Lansdowne is a small hill-station in Pauri-Garhwal District of the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand and it is a perfect place for your weekend trip. You do not require to take any extra leave from your office.
It is a quite and beautiful place where you can spend quality time with your family.There is nothing like tourist attraction apart from the beauty of hills and green valleys. It attracts tourists from Delhi and other near by areas, most of the tourist comes during weekend but still this place does not appear to be over crowded. As it is a small place so number of hotels/resorts are less and expensive of course.
If you love trekking than Lansdowne is a place for you, all the places in Lansdowne are in the radius of 5 km which can be covered by foot but remember 5 km trekking on hill may seem bit difficult but it is a best way to see the natural beauty. If you don’t have your own vehicle and you are not willing to trek then you can hire it from Gandhi chowk (main Bazaar area of Lansdowne). The rates are quite high and unreasonable to cover 5 km but local people say that it is the only way of their earning.
If you get vomiting sensation during driving uphill then don’t forget to take pills which prevents vomiting sensations. Trust me these pills are totally life saver.
How to reach:
If you want to go by your own vehicle (suggested) then Lansdowne is around 240 Kms from Delhi and is the nearest hill station from Delhi. By road it will take around 7 hours from Delhi to Lansdowne. Having your own vehicle will enable you to easily visit nearby towns and temples.
You can also have the option of train, there are two trains from Delhi Mussorie express and Garhwal express to Kotdwara, from Kotdwara Lansdowne is 40 km drive up hill.Buses and taxis are available from the Kotdwar railway station directly upto the Lansdowne market, a shared taxi charges INR 50.
If you want to hire a private taxi then the charge from Kotdwara to Lansdowne is Rs 500. Beware of the high charges told by taxi drivers who will greet you as soon as you will walk out of Kotdwara Railway station.
Same is applicable for returning.
Best time:
Across the year. Avoid rainy season as there are chances of Land slide to block roads.
Accommodation:
There are not very much hotels and resorts in Lansdowne. You can find some hotels and resorts from website www.makemytrip.com but accommodation available on this website are far from the main market of Lansdowne. Main market is the center point of Lansdowne.
The cheap and best option is to book your room at Tourist Rest house maintained by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited ( a government of Uttarakhand Enterprise). The rooms are good and not very expensive. You have to do your booking in advance as there are not many rooms, you can do your booking from gmvnl’s website http://gmvnl.com/newgmvn/check1.asp?naam='trh', You have to create a user for booking your accommodation. Tourist rest house is near to center point of Lansdowne.
Restaurants:
Various small restaurants offer decent selection of snacks, lunch and dinner and most of them are located around Gandhi Chowk (Town centre). We went to Hotel Mayur all the time as it suits us.
Your Hotel/resort will also have the fooding facility.
Places to see:
It is a quite and beautiful place where you can spend quality time with your family.There is nothing like tourist attraction apart from the beauty of hills and green valleys. It attracts tourists from Delhi and other near by areas, most of the tourist comes during weekend but still this place does not appear to be over crowded. As it is a small place so number of hotels/resorts are less and expensive of course.
If you love trekking than Lansdowne is a place for you, all the places in Lansdowne are in the radius of 5 km which can be covered by foot but remember 5 km trekking on hill may seem bit difficult but it is a best way to see the natural beauty. If you don’t have your own vehicle and you are not willing to trek then you can hire it from Gandhi chowk (main Bazaar area of Lansdowne). The rates are quite high and unreasonable to cover 5 km but local people say that it is the only way of their earning.
If you get vomiting sensation during driving uphill then don’t forget to take pills which prevents vomiting sensations. Trust me these pills are totally life saver.
How to reach:
If you want to go by your own vehicle (suggested) then Lansdowne is around 240 Kms from Delhi and is the nearest hill station from Delhi. By road it will take around 7 hours from Delhi to Lansdowne. Having your own vehicle will enable you to easily visit nearby towns and temples.
You can also have the option of train, there are two trains from Delhi Mussorie express and Garhwal express to Kotdwara, from Kotdwara Lansdowne is 40 km drive up hill.Buses and taxis are available from the Kotdwar railway station directly upto the Lansdowne market, a shared taxi charges INR 50.
If you want to hire a private taxi then the charge from Kotdwara to Lansdowne is Rs 500. Beware of the high charges told by taxi drivers who will greet you as soon as you will walk out of Kotdwara Railway station.
Same is applicable for returning.
Best time:
Across the year. Avoid rainy season as there are chances of Land slide to block roads.
Accommodation:
There are not very much hotels and resorts in Lansdowne. You can find some hotels and resorts from website www.makemytrip.com but accommodation available on this website are far from the main market of Lansdowne. Main market is the center point of Lansdowne.
The cheap and best option is to book your room at Tourist Rest house maintained by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Limited ( a government of Uttarakhand Enterprise). The rooms are good and not very expensive. You have to do your booking in advance as there are not many rooms, you can do your booking from gmvnl’s website http://gmvnl.com/newgmvn/check1.asp?naam='trh', You have to create a user for booking your accommodation. Tourist rest house is near to center point of Lansdowne.
Restaurants:
Various small restaurants offer decent selection of snacks, lunch and dinner and most of them are located around Gandhi Chowk (Town centre). We went to Hotel Mayur all the time as it suits us.
Your Hotel/resort will also have the fooding facility.
Places to see:
- Kaleshwar Mahadev Temple – Way goes from Gandhi chowk
Below places are together i.e. If you go to Bulla lake first then you can go to St. James church, Tip-n-Top and Santoshi Mata temple and vice versa.
- Bhulla Lake – A small artificial lake made by cantonment, open for boating from 10 am to 5 pm. Boating charge is Rs 40 for adults.
- St. James Church – A small church made in the pre independence era.
- Tip-in-Top - A view point, on a clear day you can see the green valley.
- Santoshi Mata Temple (On way to the temple watch out for the tree with giant ear, and the reindeer rock)
Below places lies on the way to Garhwal Rifles Museum
- Snow View - a view point, on a clear day one can view great Himalayan peaks like Chaukhamba etc
- Garhwal Rifles Museum – Has medals and rifles of the officers from Garhwal Regiment. Entry ticket is of Rs 50 for adults.
Near by Places:
- Jwalpa Devi (47 km)
- Durga Devi temple (24 km)
- Tarkeshwar Mahadev (30 km) - beutiful and quite place
- Karnva Ashram (14 km) - where Shakuntala is said to have given birth to Raja Bharat
Theatre:
There is one theatre which shows movies, it is near to Gandhi chowk.
Quick Links:
I have been there :) It is a really cute place! Loved it there :D
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