmand meals to guided sightseeing. A Deluxe Cabin for single occupancy prices roughly US$9,330 (round ₹7.74 lakh), whereas double occupancy is priced at US$13,300 (₹11.03 lakh). The Presidential Suite is obtainable at US$20,000 (₹16.60 lakh), no matter single or double occupancy. The Maharashtra Splendour tour date for this yr is September 20.

The practice is all old-school class, with two eating automobiles serving plated meals on silverware. “For each meal, you may decide between Indian and western set menus, and even the western dishes are glorious. I even requested for the soup recipes,” she provides. Just a few off-board meals have been additionally organized, together with lunch with the royal household in Sawantwadi. “It felt private, not touristy.”

Though the times have been indulgent, the nights have been typically bumpy. “One evening I genuinely thought I’d fall out of bed, it shook a lot,” she laughs, noting {that a} later observe improve probably fastened that.

The Deccan Odyssey would arrive at quieter platforms, greeted with garlands and music. “Each cease felt like an occasion,” she says. Sightseeing was thoughtfully managed, together with relaxation stops with clear services. “You may inform they have been used to luxurious vacationers, the usual was excessive all through.”

Would she do it once more? “Absolutely,” Shibani says. “The distinction, luxurious on the practice, tradition off it, was the most effective half. I’d like to do one within the South subsequent — possibly in the course of the monsoon. Can you think about that view from the eating automobile?”

Slow and winding

Under the Bharat Gaurav Scheme, launched by Indian Railways in November 2021, non-public operators lease full trains to run curated, theme-based circuits — whereas Indian Railways supplies the coaches and tracks. The first non-public practice underneath the scheme was flagged off on June 14, 2022 by South Star Rail, a Coimbatore-based firm. The five-day pilgrimage from Coimbatore to Shirdi carried round 1,100 passengers, with halts at Tiruppur, Erode, Salem, Yelahanka, Dharmavaram, and Mantralayam earlier than reaching Wadi and Shirdi. With AC and Sleeper courses, onboard crew, and contemporary vegetarian meals, it set a brand new customary for personal rail hospitality.

“It marked an actual shift,” says Vignesh, director, Tour Times, Chennai, a non-public vacationer practice operator providing itineraries throughout India,which now runs a number of Bharat Gaurav excursions. “We concentrate on seamless, end-to-end journey. Passengers don’t carry a finger — baggage stays onboard, we deal with every thing else.” Tour Times, recognised by the Ministry of Tourism, has launched heritage circuits throughout the South and East, together with the upcoming 11-day Coromandel Coastal Bliss Tour, which prices ₹26,700 per head. It departs on August 28, protecting Kolkata, the Sundarbans, Bhubaneswar, Borra Caves, Araku Valley, and Visakhapatnam.

“The rain transforms the panorama. From your practice window, temple cities, flooded fields, and mountain valleys blur previous — it’s cinematic. That’s the magic,” says Vignesh.

Meanwhile, the North East Discovery itinerary, a part of the Bharat Gaurav initiative, launched on April 22, turns into all of the extra compelling in the course of the monsoon, when the luxurious landscapes of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya come alive of their full glory. The 15-day, 5,800 kilometre luxurious journey is operated aboard the Bharat Gaurav Deluxe AC Tourist Train, that includes air-conditioned coaches with showers, sensor-enabled washrooms, foot massagers, and two eating automobiles serving sizzling, freshly ready meals. The per-person price for this journey ranges from roughly ₹1.16 lakh for AC III class as much as ₹1.67 lakh for AC I (Coupe) class. These costs cowl practice journey, resort stays, meals, sightseeing, and different tour companies. Part of the Government’s Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Dekho Apna Desh initiatives, the itinerary is designed to supply regional sightseeing, making it an excellent method to expertise the cloud-draped hills and vibrant cultural lifetime of the North East within the wet season.

In a rustic the place the monsoon is as a lot an emotion as it’s a season, there’s something grounding about slowing down to observe it unfurl from a practice. The landscapes change, the sunshine shifts, and so does one thing inside you. And all it takes is a window seat.