The Republic of India is a large country in southern Asia; triangular in shape and protruding into the Indian Ocean at its southern tip, it covers an area of approximately 3.30 million sq km. With Pakistan bordering the north-west and Bangladesh the east, its northern boundary is occupied by the long sweep of the Himalayan mountain range, beyond which lies China, Nepal and Bhutan. The Gangetic Plain lies south of the Himalayas and stretches from the Arabian Sea on the west coast, to the Bay of Bengal in the east; a landscape that rises up to heights of 900m on the Deccan Plateau, an area of land bordered by the Eastern and Western Ghats of the southern peninsular.

Its population of just over 1 billion people live in an environment where ancient custom and cultures exist happily alongside modern influences, and India is growing in popularity as a holiday destination with a big difference. The towns and cities are cosmopolitan and chaotic with an atmosphere of excitement that sweeps you along streets where grand historical architecture and humble, traditional homes share the same space, and up-to-the-minute automobiles roar past donkeys laden with okra and bananas. The countryside beyond offers such awesome diversity in landscape and natural habitats and is vast, to say the least, with over 350 national parks and reserves offering protected environments to many of India's indigenous and endangered species of flora and fauna.

India's climate varies enormously due to its wide ranging geological features; from arid desert to cool, wet highlands, there are basically three distinct seasons - hot, wet and cool. Heat begins to build in the northern plains during February until May when the extreme humidity gives rise to violent, electrical storms, and monsoon rains sweep the whole country from south to north by July. The main monsoon weather arrives from a south-westerly direction and usually ends in October, having done little to dilute the scorching temperatures, but a lot to please the farmers of India's vast tracts of fertile ground. Holiday accommodation in India can be found virtually nationwide, from luxurious hotels in the south to modest bed and breakfasts in north India or self catering apartments and bungalows anywhere, but the best time to visit India depends on where you want to go and whether or not you want to avoid the monsoon. Generally speaking, most of the country enjoys pleasant weather from October to March, but the deserts of the north-western Himalayan regions are at their best during the monsoon season, and skiing holidays in the mountains are taken between January and March.

A holiday in Goa is truly inspirational, offering so much more than your average vacation requirements of sun, sea and sand. At just over 3,500 sq km, it has exploration potential far greater than any other state in India. A self catering apartment in Goa will make the perfect base from where this exotic location of breathtaking beauty and decadence can be discovered, with its remnants of Portuguese colonial history and stunning coastal scenery. Its traditional pace of life and laid-back attitudes can provide a haven of tranquillity and sheer escapism in a way that is unparalleled anywhere else in the world.

Further down the western coast of southern India, the spectacular landscapes of Kerala can be found nestling somewhere in between the towering peaks of the Western Ghat mountain range and an idyllic coastline washed by the waters of the Arabian sea - a region that has such staggering geographical, cultural and natural significance that you can be guaranteed of a whole new experience every day when you choose to rent a holiday villa in Kerala. With a concentration of flora and fauna so rich and diverse that it will take your breath away, the rain forests, deciduous woodlands, verdant hill stations, tea plantations and paddy fields of Kerala are just part of the reason why this legendary place attracts so many people to its unique serenity, and why Ayurvedic health holidays in Kerala have never existed in a more therapeutically appropriate situation.

In a destination where the sights and sounds, smells and tastes of a proud and evocative nation provide such an assault on the senses, such cultural over-load, to be there is the only way to understand how the magical allure of a holiday home in India cannot be so easily defined.

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