The joy of India’s heritage hotels

As the pandemic roared through India, I wondered when tourists like me would be able to return to a country so central to the traveller’s imagination. When we did return, would it show the scars of the hideous death toll and extreme burden of suffering? Would we feel safe? Finally, nearly three years since I first wondered this, I went to find out. I flew not long after India relaxed all Covid paperwork late last year. A sadistically bureaucratic nation at the best of times, India had scrapped British e-Visas in retaliation for something that no one can quite work out, making the visa application process somewhat Kafka-esque. The e-Visa has, thankfully, since returned. It is a good time to return: prices can be quite reasonable on the layover flights a day from London to Delhi and Mumbai, plus direct hops to Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad. 

Having lost my traveller’s courage somewhat since Covid – and got older – this was no time for roughing it: my re-entry would have to be as well-managed and delightful as possible, the sometimes tricky bits of India smartly ironed out.