The Ultimate Tiger Safari: Why I Chose Central India
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I’m addicted to wildlife, with my all-time favorite destination being Africa. But when my husband and I were brainstorming vacation ideas and he said, “How about a tiger safari in India?”, I didn’t think twice. I said yes and immediately dove into research.
At that point, I knew nothing about safaris in India. I imagined it would be like an African safari, and I couldn’t have been more wrong! If you want to know what a tiger safari is really like, check out The Truth About Tiger Safaris in India blog, where I share my experience.
India is home to 58 national parks and tiger reserves (as of March 2025), with over 3,600 tigers. That’s an astonishing 75% of the world’s wild tiger population. Naturally, when I read that, I nearly fainted. That was way too many parks to sort through.
Luckily, after more digging, I learned that only 13 parks are popular for wildlife tourism. Out of those, the first 8 on the list below are consistently mentioned by outfitters, websites, and forums as the best places to spot tigers.
North India
1. Ranthambore National Park
2. Corbett Tiger Reserve
Central India
3. Bandhavgarh National Park
4. Kanha National Park
5. Pench National Park
6. Panna National Park
7. Satpura National Park
8. Tadoba National Park
East India
9. Kaziranga National Park
10. Sundarban National Park
South India
11. Nagarhole National Park
12. Bandipur National Park
13. Periyar National Park
The top two, Corbett and Ranthambore in Northern India, sounded a bit nightmarish to me. They’re wildly popular and incredibly crowded, especially Ranthambore, which is close to the Golden Triangle route and easy to reach. That is not the experience I had in mind for my first tiger safari, and even though I really wanted to see the Asian elephants that roam Corbett, I was hoping to see them in Bandhavgarh. The park has seen a recent influx of elephants migrating from neighboring areas.
Given the tiger population and the relatively short distances between parks, we decided that Central India, specifically the Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra regions, was our best bet. The region is home to over 1,200 tigers, and with that many, we figured we had to see at least a couple, right? I certainly hoped our luck would be better than during our Arctic expedition in search of polar bears. You can read about that adventure here.
With just over two weeks of my husband’s time off, I had to narrow down our options. Visiting all six parks in Central India wasn’t realistic. After more research and some map wrangling, we settled on four: Tadoba – Andhari, Pench, Kanha, and Bandhavgarh. You can view the driving map on Google.
Here’s why I chose these four parks:
Tadoba- Andhari Tiger Reserve
Often described as the most underrated park in Central India, Tadoba has a population of around 115 Bengal tigers and came highly recommended. It is known for being less crowded but still very rewarding for wildlife sightings. While tigers were our top priority, the park is also home to dhole (Indian wild dogs), leopards, and sloth bears.
Why Tadoba? It is still off the radar for many wildlife travelers and is one of the very few places in India where a black panther has been spotted. I also hoped to see wild dogs here.
Pench National Park (Pench Tiger Reserve)
Known as the Land of Mowgli, Pench is believed to have inspired The Jungle Book. It has a healthy population of wolves and about 120 tigers, with 53 living in the tourist zones. Like Tadoba, Pench is also home to leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs, and gaur (Indian bison).
Why Pench? I was especially excited about the high chances of seeing leopards here. Its hilly, forested terrain makes it ideal leopard habitat.
Kanha National Park
With a tiger population of 145, Kanha also claims ties to The Jungle Book and is famous for its stunning scenery: dense jungle, lush meadows, and winding streams. It is considered one of the largest and most beautiful national parks in India. Kanha is the only place in the world where you can find the endangered hard ground swamp deer, also known as the barasingha, often called the “Jewel of Kanha.” In the 1960s, only 66 of them remained and were placed in a protected enclosure. Today, the population has grown to around 2,000, an incredible conservation success.
Why Kanha? I wanted to see the swamp deer and experience the park’s cinematic landscape.
Bandhavgarh National Park
Often called the Land of the Tiger, Bandhavgarh was once a hunting ground for the Maharajas. It is considered one of the best places in the world to see tigers in the wild, with 135 tigers in total and about 60 in zones open to tourists. The Tala Core Zone, surrounded by hills and grasslands, is crowned by an ancient fort and a 60-foot-long statue of a sleeping Vishnu dated back to the 10th century. By the way almost every park in India claims is considered the best place in the world to see tigers ??♀️ We shall see…
Why Bandhavgarh? This is where BBC America’s Dynasties series was filmed, and I couldn’t wait to see the vast meadows in person. The added cultural sites were a bonus.
Fun fact: the filming took place over four years, with the crew spending 220 days in the park following Raj Bhera tigress and her cubs.
