Destination: Nainital
State: Uttaranchal
Distance by road: It is around 269kms away from Delhi.
Nearest Railway Station: It is at Kathgodam, at a distance of around 36kms.
Nearest Airport: Pantnagar
Best Season: March-July, September-February
Nainital is a beautiful hill resort in northern India. The hill station is located at the height of 1938 meters in the middle Himalayas of the Kumaun mountains. Dotted with lakes, nainital has been termed as ‘lake district’ of India. The place is named after the goddess Naini. The main lake of the region is called Lake Naini which is surrounded by mountains. The snow-capped mountains, verdant valleys, Rolling Meadows and clear crystal lakes beckon nature lovers.
Important places to be visited on a trip to nainital:
Naina Devi temple is located on the northern shore of Naini Lake. The presiding divinity of the temple is maa Naina Devi represented by two netras or eyes.
The Governor’s house is here called the raj bhavan. Snow view is located at the top of sher-ka danda ridge at an altitude of 2270 meters and is easily reachable by cable car. It offers awesome views of snowbound high Himalayas including Nanda Devi, Trisul, and Nanda Kot. Naina peak is the highest peak in the town and is at an altitude of 2615 meters. One can have a panoramic view of Nainital town itself from here.
Tiffin top also known as Dorothy’s seat is located at an altitude of 2292 meters on Ayarpatta Hill and provides a nice view of neighboring country side.
The high court of uttarakhand is formerly known as the old secretariat.
Gurney house is the former residence of Jim Corbett, located on Ayarpatta Hill is now a museum of Corbett memorabilia.
Many attractions around nainital are:
- Corbett National Park,
- Mukteshwar,Gurgaon to Nainital,
- Bhimtal lake,
- Sattal,
- Kurpa tal,
- Naukuchiatal,
- Hanumangarhi,
- Ranikhet,
- Bageshwar,
- Almora,
- Kausani,
- Pithoragarh
Nearest airport is at Rudrapur-Pantnagar (71 kilometers), connected by air service with New Delhi. Taxi to Nainital will cost around 2500 Rs . Kingfisher airlines are linked from Delhi to Pantnagar.
The nearest railway station is Ramngar, Kathgodam (35 kilometers). Kathgodam is connected directly by rail with Delhi, Agra, Calcutta and Lucknow. Ranikhet Express and Uttaranchal Sampark Kranti Express, arrives less conveniently at night. The Dehradun-Kathgodam Express is a good daily overnight connection between Kumaon and north Garhwal. The Bagh Express is another good daily overnight link with Howrah Junction and Lucknow. A taxi to Nainital costs Rs1000 from Kathgodam.
Nainital is well connected with all major cities of North India. Some of the road connections are Delhi via Hapur (316 kilometers), Delhi via Meerut (336 kilometers), Haridwar (310 kilometers) and Dehradun (387 kilometers). It takes 8 hours total from Delhi (7 hours from Delhi and 1 hour from Kathgodam). Buses, including a deluxe service at 9 pm, go to Nainital from Delhi’s ISBT Anand Vihar daily at 6 am, 9 pm and 10 pm.
