Ranthambore National Park

Once the private hunting grounds of the former Maharajas of Jaipur, India’s Ranthambore National Park today reigns supreme as one of the most visited and best known in the country. Famed primarily for its resident population of around 50 tigers, travellers flock here from nearby Jaipur to hook up with Ranthambore National Park tour guides who take them on morning safaris in search for the roaming or basking striped creatures between the scrub lands. But it’s not just the presence of the majestic tiger that keeps people on the edges of their safari jeep seats; leopards, flying foxes, sloth bears, chitals, jackals and jungle cats are some of the other species that thrive here too. They all make their way around the ruins of the mighty Ranthambhore Fort in the heart of the park, where it still showcases majestic Rajput domes and exquisite lattice works, as well as a Ganesh temple that is quite popular with the locals. The park’s deciduous forests are sprinkled with lakes rich with aquatic life (the most prominent being the crocodiles basking in the sun), and there are some fantastic bird watching spots too.