Cornelius Amann
October 06, 2026
5/5
Central India: Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench Tiger Reserves
10 days from Delhi to Nagpur: a flight to Jabalpur, then three nights each in Bandhavgarh and Kanha and two in Pench, with ten game drives.
10 days · Delhi to Nagpur · up to 12 guests
A stag in the grasslands of Kanha National Park Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sambar_in_Kanha_National_Park.jpg)
The facts
At a glance
- Length
- 10 days, 9 nights
- Start and end
- Delhi to Nagpur
- Group size
- 7 to 12 guests
- Activity level
Easy
Ten game drives of about three to five hours each, seated in open jeeps on bumpy, dusty forest tracks, with starts before dawn and the middle of each day free. Little walking. One long road day of 5.5 to 6 hours (day 5) and two of about 4 hours. You can sit out any drive and stay at the lodge.
- Meals included
- 9 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 8 dinners
- Room of your own
- + CAD 480 (estimated price)
- Season
- Mid-October to April; the core zones close for the monsoon from 1 July (Pench from mid-June) and reopen in October, Bandhavgarh around mid-October
Highlights
Why this trip
- Ten game drives across three tiger reserves, with no more than four guests in each jeep so everyone has a side
- Bandhavgarh's sal forest and meadows below an old hill fort, on four drives over two full days
- Kanha's wide grasslands at dawn, home of the hard-ground barasingha, the swamp deer the park brought back
- Pench's teak forest and river country, the Seoni hills Kipling wrote about in The Jungle Book
- A flight from Delhi to Jabalpur instead of an overnight train
- Three nights in each of the first two parks, so nobody packs a bag between drives
- Free middle of every safari day, and a free afternoon on arrival in Pench
What makes this trip different
Free time is part of the plan
Free time and choices are marked on the days they fall.
Solo without the penalty
A room of your own is + CAD 480 (estimated price).
Day by day
Itinerary
Tap any stop on the map to open that dayClick any stop on the map to open that day
Arrive in Delhi
Indira Gandhi International Airport to a hotel near the airport
- Welcome dinner
- Stay in Delhi
- Drive about 30 min
Fly into Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) at any time today; a driver meets you in the arrivals hall.
Morning
We stay near the airport, in Aerocity or close by, rather than in central Delhi, because tomorrow's flight to Jabalpur leaves in the morning and the drive in from the city can take an hour or more in traffic. If you land early, the Airport Express metro line runs from Aerocity into New Delhi in about twenty minutes, and your guide can suggest a few hours' route.
Evening
In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a briefing on the days ahead: how the game drives and permits work, what the parks ask of visitors (stay seated, keep voices low, no feeding, no stepping out of the jeep), and what to wear for cold dawns. Then we sit down together for a welcome dinner of north Indian dishes. Pack tonight for the flight: a small soft bag travels best.
Included
- Pick-up at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)
- Welcome briefing with your guide
- Welcome dinner
Free time: Free until the evening briefing
Activity: Plan to land by about 4 pm to join the briefing; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary.
Fly to Jabalpur, drive to Bandhavgarh
Delhi to Jabalpur by air, then by road to Bandhavgarh
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Bandhavgarh
- Drive about 4 h
Morning
After an early breakfast we take a domestic flight of under 2 hours from Delhi to Jabalpur, a city on the Narmada river in the middle of Madhya Pradesh. Our vehicle and driver meet the group at Jabalpur's airport, and from here they stay with us to the last day. The road runs north-east for about 190 km and four hours, through wheat and lentil fields, small market towns and the first patches of sal forest, past Umaria, the district town.
Afternoon
We stop for a sit-down lunch on the way, or at the lodge if the flight lands late. By mid to late afternoon we reach our lodge on the edge of Bandhavgarh National Park, our base for three nights, and there is time to unpack and sit outside as the light goes.
Evening
Before dinner the group meets for a short talk on the park: its zones, its animals, and how to read the alarm calls of deer and langur monkeys that often give a tiger away.
Included
- Flight from Delhi to Jabalpur
- Drive from Jabalpur to Bandhavgarh with your guide
- Sit-down lunch on the way
- Park briefing at the lodge
Free time: Late afternoon free at the lodge
Activity: Flight times change by season; your exact flight is confirmed with your final itinerary.
