Under 8 hours by road — Rajasthan forts, hill-station Himachal foothills, ridgeline Uttarakhand, and the ravine wildlife reserves of Madhya Pradesh. Each pick gives 36+ hours on the ground if you depart by 6 pm Friday.
Avoid the Delhi-Jaipur NH 48 on Sunday evenings (5-9 pm choke point); leave by 2 pm or after 9 pm. The Himalayan picks (Mussoorie, Shimla, Lansdowne) all require winter chains November-March; the Rajasthan picks need 5 am summer departures.
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