Nainital trip

Dear All,
I am planning to reach Lalkuan on 27th January morning and there after reach Nainital. My return ticket is booked for 31st January. Can anybody please guide me to plan an itiniery which would cover Kausani, Ranikhet and Almora? I have an evening return train krom Kathgodam on 31st at about 8 pm.
Looking forward to your guidance.

Roughly.......

27th- Nainital. You will get almost the whole of 27th in Nainital. It is only abt 2 hours drive from Lalkuan ( approx)

28th - Enjoy in Nainital ( my fav hill-station). This will give you the necessary rest also, for the journeys ahead. Do some boating / yatching at the lake.

29th - Almora. Start after breakfast from NT. It is again a couple of hours journey from Nainital...approx 60 kms. Better still....travel another 20 kms( 45 mins. journey) and stay at Binsar instead. You will enjoy a balcony-class Himalayan view. It will be all snow and cloud now,, though.

30th - Kausani. Start after breakfast from Almora or Binsar. Again a couple of hours road-journey. Enjoy the rest of the day in Kausani.

31st- Start from Kausani at around 10 am, after breakfast. Travel via Ranikhet enroute.....see the Golf-course...have lunch at Ranikhet( 12-30 pm). Then move on to Kathgodam, with a small halt at the picturesque Bhimtaal enroute( 3-30 pm). You will reach Kathgodam by 5 pm.....well in time for your train.

Kausani, Almora, Nainital and Ranikhet are almost within 60 kms of each other.

Also....check out with Dilliwala.....for better advice on this route. He is an in-house expert!

Happy journey!

Four places, four nights? Not worth it.
For starters, drop Almora altogether. You can spend 28th/29th nights in Ranikhet and 30th night in Kausani. I personally wudn't stay less than 2 nights in any place, don't like changing hotels every day.

I think Ranikhet and Almora are places, which cannot be appreciated by staying just one day. So I suggested, Binsar.....which has a 'shock and awe' value ( wonder, what happens in winter months though).

I too hate changing hotels everyday and traveling frequently too. But sometimes, you just can't help!

I agree. That's the reason why I left Binsar out too. I've done it as a day-trip, but was staying at Kasar Devi for 4 nights. If I had to stay at Binsar, I'd do it over two nights.

If in the Almora area, Jageshwar is a must!

Dear blwetorch,
thanks for the itiniery. Actually to be honest I am a low budget traveller. Can u pls let me know, how good is the public transport system in these parts? I mean can I hope to have a reasonable travel in buses instead of booking cars etc?

Sure........public buses in between these places are available. But you may have to confirm the timings in advance.

Kumoun Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd.(KMVN) Nainital offers a variety of tours during the whole year. For details and booking one can contact the Parvat Tour (Phone No. 05942-235656). Apart from the above corporation, a number of local, approved excursion agents also conduct tours to different places.

The day you reach Nainital, spend some time at the Tallital bus-stand for some info on the timings of the various buses or shared-taxis. Also, you need to simplify your travel plan slightly. Avoid Binsar altogether and stick to Almora. Public transport is readily available at Almora for further journeys.

Best of journey!

Dear blwetorch,
thanks for the info. Actually 27th is my 1st marriage anniversary and i want to enjoy it relaxing, as you have suggested. Is it possible to go to Mukteshwar and come back to NT on Day 2 ? How good is Mukteswar and what r the places to visit, provided you recommend.

Dear Rahul
there r lots of local buses available very frequently in between these places and are very cheap than the private buses and taxis but not so comfortable. Moreover the distance between these places are not much, so u can manage. U will also get good cheap hotels in Nainital in this time of the year, if u have not pre-booked.
Yes can go to mukteswar and come back the same day. u will get a very good 180o view of Himalayan mountains

I would personally do the other way round....that is, go to Mukteshwar on the 2nd day, the 28th.

Consider this............ you will be getting down at Lalkuan after a very hectic train journey ( which may also be running late). After that, you will be going to Mukteshwar.....that is 83 kms( Lalkuan- 21kms - Kathgodam - 23kms - Bhowali - 39 kms - Mukteshwar).........this is another 3 hours of traveling for sure. I feel, all this traveling may be a spoiler for your wedding anniversary.

On the other hand Nainital will be a nearer destination...only 55 kms( less than 2 hrs journey) from Lalkuan......with the additional benefit of having a range of transport options, including buses and shared taxis to choose from, in between.

I am sure, you can celebrate your marriage anniversary with aplomb in Nainital.......it has scenic beauty and a great atmosphere, both.....

The very next day, you can follow it up by traveling to Mukteshwar, which is again a very beautiful place......and staying there.........this way, you will be almost half the way upto Almora...which can be your next destination.

This way you will save some hectic traveling on the first day itself, which also happens to be your anniversary day.

Dear Blwetorch,
based on your recomendation, I am planning for the following itiniery. Need your kind inputs.
27th: Lalkuan to Nainital. Whole day spent in Nainital.
28th: Leave early morning after breakfast to Mukteswar, stay overnight.
29th: Leave for Almora in the morning and do local sight seeing, ( or shall we go to Binsar as you have suggested..just worried about travelling time).
30th. Kausani. Start after breakfast from Almora or Binsar. Enjoy the rest of the day in Kausani.
31st. Kausani- Ranikhet- Bhimtaal- Kathgodam..for journey back.

Need your suggestion. Is public transport available to from Binsar to Kausani.?
Thanks.

No...avoid Binsar. It is away from the main highway...and public transport is not available. Try Jageshswar on the 29th for local sight-seeing from Almora, if possible.
Travel from Almora to Kausani......on the 30th. Check out the local bus timings from the respective TRHs.........if possible....or the hotels where u plan to stay. The rest of the schedule is perfect.

There's really no sight-seeing IN Almora, as hinted by blwetorch - the nearby places are Chitai and Jageshwar. And he's right, forget Binsar with public transport.
If youi ask me, go direct from Mukteshwar to Kausani becos -
Your plan of the 31st as at present is rubbish, frankly. DRIVING thru Ranikhet?!! It needs TWO nights in my view! But you shud spend at least a night there, or forget it altogether. In any case you can't include Ranikhet as above if you're depending on public transport - it's totally off-route and you might not even get a jeep on the "short" route (Someshwar-Majkhali). Meaning you won't make it in time for your train if you go to Ranikhet.
Certainly from Kausani you'll get early morning jeeps to Kathgodam which go via Bhimtal.

Yes...I agree. Actually, I followed the route on one such last days of my tour to Nainital-Kausani etc. In our hired vehicle, we did cover Ranikhet, Bhimtaal......on the way back to Kathgodam. This may not be feasible, depending on public transport alone though.

OK...Rahul............avoid Ranikhet as Dilliwala suggests. If possible, go straight to Kausani on 29th itself. On the 30th, u have 2 choices-: either stay back at Kausani( my personal choice)...or travel to Ranikhet and stay there. In the 2nd option, you can have it easy on 31st, when you reach Kathgodam via Bhimtaal- Bhowali. If you choose to stay back....avoid Ranikhet altogether on the last day.

In our times...we had a dedicated hired vehicle. We started from Kausani at 9-30 am.....reached Ranikhet( fantastic journey) at 12.................. Had lunch there...............reached Bhimtaal at around 3 pm........halted for an hour over there..............reached Kathgodam by 5-30 pm approx. Our train too was at around 8-30/ 9 pm.