The best tourist spots in India

Taj Mahal - The Taj Mahal- located in Agra is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, and rightly so. Be prepared to wake up as early as 4am in order to catch the sunrise and get the best possible photographs - the hostel can inform you of what time is best to set off. You can walk around the inside, however it really is just the one main room with the memorial and then two or three empty rooms you are free to walk around. The entry ticket is 1000 rupees which is the equivalent to around £11 and it is worth every penny.

The Beatles Ashram - This little spot was in Rishikesh which is known as the 'yoga capital of the world'. This place is possibly the most peaceful place ever. In India you have to be prepared for the never ending beeps of cars and tuk tuks, music and the constant chatter of people. But if you are in need of a little bit of serenity in the middle of the madness, I would strongly advise heading to The Beatles Ashram. The Beatles visited the ashram in the 60's and whilst there wrote music, eighteen of which appeared in 'The white album' and two appear in 'The abbey road album'. As well as being such an interesting place to go, you can also explore where they stayed and actually look round the little huts which have now been completely covered in graffiti and art work. This cost 600 rupees to walk around for as long as you would like. Of course this is not an essential place to visit, but if you have loosened the purse strings on your budget, its definitely worth a look.

Elephant Joy - One thing we all knew we wanted to do when in India was to visit an elephant sanctuary. If this is something you want to do I would seriously advise looking in to it in a lot of detail because unfortunately so many aren't legit and force the elephants to work. After searching around we found Elephant Joy, a family business created to care for elephants without making them work. On arrival it was clear they loved the elephants and treated them as you would treat your family pet. It cost around 1500 rupees which was the equivalent to around 17/18 pounds. This might sound a little pricey if you are on a budget but it was definitely worth it. The 'day with the elephants' experience included feeding them, painting them with 100% safe and organic paints, washing them and taking them on a short walk.

Sunset Camel ride We decided to add Pushkar to our list of destinations to visit after hearing good things and I am very glad we did as it meant we got to ride camels through the desert. Apart from the slightly gloomy weather toward the end of the journey It was possibly one of the funniest experiences in India - especially when your camel is particularly tall We had a short break where a random band of men with various instruments came and performed for us which topped the whole experience off. Your hostel can often arrange with the company to come and pick you up as part of the overall price.