Home › Blog › Less crowded places in December

December · Across India

Less Crowded Places to Visit in December in India: 8 Picks, with 3-Day Costs

Goa, Jaipur and Manali are the December defaults. These eight places are rated good or best for December in our data, each is the quieter stand-in for somewhere famous, and each comes with what three days really costs.

Photo: Kartikeya Agarwal, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Trip Under.

Every place on Trip Under carries one rule: it has to be underrated, and it has to name the famous place it replaces. That makes December easy. When everyone else heads to the beach and palace towns that fill up at Christmas, you go to the one next door that the season suits just as well.

We picked eight places rated "good" or "best" for December in Trip Under's month-by-month data, spread across India. We do not hold visitor counts, so "less crowded" here means the underrated alternative, not a measured crowd figure. Costs are one person, three days, by the cheapest overland route from the city named and back, plus beds, food, local transport and fees.

All eight at a glance

The eight places

Photo: Sudha Kulkarni, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

1. Rann of Kutch & Bhuj

3 days from ₹10,900December: BestWestBest: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec

Instead of Jaisalmer. A salt flat white to the horizon, a full moon over it, and a craft village where the mud houses are painted by hand.

In December: The Rann is dry and white from November to February, and Rann Utsav runs 1 November 2026 to 7 March 2027. The December full-moon window is 22 to 24 December, and it sells out first. Nights are cold.

Getting there: taxi, Bhuj → Dhordo, 1 h 45 m.

Pick this if you want one big sight, a salt desert under a full moon.

Rann of Kutch & Bhuj pageFull place page →

Photo: Daniel VILLAFRUELA, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

2. Bundi & Kumbhalgarh

3 days from ₹4,500December: BestNorthBest: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec

Instead of Jaipur and Jodhpur. A blue town under a palace full of the best murals in Rajasthan, and a fort wall thirty-six kilometres long two hundred kilometres south.

In December: October to March is the season. From April to June Rajasthan routinely passes 45°C, so winter is when Taragarh and the stepwells are a pleasure to walk.

Getting there: train, Delhi / Mumbai → Bundi or Kota, 7–12 h.

Pick this if you want Rajasthan palaces and murals at a walking pace.

Bundi & Kumbhalgarh pageFull place page →

Photo: StonesThatRemember, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

3. Khajuraho & Orchha

3 days from ₹4,500December: BestCentralBest: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec

Instead of the Golden Triangle. Eighty-five temples built in a hundred years and forgotten in a forest for eight centuries, and a riverside town of cenotaphs an hour away.

In December: October to March is the season. The temples are open stone with no shade, so December's cool days are the time to see them. Orchha, an hour away, fits in the same trip.

Getting there: train, Delhi / Varanasi → Khajuraho, 10–12 h.

Pick this if you want great temples without the Golden Triangle circuit.

Khajuraho & Orchha pageFull place page →

Photo: Nayan j Nath, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

4. Majuli

3 days from ₹9,100December: BestNorth EastBest: Oct–Dec

Instead of a Kaziranga day trip. A river island the size of a city, reached only by ferry, with monastery communities that have been performing dance-drama since the sixteenth century.

In December: October to March is the season, after the floods have gone. The last ferry off the island is mid-afternoon, so plan your crossing.

Getting there: train + ferry, → Jorhat, then ferry, varies + 1 h 30 m.

Pick this if you want a slow island of monasteries, masks and cycling.

Majuli pageFull place page →

Photo: Varun Shiv Kapur, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

5. Chopta & Tungnath

3 days from ₹4,600December: GoodHimalayaBest: Apr–May, Oct–Nov

Instead of Kedarnath in season. The highest Shiva temple in the world at the end of a three-kilometre walk, with the whole Garhwal range in front of it.

In December: December is snow season. The Tungnath temple closes for winter around November, and the path is snowbound from December to March: beautiful, but you need micro-spikes and proper gear.

Getting there: bus + shared jeep, Rishikesh → Ukhimath → Chopta, 9 h.

Pick this if you want Himalayan snow in two or three days, on a budget.

Chopta & Tungnath pageFull place page →

Photo: solarisgirl from Pune, India, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

6. Gandikota

3 days from ₹4,200December: BestSouthBest: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec

Instead of another Rajasthan fort. A ruined fort on the lip of a red sandstone gorge, with a mosque, a granary and a Vishnu temple inside the walls, and almost nobody there.

In December: November to February only. From March the plateau reaches 44°C on bare rock. In December the gorge rim has tented camps, and room to pitch your own tent.

Getting there: bus, Bengaluru / Hyderabad → Kadapa, then local, 8 h + 1 h 30 m.

Pick this if you want a canyon sunrise and a near-empty fort.

Gandikota pageFull place page →

Photo: Rainer Halama, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

7. Chettinad

3 days from ₹3,900December: BestSouthBest: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec

Instead of another Rajasthan haveli town. Seventy-five villages of vast merchant mansions built with Burmese teak and Italian marble, mostly locked, and the fiercest food in South India.

In December: November to February is the season. The mansions have no air conditioning, so the cool months are the only comfortable time to walk them.

Getting there: train, Chennai / Madurai → Karaikudi Jn, 2–8 h.

Pick this if you travel for food and architecture.

Chettinad pageFull place page →

Photo: Drashokk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

8. Araku Valley & Lambasingi

3 days from ₹3,000December: BestEast coastBest: Sep–Dec

Instead of Ooty. One of India's great train journeys — 58 tunnels and 84 bridges up from the coast — to a tribal coffee valley that freezes in December.

In December: September to February is the season, and November to January brings the cold at Lambasingi. One warning from the record: Lambasingi's frost season is a weekend event for Andhra and Telangana, so go on weekdays and book ahead in December.

Getting there: train, Visakhapatnam → Araku (Kirandul passenger), 5 h.

Pick this if you want one of India's great train rides and a cold coffee valley.

Araku Valley & Lambasingi pageFull place page →

Which one for you?

How December changes each trip

• Cold nights in the north and west. The Rann, Bundi and Chopta all get cold after dark. Pack a warm layer even where noon is hot.
• The full moon at Kutch. 22 to 24 December is the window everyone wants. Book the bed before anything else.
• Weekends at Lambasingi. Araku's cold season draws weekend crowds from Andhra and Telangana. Go Monday to Thursday.
• Short days. Ferries at Majuli and jeeps at Chopta stop by mid-afternoon. Start early.

Five ways to keep a December trip cheap

1. Travel overnight where you can. The trains to Bundi (7 to 12 hours) and Khajuraho (10 to 12 hours) are long enough to sleep on, which saves a night's bed.
2. Book the peak nights first. The Kutch full moon and Lambasingi weekends fill first; everything else can wait.
3. Go as two. Couples pay less each because the room splits: see the last column of the table.
4. Eat where the locals eat. A thali is the best-value meal in every one of these places.
5. Book each piece yourself. Trip Under is not an agency, and there are no package mark-ups when you book the train, room and taxi direct.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we priced this

• December ratings, the famous place each one replaces, routes, fares and daily costs: each place's Trip Under page (linked above), built on our cost method.
• Rann Utsav dates and full-moon windows: rannutsav.com and Outlook Traveller, as recorded on the Kutch page.
• Fares are planning figures. Check live prices before you book.

Keep reading

Costs come from Trip Under's place data and our cost model (see methodology). They are indicative ballparks for budget travel and move with season and demand. Check live bus, train and room prices before you book. Trip Under is reader-planned, not an agency, and takes no commission on any booking.