Bandhavgarh: first two game drives
Two drives in Bandhavgarh National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Bandhavgarh
Morning
The alarm goes before dawn. We are at the gate as it opens, around sunrise, in open 4x4 jeeps with a driver, a forest department guide and no more than four guests each. Bandhavgarh, the old hunting preserve of the Maharajas of Rewa and a national park since 1968, is a mix of sal forest, bamboo and grassy meadows below a sandstone hill with a fort on top. The morning drive lasts until late morning, with a breakfast stop inside the park, and the guides follow pugmarks and the alarm calls of chital and langurs. Tigers live here, but no sighting is ever promised. What you will see is spotted deer, sambar, langurs, wild boar, peafowl and hornbills, and with luck a leopard, sloth bear or gaur.
Afternoon
The middle of the day is free at the lodge for lunch and sleep.
Evening
The afternoon drive goes out around three and returns at sunset, in a zone allotted by the forest department.
Included
- Morning game drive in Bandhavgarh National Park, with permits and a forest department guide
- Afternoon game drive in Bandhavgarh National Park
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
Easier option: Sit out the afternoon drive and stay at the lodge.
Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge
Activity: Each drive is about three to five hours seated on bumpy tracks. Mornings can be close to freezing from December to February: bring a warm jacket, hat and gloves.
Bandhavgarh: two more drives
Two drives in Bandhavgarh National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Bandhavgarh
Afternoon
A second full day in Bandhavgarh, with another morning and afternoon drive. Each drive goes where the forest department sends the jeep, so a second day usually means new ground: a different meadow, a water hole that was busy yesterday, or the track beneath the fort hill, where an ancient statue of Vishnu lies carved in the rock beside a spring at the start of the Charan Ganga stream. By now you will know the rhythm. Sambar bark and chital calls mean a predator is moving; langur monkeys in the trees see further than any of us.
Evening
Your guide rides with the group in turn and keeps a record of what each jeep has seen, so the stories are shared at dinner. Between drives the middle of the day is yours. If you would rather not do four drives, skip one and stay at the lodge: a slow afternoon with a book is part of the trip, not a loss.
Included
- Morning game drive in Bandhavgarh National Park
- Afternoon game drive in Bandhavgarh National Park
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
Easier option: Sit out either drive and spend the time at the lodge.
More active option: In the free midday, a guided walk in the village and farmland outside the park, where the lodge offers one (confirmed when we name the lodge).
Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge
Across the Narmada to Kanha
Bandhavgarh to Kanha by road, crossing the Narmada
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kanha
- Drive about 6 h
Today is the one long road day, and we say so up front.
Evening
Bandhavgarh to Kanha is about 250 km and 5.5 to 6 hours of driving: there is no shorter road, no airport near either park and no town with a suitable hotel between them, so splitting it would cost a night in a park. We skip the morning drive and leave after breakfast, at about 8 am. The road heads south through the hills, small towns and tribal villages of eastern Madhya Pradesh and crosses the Narmada at Mandla. We stop mid-morning for tea and a stretch, and for a sit-down lunch on the way, so no stint at the wheel runs much over two hours. We reach our lodge near Kanha National Park by mid-afternoon, our base for three nights, and the rest of the day is free: rest, walk the grounds, or sit and listen to the forest before dinner.
Included
- Drive from Bandhavgarh to Kanha with your guide
- Sit-down lunch on the way
- Dinner at the lodge
Free time: Late afternoon and evening free at the lodge
Activity: The longest day of the trip, about 5.5 to 6 hours of driving with two stops.
Kanha: the meadows at dawn
Two drives in Kanha National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kanha
Kanha became a national park in 1955 and was one of India's first Project Tiger reserves in 1973. It feels different from Bandhavgarh: tall sal forest and bamboo open onto wide grassy meadows, and on winter mornings mist lies over them as the jeeps come out of the trees. These meadows are the home of the hard-ground barasingha, a swamp deer with many-pointed antlers that Kanha brought back from the brink in the 1970s and that lives wild almost nowhere else. You will also look for gaur, the largest wild cattle in the world, herds of chital and sambar, jackals, and if the zone and the day allow, a tiger or a pack of dhole, the Indian wild dog. As before, nothing is promised.
