River town · Uttarakhand

Rishikesh travel guide & tour packages

Rishikesh does two things at once and does both well: it is a serious centre for yoga and Ganga ritual, and it is the white-water rafting capital of North India. The two coexist more comfortably than you would expect. The Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan each evening is the quieter, more welcoming counterpart to Haridwar's larger ceremony. Rafting runs roughly September to June and stops entirely during the monsoon when the river is unsafe — anyone promising a monsoon raft is either lying or reckless. Two nights covers the ghats, the bridges and one river day; three or four suits anyone doing a yoga course or wanting to walk up to the waterfalls.