The best wildlife resorts in India

What is it: A minimalist villa retreat on the buffer zone of the 148 sq km Tipeshwar sanctuary, with rammed-earth and stone villas designed by Ariane Thakore Ginwala.

Why we love it: Tiger density is high enough that sightings on short stays are genuinely likely, without the vehicle queuing at Tadoba or Pench. The matriarch, Taalaabwali, is regularly spotted near the lake that gives her her name, sometimes with two generations of cubs in tow. Chef Amninder Sandhu and an all-women kitchen team cook from a philosophy of slow cooking and local sourcing. The villas are calming, actually quiet, and camera trap experiences and birdwatching trails through the buffer zone supplement the main safaris. The 4-5 hour drive from Nagpur is part of why it stays uncrowded.

Time Out tip: The pangolin is technically nocturnal and famously shy. Ask your naturalist to set a camera trap near their known burrows the night before a buffer drive.

Address: Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary Buffer Zone, Yavatmal District, Maharashtra

Closest airport: Nagpur (170 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹50,000 plus tax per night

What is it: A lodge of twelve cottages and four tents beside Satpura Tiger Reserve, spread across hill, nallah and forest zones, each with a verandah facing the jungle.

Why we love it: Most Indian parks put you in a jeep and keep you there, but Satpura doesn't, and Reni Pani is the reason serious wildlife travellers come. Walking safaris, canoeing on the Denwa River, horseback rides through the buffer forest and night drives are all on the table. The post-safari breakfast picnic inside the park, with hot parathas, fruit and coffee among the trees, has become something of a ritual. Communal dinners at the circular thatched Gol Ghar are social events without trying to be.

Time Out tip: On walking safaris, ask to spend time near the Denwa River bank. Sloth bears forage along the waterline in the early morning, and without a vehicle engine running, you'll hear them before you see them.

Address: Village Shyampur, Sohagpur, Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh 461771

Closest airport: Bhopal (130 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹40,500 plus tax per night

What is it: A retreat of sixteen stilted log-hut cottages, inspired by Assamese chang ghar architecture, between Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and the Brahmaputra.

Why we love it: Pobitora is 38.8 sq km with over 107 one-horned rhinos, the highest density of the species anywhere on earth, and the Brahmaputra sunsets are worth the journey alone. Chef Kashmiri Nath runs the kitchen at Baan Kaahi, reviving Assamese dishes that have largely disappeared from restaurant menus. Try the Masor Tenga (tangy fish), Kola Bora Saul'or Paiyox (black sticky rice in coconut milk) and Joha Bhaat (fragrant short-grain rice). River dolphin boat safaris, birdwatching at the Tamuliduva wetlands and village walks in Mayang, historically associated with traditional healing, round out the days.

Time Out tip: The elephant safaris cover terrain that jeeps physically can't reach inside Pobitora: the high-grass corridors where rhinos shelter mid-morning. If you're serious about close sightings, this is the one to book first.

Address: Mayang, Morigaon District, Assam 782105

Closest airport: Guwahati (1.5 hours)

Price: Rooms start at ₹18,000 plus tax per night

What is it: A tented camp on 40 private acres at the edge of Bandhavgarh's buffer zone, split into the six-tent Original Camp and the four-suite Founders Camp.

Why we love it: Bandhavgarh has one of India's highest tiger densities, and tigers use the old forest trails that pass through the property, so you might hear alarm calls before you've finished your morning chai. The one-acre watering hole is a draw in itself. Dinners swing between wood-fired pizzas and proper thalis, served outdoors under the sky or beside the water. The naturalist team steers guests away from the jeep convoys toward quieter sightings, which in Bandhavgarh are often the better ones.

Time Out tip: Ask your naturalist to track pugmarks around the water body at dawn. Tigers using the property's trails often circle back to drink before the morning safari even begins, making the camp itself an extension of the game drive.

Address: Bagh Tola, Tala, Bandhavgarh, Madhya Pradesh 484661

Closest airport: Jabalpur (165 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹45,000 plus tax per night at the Founders Camp and ₹20,000 plus tax per night at the Original Camp.

