Hills, waterfalls, wildlife and temple towns - short trips from Ranchi, Patna and Kolkata that fit comfortably into two or three days.
Eastern India is well served for short breaks. The Chota Nagpur plateau gives you hills and waterfalls within a few hours' drive, and the region's temple towns work equally well as a weekend trip or a longer pilgrimage.
Deoghar is the obvious choice - Baba Baidyanath Temple anchors the town, and Nandan Pahar and Trikuta Parvat give you something to do beyond the temple circuit. Outside Shravan it's an easy, unhurried two days.
Hazaribagh means "a thousand gardens", and lives up to it. The wildlife sanctuary is far less commercial than India's headline parks, which is exactly its appeal, and Canary Hill is an easy climb for sunrise. Madhupur has been a favourite retreat since colonial times for its clean air and natural springs.
The main constraint on a two-day trip is travel time, not sightseeing time. Pick one base rather than trying to combine towns, book your stay before you set off - small towns have limited good rooms and they go first - and check whether a festival falls on your dates, which can transform a quiet town overnight.
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