New Delhi, Nov. 30 -- India has no shortage of travel hotspots, but solo visitors are increasingly choosing the lesser-seen ones. These spots differ widely. Some look abandoned, some sit deep in forest belts, others survive along long highways - but they share a similar draw: they let people travel at their own pace. For solo travellers, that is often enough. And as solo travel grows, these lesser-known corners are appearing more often on lists shared among backpackers and first-time solo travellers.

Dhanushkodi, the abandoned town at the edge of Tamil Nadu, remains one of the more unusual stops. Much of it still carries the look of a settlement left behind after the 1964 cyclone. Travellers go for the emptiness, the ruins, and the long ...