Evening
The morning drive runs from sunrise to late morning, then lunch and the middle of the day at the lodge, and the afternoon drive goes back out until sunset.
Included
- Morning game drive in Kanha National Park, with permits and a forest department guide
- Afternoon game drive in Kanha National Park
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
Easier option: Sit out the afternoon drive and stay at the lodge.
Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge
Activity: Kanha's dawns are the coldest of the trip from December to February: dress in layers.
Kanha: a second day in the park
Two drives in Kanha National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Kanha
Kanha is large, and a second day lets the forest department's zone allotment take us somewhere new.
Evening
The morning drive is the one to keep if you only want one today: the light is low and gold over the meadows, the deer are out grazing, and predators that hunted at night are still on the move. Birdlife is a large part of a Kanha morning too, from racket-tailed drongos and paradise flycatchers in the forest to vultures and serpent eagles over the open ground. If our afternoon zone is Kanha zone itself, the drive may end at Bamni Dadar, a plateau viewpoint above the forest, at sunset. Your guide pools what the jeeps have seen over the two days and talks through it over dinner. As in Bandhavgarh, either drive can be swapped for a slow few hours at the lodge, and the middle of the day is free for lunch, a swim if the lodge has a pool, or sleep.
Included
- Morning game drive in Kanha National Park
- Afternoon game drive in Kanha National Park
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
Easier option: Sit out either drive and spend the time at the lodge.
More active option: In the free midday, a guided walk in the buffer forest or a nearby village, where the lodge offers one (confirmed when we name the lodge).
Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge
Kanha to Pench and a free afternoon
Kanha to Pench by road via Seoni
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Pench
- Drive about 4.5 h
Morning
No drive this morning: breakfast at an easy hour, then we leave at about 9 am for Pench, about 200 km and 4 to 4.5 hours to the west by road through Seoni. This is farm and forest country, with small villages, weekly markets and bullock carts on the verges, and we stop halfway for tea.
Afternoon
We reach our lodge near the Madhya Pradesh side of Pench National Park for lunch, our base for two nights, and the afternoon is free: the first free afternoon of the trip after a week of early starts, and the right moment for a swim, a nap or simply sitting with binoculars, since the lodge grounds are often busy with birds. Pench takes its name from the river that winds through it, and its teak and mixed forest covers the Seoni hills, the country Rudyard Kipling wrote about in The Jungle Book.
Evening
Your guide gives a short briefing on the park before dinner.
Included
- Drive from Kanha to Pench with your guide
- Lunch and dinner at the lodge
- Park briefing with your guide
Free time: Afternoon and evening free at the lodge
Pench: teak forest and the river
Two drives in Pench National Park
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner
- Stay in Pench
Afternoon
Two last drives, morning and afternoon. Pench feels different again: teak and mixed forest that turns bare and golden in the dry months, rocky streams, and the long reservoir of the Pench river that holds water when the rest of the forest dries out. The park is known for big herds of chital, for leopards, and for packs of dhole, and tigers live here as they do in Bandhavgarh and Kanha, though no sighting is ever promised. Look up as well as out: Pench has birds to watch, from green bee-eaters on low branches to fishing eagles over the water.
Evening
The morning drive leaves at sunrise and returns in the late morning; the middle of the day is free at the lodge; the afternoon drive ends at sunset. Tonight is the last dinner together, a chance to swap pictures, settle the arguments over what that distant shape really was, and say thank you to the jeep crews.
Included
- Morning game drive in Pench National Park, with permits and a forest department guide
- Afternoon game drive in Pench National Park
- Lunch at the lodge
- Farewell dinner
Easier option: Sit out the afternoon drive and stay at the lodge.
