Travel style · Kumaon
Family holidays in Kumaon
Short drives, low altitudes, room to run
Family trips that keep drives short and sleeping altitudes sensible: Kumaon lakes, Shimla and the toy train, Darjeeling, Gangtok, Paro and Thimphu. With notes on what children and grandparents can manage.
Photo: Krishan09 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsWith children and grandparents, altitude and drive time matter most. We keep most nights below 2,500 m, drives under five hours, and add at least one day without a car.
Kumaon is the eastern half of Uttarakhand: lake towns near Kathgodam, the old Chand capital of Almora, oak sanctuaries like Binsar, the stone temples of Jageshwar and the Johar valley at Munsiyari. Go March to June or September to November. Five to nine nights by train, shared jeep or private car covers the best of it.
Trips
Family holidays trips in Kumaon
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Kumaon lakes family holiday
Private car with driver
Photo: Krishan09 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Long weekend from Delhi: Nainital and Bhimtal
Overnight train to Kathgodam, shared taxis and walking
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Kumaon in depth: lakes, orchards and oak
Private car with driver
4 places
Where to go
Photo: Krishan09 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Bhimtal and Sattal
Kumaon's quieter lakes, oak forest and the best birding near Kathgodam
Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta from Kolkata, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Kausani
Gandhi's ridge, a poet's birthplace and a 300 km wall of peaks
Photo: Skalvanov · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Nainital
An eye-shaped lake, a Raj summer capital and the gateway to Kumaon
Photo: Original: Harshit SR Derivative work: Unpetitp… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Ranikhet
A tidy army cantonment, orchards and pine walks on the queen's meadow
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Esha.haldar0310 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Dawn birding walk around Sattal
Sattal's mix of oak forest, pine, streams and small lakes draws a long list of Himalayan birds within an easy walk. A s…
Photo: Subhrajyoti07 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Bhimtal lake walk, island and old shrine
Walk the shore of Kumaon's largest lake, take a boat to the island aquarium, and end at the Bhimeshwar Mahadev shrine b…
Photo: Alphahansraj · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
A morning kayak on Naukuchiatal
Naukuchiatal, the lake of nine corners, is 4 km beyond Bhimtal and quieter than any lake near Nainital. A morning kayak…
Photo: Kinkhab · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunrise and silence at Anasakti Ashram
Watch the peaks light up from the garden of the house where Gandhi stayed in 1929, then see the small exhibition on his…
Photo: sushanta mohanta sin… · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
A walk through the Kausani tea estate
Walk the tea rows on the slopes below Kausani, see how leaf is picked and processed when the factory is working, and bu…
Photo: Shikharsaxena1618 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Baijnath temples in the old Katyuri capital
Drive 17 km down from Kausani to Baijnath on the Gomti river, where a group of stone temples marks the old Katyuri capi…
Photo: Incorelabs · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
A dawn row to the Naina Devi temple
Start before the town wakes: a hand-rowed boat from Tallital across the still lake, the ridges lit from the east, then …
Photo: 25 Cents FC · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
An early visit to Kainchi Dham
Kainchi Dham is the ashram of Neem Karoli Baba on the Shipra stream, 17 km from Nainital. Its Hanuman temple was consec…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta from Kolkata, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Budget
KMVN Tourist Rest House, Kausani
Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam's rest house on the Kausani ridge is one of the cheapest ways to wake up facing Trishul …
Photo: Utkarshsingh.1992 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Mid
The Naini Retreat
A heritage hotel on the Ayarpata slopes above Naini lake, once a residence of the Maharaja of Pilibhit, run by Lei…
Photo: Original: Harshit SR Derivative work: Unpetitp… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
West View, Ranikhet
A heritage hotel built in 1918 on a forested plateau above Ranikhet, with timber-framed architecture, high-ceiling…