If you watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and felt that familiar tug, the one that says, ‘We need a trip like that,’ you’re not alone. The film worked because it wasn’t just about travel. It was about friendships tested through discomfort, silence, fear, adrenaline and the kind of honesty that usually only comes after shared messiness. You don’t have to fly to Spain for a ZNMD-style trip. India already offers terrains that are just as happening: high mountain passes, tropical waters, deserts that erase all sense of scale, and coastal towns where time slows. Here are ten destinations in India that can give you that same “life-before-and-after-this-trip” feeling.
10 Destinations For A ZNMD Style Trip In Your Home Country
1. Leh-Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir
Call it cliché, but if there’s one place where a group trip feels transformative, it’s Ladakh. The landscape alone forces perspective, with valleys stretching far beyond what eyes can comfortably process and roads like thin signatures etched through barren mountains. The usual starting points are Leh’s monasteries like Hemis, Diskit, and Thiksey, but the trip becomes real on the road with Pangong Tso’s stillness, Nubra Valley’s dunes, and the surreal ride across Khardung La. Add rafting on the Zanskar River, and you have a mix of exhilaration, exhaustion and awe that naturally bonds people.
Also Read: Gulmarg Sees Its First Snowfall Of The Season; Tourism Hopes In Jammu & Kashmir Get A Boost
2. Spiti Valley, Himachal Pradesh
Spiti is not polished travel. The road from Manali is narrow, unpredictable and unforgettable. Small villages like Kibber, Tabo, and Dhankar feel suspended between stone and sky. Ki Monastery looks like something sculpted rather than built. Nights near Chandratal Lake make even loud groups quiet. There’s trekking, camping and long hours of just looking outside the window and reconsidering whatever felt “urgent” earlier in life.
3. Andaman & Nicobar Islands
A boy’s trip doesn’t always have to mean dust and altitude; sometimes it’s coral reefs and salt-sticky hair. Havelock Island is unmistakable; it is the kind of place where you swim all morning, nap without guilt, and then go scuba diving because you can’t resist. Radhanagar Beach has that timeless postcard calm, while Elephant Beach offers snorkelling and sea walking. Port Blair’s Cellular Jail sits like a historical counterweight, a reminder that paradise and history can coexist uncomfortably.
4. Bir Billing, Himachal Pradesh
Bir Billing is where people discover whether they actually enjoy adrenaline or just like saying they do. Paragliding here isn’t a gimmick, you’re soaring above the Dhauladhar range, and the silence is sharp. After landing, the rhythm changes: cafés, monasteries and tea gardens. Bir isn’t a place packed with “things to do.” It’s a place that gives you space to think, sometimes mid-air and sometimes over Maggi near a forest.
5. Goa
Stereotypes aside, Goa is versatile. If the group wants noise and neon, Baga and Anjuna oblige with parasailing, jet skiing and clubs that don’t understand closing hours. If the group wants quiet, Palolem and Agonda exist as though time paused there years ago. Old Goa brings architecture and history, spice plantations break the beach routine, and river cruises offer a slower kind of exploration. Goa works because it allows contradiction, rest and chaos, adventure and inertia.
6. Rishikesh, Uttarakhand
This is where thrill meets introspection without effort. White-water rafting on the Ganges is the primary pull: cold water, uncertainty and instinct. Bungee jumping and zip-lining add to the rush, while walks across Laxman Jhula or a visit to the Beatles Ashram unexpectedly slow everything down. Many groups come for the excitement and leave remembering the quiet, like the river at dawn and the bonfire conversation no one planned.
Also Read: A Forest Trek In Rishikesh Leads You To India’s Dreamiest Airbnb That Looks Like A Storybook
7. Jaisalmer & Jawai, Rajasthan
Desert travel forces adaptation. Jaisalmer’s fort feels alive with residents, markets, and colour, and then, just outside, Sam Sand Dunes stretch endlessly. A camel safari sounds romantic until the heat, dust and awkward posture kick in, but that’s exactly what makes it memorable. Jawai changes the tone: granite hills, leopard sightings and villages that live in silent coexistence with wildlife. Nights here are star-heavy, grounded by music, food and a rhythm slower than city time.
Also Read: From Jaisalmer To Udaipur, 10 Places In Rajasthan For A Perfect Winter Vacation
8. Auli, Uttarakhand
Auli is for groups that want winter to be part of the journey. Skiing and snowboarding demand balance and humility; the ropeway ride over the Himalayan range is almost meditative. Treks to Gurso Bugyal offer sweeping views, and the cold forces closeness, with shared jackets, shared food, and shared complaints. These are the details that stick with you long after the trip is over.
9. Varkala, Kerala
Not every bonding experience needs adrenaline; Varkala offers a calmer kind of ZNMD-style trip. The cliffs overlooking the Arabian Sea give a dramatic sense of scale, and Papanasam Beach mixes spirituality and leisure. If someone wants adventure, paragliding is available; if someone wants stillness, cliff cafés and sea air are enough. It’s the kind of place where you talk more, sleep better and remember sunsets vividly.
Also Read: Skipping Snow, Indians Chase Wellness Escapes In Kerala & Himalayas This Winter, Reveals Report
10. Coorg, Karnataka
Coorg feels like a retreat. Coffee plantations blanket the landscape, and the air smells different. Abbey Falls, the trek to Tadiandamol Peak, and rafting on the Barapole River add movement; visits to Namdroling Monastery and local Kodava homes add meaning and depth. Nights in plantation stays often end in long conversations, not because the itinerary demands it for a ZNMD-style trip, but because the environment feels like it expects honesty.
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Trips like these aren’t about running from something or chasing something specific, they’re about making room for life to feel bigger again. The right landscape, the right discomfort, the right thrill, the right conversation at midnight – sometimes that’s all it takes. Spain made it cinematic, but India can make it personal.
Cover Image Courtesy: travelandwedding/CanvaPro and NetflixIndia
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