What is it: An eighteen-room lodge on two and a half acres in Rajasthan's granite hills, with rooms ranging from premium tents to suites with heated plunge pools.

Why we love it: Jawai doesn't go by the rules of the Central Indian tiger reserve. This is leopard territory, and the cats live alongside the Rabari pastoral community with a familiarity that researchers still find striking. Safaris run through private land and scrub forest rather than a gated national park, which means fewer vehicles and more time with any animal you find. Every room faces the hills, and the restaurant SABOR pairs Rajasthani classics with global dishes against the Aravalli backdrop.

Time Out tip: Request a safari that covers the granite boulder caves at dusk. Leopards use specific rock overhangs as resting spots and are far more visible in fading light than at any other time of day.

Address: Village Sumerpur, Pali District, Rajasthan 306902

Closest airport: Maharana Pratap Airport, Udaipur (169 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹8,200 plus tax per night

What is it: Six Sal-wood treehouses perched 18 feet up in Mahua trees, with French windows opening onto private decks, set in 40 rewilded acres near the Karmajhiri gate.

Why we love it: Wait until a barking deer sounds off at 5am from somewhere below you, a good sign in case one of the Bengal tigers is around. The lodge gives access to the Runi Jhooni walking trail, one of very few walking experiences in the Pench system. The Kipling Photography Hide, India's only underground wildlife photography hide, is eye-level with the reflection pond and puts you in close proximity to whatever comes to drink, without you being visible. The 'Paanch Gaon Andar' menu sources ingredients from five neighbouring villages and changes daily.

Time Out tip: The Runi Jhooni walking trail near Karmajhiri gate moves through a mixed teak and bamboo habitat where dholes (Indian wild dogs) hunt in packs, a sighting most jeep safaris entirely miss because they stay on the main circuits.

Address: Sarahiri Village, Karmajhiri, Pench National Park, Seoni, Madhya Pradesh 480881

Closest airport: Nagpur (140 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹21,000 plus tax per night

What is it: A 38-room property built in and around an eight-acre mango orchard on the edge of Gir forest, using local stone, lime plaster, bamboo and reclaimed wood.

Why we love it: Gir is home to the only Asiatic lions in the wild, and the architecture keeps concrete to a minimum by design, not just by policy. The signature restaurant Swadesh follows seasonal, locally grown produce, with wood-fired pizzas at the poolside alfresco section. Village safaris visit the Maldhari pastoral community, who have lived inside the forest alongside the lions for generations. The narrow-gauge rail journey to Kansiya Nes is one of the most singular forest experiences in India, and the Siddis, an African-origin community settled here for over five centuries, perform their Dhamal dance on request.

Time Out tip: The early morning jeep safari timed to the Gir forest's internal water points, not the main tourist circuit, is where you're most likely to find lions at rest before the heat sets in.

Address: Near Sasan Village, Talala, Junagadh District, Gujarat 362135

Closest airport: Keshod (70 km) or Diu (95 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹21,600 plus tax per night

What is it: A heritage safari camp on the Kabini backwaters, 500 metres from the Nagarhole forest gate, run by the family that pioneered private eco-tourism in Karnataka in the mid-1980s.

Why we love it: It still has that founding-era feel: antique furnishings, canvas-and-brick structures and East African safari camp energy. The Waterfront Luxury Tents, listed in Tatler's world's best rooms, face directly onto the backwaters, and the premium Saya's Den room is named after Kabini's black leopard, documented by co-director Shaaz Jung. Boat safaris and guided night walks complement the jeep drives. The area has India's highest density of Asiatic elephants, and gaur sightings from the camp itself are common.

Time Out tip: Shaaz Jung aka 'The Leopard Man of India' occasionally leads safaris in person when he's at camp. Ask when you book.

Address: Kabini, H D Kote, Mysuru District, Karnataka 571114

Closest airport: Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru (~220 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹28,450 plus tax per night

What is it: A ten-tent camp on a dry riverbed under Arjuna trees and an ancient banyan, dismantled every May and reassembled in September.