Free time: Middle of the day free at the lodge
Pench to Nagpur airport
Pench to Nagpur's Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport
- Breakfast
- Drive about 2 h
Morning
A slow breakfast at the lodge, then the road to the airport: about 95 km and two hours south on the national highway to Nagpur, across the state line into Maharashtra, to Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (NAG). Nagpur has direct flights to Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities for your connection home, and your guide sees you to the terminal and checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 2 pm. If yours leaves after about 3:30 pm and you would like one more look at the forest, we can add an extra morning drive in Pench before we leave, priced when you book; the jeep is back by late morning and we drive straight to the airport. If you are staying on in India, we can quote extra nights in Nagpur, or a flight back to Delhi and the Golden Triangle.
Included
- Drive from Pench to Nagpur airport with your guide
- Drop-off at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport (NAG)
Optional experiences
- Extra morning game drive in Pench before the airport, for flights after about 3:30 pm (priced at booking)
Activity: Book your flight out of Nagpur for after about 2 pm, or after about 3:30 pm with the extra morning drive.
- Delhi1 night
- Bandhavgarh3 nights
- Kanha3 nights
- Pench2 nights
- Nagpurend
- Overnight stop
- Day trip
- By boat or train
Wildlife and weather: October and November are green and mild after the monsoon. December and January bring clear days and dawns close to freezing in open jeeps, especially in Kanha, so warm layers matter. From February to April the forest dries out, the days get hot and animals gather at water holes. May and June are very hot and run privately only. The core zones close from 1 July to 30 September, so the trip does not run then.
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Before you book
Right for you?
Good for you if you want
- Travellers who want several real chances at a wild tiger, without being promised one
- Wildlife and bird lovers happy to spend hours watching deer, monkeys and birds
- Early risers who like a slow middle of the day
- Solo travellers who want a small group, a guide throughout and a fair single price
Not for you if you want
- Anyone who needs a guaranteed tiger sighting
- Travellers who want monuments and cities: this trip has none after Delhi
- Anyone who cannot sit for three to five hours on a bumpy track or face one 6-hour road day
- A summer or monsoon trip: the core zones close from July to September
Book flights after we confirm your seat.
9 nights
Where you'll stay
Your hotels are named in your trip confirmation.
- Delhi1 night
- Bandhavgarh3 nights
- Kanha3 nights
- Pench2 nights
One price
What's in the price
Included
Accommodation
- 9 nights: 1 at a hotel near Delhi airport, 3 at a lodge near Bandhavgarh National Park, 3 at a lodge near Kanha National Park and 2 at a lodge near Pench National Park
- A hotel and lodges of at least a good 3-star standard, named when we confirm your dates, each lodge within a short drive of the park gates
- Rooms shared, or your own for a supplement
Transport
- Pick-up at Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) on day 1
- Economy flight from Delhi to Jabalpur on day 2
- A private air-conditioned vehicle and driver from Jabalpur airport to Nagpur airport
- Open 4x4 jeeps with a driver for all ten game drives, no more than four guests per jeep
- Drop-off at Nagpur airport (NAG) on day 10
Your guide
- A See Sight Tours guide with the group from arrival in Delhi to departure from Nagpur
- A forest department guide in every jeep on every game drive
- Park briefings in Bandhavgarh and Pench
Activities
- Bandhavgarh National Park: four game drives with permits and park fees
- Kanha National Park: four game drives with permits and park fees
- Pench National Park: two game drives with permits and park fees
Meals
- 9 breakfasts
- 8 lunches: on the road on days 2 and 5, and at the lodges on the other park days
- 9 dinners: a welcome dinner in Delhi and every night at the lodges, with a farewell dinner in Pench
Not included
- International flights to Delhi and home from Nagpur
- Indian visa
- Travel insurance
- Drinks
- Tips for your guide, driver, jeep drivers and forest department guides
- Video camera fees where the parks charge them
- Optional extra game drives and full-day safaris
- Airline charges for checked bags over the allowance on the Delhi to Jabalpur flight
- Personal expenses such as laundry and shopping
Extras
- Room of your own
- CAD 480 (estimated price)
When you can go
Dates and prices
Pick your start date when you request to book. We check that date and confirm it in your quote.
Prefer to travel without a group or guide? Ask us about arranging hotels, transport and city tours for you to travel independently.
