A Driving Destination from Delhi- Weekend Gateaway. Review on Nainital

A friend of mine from Guwahati was visiting Haldwani and I immediately proposed him to make a familiy trip to Nainital. We decided to drive down to Nainital by car without a driver.

Day 0: Started from South Delhi at 1PM(20th April Friday) with my spouse and kid and his spouse and kid as well. We took the route{ Ghaziabad(19)-Hapur(34)-Garmukteswar(34)-Gajroula(24)-Amroha(23)-Moradabad(29)-R
ampur(26)-Bilaspur(30)-Haldwani(54)-Kathgodam(3)-Nainital(34)}. A relaxed drive with small stop overs took us 9 hours to reach this 310 km distance(point to point distance indicated above). NH-24 till Rampur and NH-87 from Rampur to Nainital is a perfect long drive with about 35 kms of not so good road. As one of my friends suggested I took the Hapur and Moradabad by-pass without entering into them and took left from Rampur. Plenty of restaurants midway to have small breaks and we took advantage of it. Trip was not exhausting and we reached Haldwani at 10 PM. Driving the curved hill road to Nainital was a real pleasure.

It was night and we did not have a hotel reservation earlier. Believe it or not it is a complete non-delhi culture. People are helpful and we got a good accommodation with 50% discount(being non peak season) since peak season is from may 15. All good hotels in Nainital are having valet parking.

If you are not getting a lake facing room(costlier) it is advisable to go for a hotel little away from the lake. Rates vary from Rs400 to Rs 5000(half in non peak)

Other Options to reach :  By Rail: The town is served by the Kathgodam station, which is located 34 kms away from the town. Taxis charge Rs 500 to Nainital. You can also share a cab at Rs 50 per person. Most hotels will arrange for a pick up on prior request, Rs 600-900.

SAMPARK KRANTI EXP(daily dep. Delhi Jn 1600 Arr. 2245 - 7 hours) & RANIKHET EXP(daily dep. Delhi Jn 2245 Arr. 0500 - 1 night)

Day 1:Huge Naini lake is everything in Nainital. There are a few cycle rickshaws in town. Rates are fixed at 5 rupees from one end of the mall to the other. The mall has smooth pavements, making it extremely pedestrian-friendly. Although people talk many interesting places around like Cheena Peak, Snow View(with rope-way), Tiffin Top, Eco Cave, Suicide Point, Lovers Point etc, you really could not feel them very exciting. You may try those for half a day. We did that after a morning visit to Naini Mata temple.

The boat men will approach you on lake side road. Even though they do not appear so, these people(from Kumaon) are very friendly and simple. Rs.120 is what they charge you to have a complete round in the lake

Boating is a real pleasure and spend the evening on mall road(burra bazaar and tibetian market). Candle sticks and brass work were the real thing.

Day 2:The most popular activity is walking up and down the Mall watching the activity and shopping. Walks around the town are interesting and the hilly region is covered with Sal, Pine, Oak, Buruns, Kaphal and other trees growing unto 6000 ft. along with Deodar and Surai at the higher altitudes . There are magnificent views of the snow clad Himalayas and some of the peaks that can be seen include the 7817 metre high Nanda Devi . During the pleasant walks around the town you will surely come across some Himalayan Langoors and rhesus monkeys.

After walk and some snacks we took some snaps of the lake(given here) on the rope-way to Snow-view(really good). Post lunch we headed for Zoo. Before entering the zoo we spent some time to glance at the entire area from top.

The Hanuman temple at Hanuman Garhi is 3.2 kms away and was established by Neem Kiroli Baba. A visit to the temple in the evening offers a very good view of the sunset. The Govt. Observatory is also worth a visit. Since there are specific timings for visitors it is advisable to check out details before taking the 4.5 km walk there.

If You have more time? The quiet hill station of Ranikhet is 60 kms from Nainital. It is mainly an Army cantonment and thus has not grown the same way as other towns in Kumaon. The Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet route can be made into an interesting itinerary for those interested in a quick 3 day tour of the area

Conclusion: For Delhietes, it’s a perfect break and the trip is useful for those who:

Love going for a long drive

Are interested in sight seeing and boating

Want to spend some time with family only

Little adventurous

Eagerly waiting for comments on the review.