Best place in India to see Tigers?

What is the best place in India to see tigers in the wild? By best I mean - the best chance of actually seeing one. We were thinking of Bandipur or Corbett but I'm reading up on both and it seems like the chances of seeing tigers at either are less that certain. Any advice appreciated!

Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Ranthambore are all good bets. Ranthambore is conveniently located on the beaten track between Agra and Jaipur. For the other two you need an overnight train trip but its worthwhile.

You should definitely consider going to Tadoba National Park. If my recent trip is anything to go by, you should come across them aplenty. Apart from that, there is lot of diversity in terms of fauna.

If you are going to Tadoba, consider going to Pench also. It is quite close. Beautiful park, good accommodation, and last year a tigress had four (?) babies. It seems tiger numbers are up at Pench. Lots of other animals and birds to see also.

I have been to most of the tiger reserves across the country and was fortunate enough to have seen tigers in most of them (including corbett). My personal favourite is Kanha but i dont go there just for the tigers, in fact tiger numbers have gone down there over the past few years. If tigers are your number #1 priority then you should head out to bandhavgarh as the tiger density is maximum there. But its a bit of a circus out there, with vehicles and elephants pursuing stressed out animals, very limited viewing times, noisy atmosphere. I understand that with such an endangered species there is massive interest in viewing tigers and opportunities are limited due to low numbers. But I would prefer to spend my time and money where i get real wild life experience. To a large extent it also depends on the forest guide you hire. With my personal experience the good guides are not very keenly intertested to take indians with them even if we offer more money. Tadoba + Pench also sound like a great option since these reserves are not as popular as bandhavgarh and ranthambore but every bit as good as them (even better) with plenty of undisturbed wildlife. Hope this helps.

Total agreeance with namasteindia, about the guide being important. Your guide is the key to a successful safari, so why spend a fortune getting to a park, another to get in the park, and not give yourself the maximum opportunity to enjoy it.

I too have visited many of Indias tiger reserves, and Bandhavgar is not my favourite, in fact I wont bother going there again. Kanha was quite nice, but by far my favourite is Corbett.
Even if you dont see wall to wall tigers, there are always plenty other creatures to appreciate, including many elephants, and you can stay inside the forest at a forest rest house.