CN Traveller’s 7 India picks

CN Traveller has added a new layer to India’s travel map with a 2026 list that shifts attention from marquee monuments to lesser-known heritage sites, including Murud Janjira Fort in Maharashtra and Shalimar Bagh in Kashmir. (cntraveller.com, lasvegasnews.media) The feature was circulating on April 18, 2026, and at least two of the named picks point to places that are reachable as short add-ons from bigger gateways: Murud Janjira by boat from Rajapuri jetty on the Konkan coast, and Shalimar Bagh on the edge of Dal Lake in Srinagar. (australianonlinenews.com.au, maharashtratourism.gov.in, kashmirtourismofficial.com) Murud Janjira is an island fort off Murud in Raigad district, and Maharashtra’s tourism department says visitors reach it by a short boat ride from Rajapuri jetty. The site still contains freshwater ponds inside the sea fort, a detail that helps explain why it remains a durable stop on west-coast history circuits. (maharashtratourism.gov.in) Shalimar Bagh was built in 1619 by Mughal emperor Jahangir for Nur Jahan, according to Kashmir tourism authorities, and it remains one of the best-known Mughal gardens in Srinagar. The garden’s terraces, water channels and pavilions make it legible to visitors in a way many ruined sites are not. (kashmirtourismofficial.com, incredibleindia.gov.in) That editorial shift lands as India’s tourism numbers continue to recover. The Press Information Bureau said foreign tourist arrivals reached 9,951,722 in 2024, up from 9,520,928 in 2023, though still below the 10,930,355 recorded in 2019. (pib.gov.in) Lists like this matter partly because they steer travelers away from the country’s most saturated icons and toward places that can support longer regional itineraries. Condé Nast Traveller India’s current coverage is full of that logic: museum openings, wellness stays near Auroville, and seasonal destination guides that pair a site visit with where to stay and eat nearby. (cntraveller.in) The two visible picks also show how the magazine is mixing very different kinds of heritage. One is a military sea fort tied to the Siddis and the Konkan coast; the other is a 17th-century pleasure garden tied to Mughal court life in Kashmir. (maharashtratourism.gov.in, jktdc.co.in) Shalimar Bagh is also not being presented as a frozen monument. Syndicated text of the CN Traveller piece says the garden is undergoing structural restoration and landscape work by the JSW Foundation, linking heritage travel to the current business of preservation and visitor amenities. (lasvegasnews.media) The practical pitch is clear: India’s next travel hotspots may be places visitors have heard of only faintly, but can still reach in a day from Mumbai, Pune or Srinagar. CN Traveller’s 2026 picks package those places as the kind of detour that can turn into a destination. (lasvegasnews.media, maharashtratourism.gov.in, kashmirtourismofficial.com)