Bangalore, India

Bangalore — officially Bengaluru — is the capital of Karnataka and the heart of India's technology industry, the country's 'Silicon Valley', and one of its most modern, cosmopolitan and liveable big cities. Set on the Deccan plateau at nearly 1,000 metres, it enjoys a notably mild, pleasant climate — cooler and less punishing than most of India — which, with its many parks, long earned it the nickname the 'Garden City'. The IT boom transformed it into a young, prosperous, outward-looking metropolis, and that energy shows in its food, its nightlife and its cosmopolitan buzz. Bangalore is famously India's pub capital, with the country's most developed craft-beer scene, lively bars and a dining culture that spans superb South Indian classics — crisp dosas, idli and filter coffee — and an international restaurant scene to match any in the country. Its green lungs are a defining pleasure: the sprawling Lalbagh Botanical Garden, with its glasshouse and ancient rock, and the central Cubbon Park, a leafy expanse among the government buildings. The city's heritage sits amid the modernity — the ornate Bangalore Palace (modelled on Windsor Castle), the 18th-century Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, the imposing granite Vidhana Soudha state legislature, the Bull Temple and the bustling KR and Commercial Street markets. Shopping and nightlife cluster on MG Road, Brigade Road and in the trendy districts of Indiranagar and Koramangala. And Bangalore makes an ideal base for southern India: the magnificent palace city of Mysore, the coffee-scented hills of Coorg, the ancient ruins of Hampi and the temples of Belur and Halebidu are all within reach. Thanks to its altitude, Bangalore is comfortable year-round; the post-monsoon and winter months (roughly October to February) are the most pleasant, with the monsoon bringing welcome rain around June to September.