Why we love it: The forest takes the land back through the monsoon. The Sankhala family's tiger conservation legacy goes back to Kailash Sankhala, who led Project Tiger in 1973, and third-generation Amit Sankhala now runs Jamtara with the same community-first framework. The Star Bed experience, sleeping on a machaan in a farmer's field under the night sky, generates direct income for the villager whose land you're on. The furniture is entirely reclaimed: Embassy sofas from the 1970s, Supreme Court writing desks and ship-deck flooring.

Time Out tip: The Rukad buffer zone, easily accessible from camp, has been recording consistent tiger sightings and allows night safaris, meaning you can do a core zone drive in the morning and a completely different nocturnal experience in the same day.

Address: Village Jamtara, Near Karmajhiri Gate, Pench National Park, Seoni, Madhya Pradesh

Closest airport: Nagpur (140 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹33,800 plus tax per night

What is it: A twelve-tent lodge near the Kolara gate on ten acres along the Uma River, with 600+ sq ft tents, sundecks and private plunge pools.

Why we love it: The two family tents connect across a shared deck with a larger pool and sleep up to six. The kitchen garden grows basil, chillies, coriander, carrots and traditional Maharashtrian vegetables, and the in-house bakery turns out bread, brownies and pizza bases fresh each morning. Night safaris into the buffer zone are available, and the buffer's seventeen entry gates mean Tadoba's core zones never feel as saturated as their reputation suggests.

Time Out tip: The Kolara zone's buffer drives at dawn cut through grassland corridors that tigers use to move between the core and the farmland edge. There's far less traffic here than the core gates, and the sightings, when they happen, tend to last longer.

Address: Kolara Gate Road, Near Uma River, Chandrapur District, Maharashtra 442401

Closest airport: Nagpur (2 hours)

Price: Rooms start at ₹33,500 plus tax per night

What is it: An eleven-tent colonial-style retreat in the Bandarjudh buffer zone of Rajaji, just outside Haridwar, with brick walls, mud finishes and four-poster beds.

Why we love it: Rajaji doesn't get the attention Corbett or Bandhavgarh do, which is precisely what makes Aalia worth knowing about. The forest gets eerily quiet after dark, and elephants, leopards, sloth bears and over 300 bird species move through. Dining shifts with the hour: the restaurant in the morning, the glass-house pool pavilion in the afternoon, forest clearings or a bonfire in the evening. Nothing beats a restorative spa massage at the end of a long safari, and with only eleven tents the experience stays personal.

Time Out tip: Rajaji is one of the few parks in northern India where elephant herds move regularly through the buffer zone. Ask your naturalist to factor likely elephant corridors into the morning safari route.

Address: Bandarjudh Buffer Zone, Rajaji National Park, Haridwar, Uttarakhand 249407

Closest airport: Jolly Grant Airport, Dehradun (approx. 45 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹14,700 plus tax per night

What is it: Twelve stone cottages built into a rocky outcrop above the Ken River, within 200 private forested acres on the Vindhya plateau. 

Why we love it: The gazebos have Khajuraho-inspired carved panels, and the rooflines follow the landscape rather than impose on it. Game viewing starts before you reach the park gate: antelope and other wildlife use the in-property watering hole, and the lookout tower has a clear sightline over the forest and Panna itself. Panna's tigers were reintroduced after local extinction in 2009, and the population has recovered steadily, making sightings feel earned rather than routine. Resident naturalists also lead walks with guides from the Pardhi community, former hunter-gatherers whose ancestral knowledge of the landscape runs deeper than any field manual.

Time Out tip: Request a safari that follows the Ken River gorge. Tigers, leopards and sloth bears all use the ravine system to move between territories, and the terrain forces vehicles to slow down in ways that produce longer, closer sightings than the open plateau routes.

Address: Madla, Panna National Park, Panna District, Madhya Pradesh 488001

Closest airport: Khajuraho Airport (25 km)

Price: Rooms start at ₹28,800 plus tax per night