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Long weekend · 23–26 January 2027

Republic Day Long Weekend 2027: Where to Go for 4 Days, with Real Costs

Republic Day falls on a Tuesday in 2027. Take Monday off and you get four days: Saturday 23 to Tuesday 26 January. Here are nine underrated places at their best in January, the dates your train bookings open, and what each trip really costs.

Photo: Suraj S Rao, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Text added by Trip Under.

January is the best month of the year for most of South and Central India: dry, clear and cool. That is exactly why Goa, Jaipur and Manali are full and expensive on the Republic Day weekend. The nine places below are at their best in the same month, cost a fraction to sleep in, and are reachable by an overnight train or bus, so the journey uses nights, not your four days.

The dates, and the one day of leave

Nine underrated places at their best in January

Each is rated "best" for January in Trip Under's month-by-month data. The cost is one person, four days, travelling by the cheapest overland route from the city named, return, plus beds, food, local transport and entry fees. Couples split the room, so they pay less each.

1. Hampi: Boulders, ruins and a ₹400 scooter

Instead of: the Mysuru palace circuit. From: Bengaluru, sleeper train (SBC Bengaluru → Hosapete Jn, 8–9 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

A ruined capital scattered across forty square kilometres of granite boulders and banana fields, best seen from the seat of a ₹400 scooter.

Do this: Vittala temple at sunrise, coracle on the Tungabhadra. See the Hampi plan, day by day →

2. Gokarna: Five beaches joined by a free cliff walk

Instead of: North Goa. From: Bengaluru, sleeper train (Bengaluru/Mangaluru → Gokarna Road, 10–12 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

Five beaches strung along a cliff walk, a working temple town at one end, and rooms at half what Goa charges in the same week.

Do this: Kudle to Paradise on foot, sunset at Om. See the Gokarna plan, day by day →

3. Gandikota: India's own canyon, camping on the rim

Instead of: another Rajasthan fort. From: Bengaluru or Hyderabad, bus (Bengaluru / Hyderabad → Kadapa, then local, 8 h + 1 h 30 m). Best months: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec.

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.

Do this: Sunrise over the Pennar gorge, the fort's Jamia Masjid. See the Gandikota plan, day by day →

4. Varkala: Cliff-top beach with a train station

Instead of: Kovalam. From: anywhere in South India, train (Anywhere in South India → Varkala Sivagiri, varies). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

A red laterite cliff with cafés along the top, a clean beach below it, and a train station fifteen minutes' walk away.

Do this: Papanasam beach, the cliff path north to Odayam. See the Varkala plan, day by day →

5. Pondicherry: French Quarter, cycling and quiet beaches

Instead of: Goa for a quiet week. From: Chennai, bus (Chennai → Pondicherry, ECR coastal road, 3 h 30 m). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

A French grid on one side of a canal, a Tamil town on the other, and a bicycle is all you need for both.

Do this: Cycle White Town at 7 am, Auroville by bus. See the Pondicherry plan, day by day →

6. Chettinad: Mansion villages and the best food in Tamil Nadu

Instead of: another Rajasthan haveli town. From: Chennai or Madurai, train (Chennai / Madurai → Karaikudi Jn, 2–8 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

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

Do this: Kanadukathan mansions, an Athangudi tile workshop. See the Chettinad plan, day by day →

7. Bidar: Sultanate forts with almost nobody in them

Instead of: Deccan sultanate heritage that gets a fraction of Hampi's visitors. From: Hyderabad or Bengaluru, train (Hyderabad / Bengaluru → Bidar, 3 h / 12 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec.

A red-laterite fort city that was once the Bahmani Sultanate's capital, with tiled tombs, a 15th-century Persian-style college, and almost no tourist infrastructure at all.

Do this: Bidar Fort walls, Mahmud Gawan madrasa, Bidriware. See the Bidar plan, day by day →

8. Bundi & Kumbhalgarh: Rajasthan without the Jaipur crowds

Instead of: Jaipur and Jodhpur. From: Delhi or Mumbai, train (Delhi / Mumbai → Bundi or Kota, 7–12 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec.

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.

Do this: Painted Chitrashala, the step-wells, Taragarh at dusk. See the Bundi & Kumbhalgarh plan, day by day →

9. Khajuraho & Orchha: The temples, then Panna's forest next door

Instead of: the Golden Triangle. From: Delhi or Varanasi, train (Delhi / Varanasi → Khajuraho, 10–12 h). Best months: Jan–Feb, Oct–Dec.

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.

Do this: Western Group at opening time, Raneh Falls. See the Khajuraho & Orchha plan, day by day →

How to choose in one minute

Five things that keep the weekend cheap

1. Book the overnight train on the day bookings open (about 23 November for a Friday-night departure). An overnight train saves a night's room and a day of travel.
2. Book only the first night online. In Hampi, Gokarna, Bundi and Varkala, walk-in rooms are often cheaper once you are there.
3. Avoid flying in on Saturday morning. Flights into Goa, Kochi and Jaipur are priced for the long weekend; trains are not.
4. Eat where the locals eat lunch. A thali or banana-leaf meal is the best-value meal in every one of these places.
5. Go as a couple or a group. The room splits, and the per-person cost drops by a fifth or more.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and how we priced this

• Republic Day 2027 date and weekday: India holiday calendar, January 2027 and HolidayDB, long weekends in India 2027.
• Railway booking window (60 days, excluding the journey date, from 1 November 2024): Railway Board order reported by Onmanorama and ixigo. Check the exact opening date on IRCTC.
• Routes, fares, daily costs and best months: each place's Trip Under page (linked above), built on our cost method. 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.