1

North into the Himalaya regions are the only sane places to go ... even then you'll land in Delhi and it will be 115 F or more and you'll want to book out of there as soon as possible to say - Ladakh.

2

The Hemis Festival in Ladakh is in June and you could consider being there.The Valley of Flowers in Uttarkhand is in all its glory in August.Kashmir is lovely too but safety could be a concern. You could consider parts of Himachal Pradesh beyond Shimla but would need to be flexible as rains can disrupt life.

3

I suggest you plan your trip more along the lines of your interests than the weather. There are people visiting every region, state and city in India year round. The weather could require you to adjust plans, but it makes no sense to plan around a given region because of the weather if your personal interests and travel objectives can only be met by traveling in a different region.

Let us know what you want to accomplish and we can offer useful guidance from there.

4

When the monsoon sets in here in Bangalore, by around late June, weather can be great- and is generally so until say late Aug/early Sep. It gets warm in the afternoons (but rarely above say 33C) but mornings and evenings are great.

Areas such as Coorg are perpetually rainy in August but the weather is always cool and refreshing.

I'd do as #3 says. But then do note that transportation is sometimes affected around Mumbai due to heavy rains- even flights are cancelled sometimes I hear. (Although I've never been to Mumbai in the monsoons, poor weather around there is consistently reported around there in this season).

Do you have any specific interests/places you really want to see?

5

Generally North (Delhi, Amritsar, Rajasthan) is hotter than South (Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu) with the desert areas of North West India in Rajasthan being the hottest at 45 degrees plus.

In the North East in the foothills of the Himalaya mountains the higher elevation places called "hill stations" such as Shimla/Manali are very pleasant. Yes, you could escape from the extreme heat and go to weather friendly Shimla or Ladakh or Manali area but you don't want to spend all your time there and missing out on seeing India which is the reason for the long trip to India.

Learn more about India and the weather and then try to find a balance so you can see a good part of India and also spend time in more weather friendly areas.

6

Thanks for the advice all.

I've actually been to northern India (including manali and McLeod ganj but NOT Ladakh) so my instinct would be to head south f i thought i could handle the temp, although Ladakh and Kashmir are both quite appealing. The last time I was here in this time of year I found the weather to be quite difficult to work with (Delhi, Rajasthan, Varanasi, McLeod were are hard, Manali was decent tho).

My interests lie in culture, people, temples, different ways of living life. I'd live to go to Kerala or to Hampi, but don't know if its worth it.