Before you book
Booking terms
Nothing is charged now. Full terms and the cancellation schedule come with your quote, before you accept.
Business addresses
See Sight Tours Trips (USA): 3172 N Rainbow Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89108, United StatesSee Sight Tours Trips (Canada): 5305 50 Avenue, #1091, Red Deer, AB T4N 4B6, Canada+1-888-961-6584Guest reviews
What guests say
Reviews from guests on our day tours.
Jane
October 06, 2026
5/5
Susan
October 06, 2026
5/5
Tom L
October 05, 2026
5/5
MandL83
October 05, 2026
5/5
Darren O
October 05, 2026
5/5
Good to know
Questions
What does the price include?
Nine nights in a Delhi airport hotel and three park lodges, 9 breakfasts, 8 lunches and 9 dinners, the flight from Delhi to Jabalpur, a private vehicle and driver, ten game drives with permits, jeeps and forest guides, airport transfers at both ends, and your See Sight Tours guide throughout. International flights, visa, insurance, drinks and tips are extra.
Will we see a tiger?
We cannot promise it, and no honest operator can. Bandhavgarh, Kanha and Pench all have tigers, and ten drives across three parks give you several real chances, but sightings depend on the zone, the season and luck. You will see deer, langurs, gaur, jackals and many birds either way, and with luck a leopard, sloth bear or dhole.
How do the game drives work?
Each drive lasts about three to five hours, one from sunrise to late morning and one from mid-afternoon to sunset, in open 4x4 jeeps with a driver and a forest department guide. We seat no more than four guests per jeep. Permits are issued in your name, and the forest department allots each jeep its zone; nobody can choose it.
How big is the group?
The small-group trip runs with 7 to 12 guests. In the parks that means two to three jeeps, never more than four guests in each, so everyone has a side seat and a clear view. Your guide rides with each jeep in turn.
Who leads the trip?
A See Sight Tours guide travels with the group from the Delhi briefing to the Nagpur airport drop-off and handles flights, permits, meals and timings. On every drive a forest department guide rides in each jeep, as the parks require; they know the zone and the animals in it.
How fit do I need to be?
Not very. There is little walking; the effort is sitting for three to five hours in an open jeep on bumpy, dusty tracks, early starts, and one long road day of 5.5 to 6 hours between Bandhavgarh and Kanha. If you need a rest, skip any drive and stay at the lodge.
I am travelling solo. What does a single room cost?
A room of your own is from CAD 480 more, about 17 percent of the price, shown before you book. If you would rather share, ask and we will try to pair you with another solo guest of the same gender. Solo travellers get a full seat in the jeep like everyone else.
When is the best time to go?
Mid-October to April. Bandhavgarh reopens around mid-October, so the first group dates follow it. Late October and November are green and mild; December and January have cold dawns but clear days; February to April are warmer, and animals gather at water. May and early June are very hot and run privately only, and the core zones close for the monsoon from 1 July (Pench from mid-June).
How long are the drives between the parks?
Jabalpur airport to Bandhavgarh is about 4 hours, Kanha to Pench about 4 to 4.5 and Pench to Nagpur airport about 2. Bandhavgarh to Kanha is the long one, 5.5 to 6 hours: no shorter road or nearby airport exists, so we leave after breakfast and break it with tea and a sit-down lunch.
How does booking work?
Pick a start date and send a request to book. We confirm your place within 24 hours, and no payment is taken until then. Once you confirm, we ask for your passport details so we can book your park permits and your flight to Jabalpur as early as they open.
Can we travel privately or on our own dates?
Yes. Besides the small group, the trip comes as a private trip for your party only, on a date you choose, from CAD 5,060 per person. If you would rather travel independently on your own dates, ask us from the dates section and we will quote the same lodges, drives and transfers.
Do I need a visa for India?
Most visitors do, Canadians and Americans included. The Indian e-Visa is applied for online before you travel, and your passport needs at least six months of validity. We send the steps when you book; the park permits also need your passport details.
See Sight Tours has been providing travel services across North America since 2006. Operating in 20 cities across Canada and the USA, the company specializes in small group tours that offer personalized, high-quality experiences for travelers.
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