need suggestions to make a trip to dhanaulti, chakrata, haridwar, rishikesh

hi,
i am a new member from kolkata.i want some advice to make a trip covering dhanaulty,chakrata,haridwar,ri shikesh.

we two families(6 adults) will reach dehradun on 18th october evening and our return journey from haridwar on 26th october morning(8 nights,7 days).

please suggest us how should we plan our trip so that we can enjoy the peace and beauty of himalayas more.

we are not interested about mussorie,but can stay there 18th night if required.

any suggestions about accomodation at dhanaulty and chakrata(have accomodation at haridwar),hiring vehicle,trip itinerary,etc will be welcome.
we have moderate budget.

thanks to all of my helpful seniors in advance.
with love.
homemaker.

I'd suggest you look up Outlook Traveler's 100 Holidays in the Hills. While ppl here can give you tips on the itinerary, you'd find a number of hotels listed there that can really help you. The writeups suck, though.

http://chakratasnowview.com/index2.htm

homemaker,
take a look at these threads, and then feel free to ask again if needed.

http://www.indiamike.com/india/uttar...ssible-t13360/
http://www.indiamike.com/india/uttar...naulti-t34662/

Besides DW's threads, suggest spend less time at Haridwar, Rishikesh, Mussoorie.

many many thanks to ronsaik,kullukid,dilliwala,and capt mahajan for so much helpful suggestions.
dilliwala,your two detailed posts (to biren )have helped me a lot to make my itinerary.
here it is....
18th oct--will reach dehradun by upasana exp (18.05 ),go straight to mussoorie to check in hotel.
19th oct--hire a car to visit dhanaulty for the day and return to mussoorie in the evening.
20th--hire a car for 3/4 days and start for chakrata via lakhamandal.on the way will visit lakhamandal and tiger fall(possible???)and then check in snowview hotel.
21st--(early morning) will visit deoban,afternoon to chirimiri.
[i have found the name of ramtal garden,where is it?]
22nd--PLEASE name other places near chakrata where we can visit on that day.is kanasar a good place to visit?
23rd--return to dehradun through kalsi(where we will see ashokan pillar) and go to haridwar by bus or train.
24,25th--at haridwar and rishikesh.
26th --return journey to kolkata by same train.
dilliwala,i have a request to you.please suggest a good hotel with moderate rate (500-800) at mussoorie.( i have got a long list of hotels,but cant understand which one should i select).i have two more questions to you.is there any problem to leave the car at dehradun,if we hire it from mussoorie?and have you any idea how much we have to pay for the car for 3-4 days?

again thanks to dilliwala and all of you.
with love.
homemaker.

Some idea re car hire - for a Maruti Esteem it is 1600 rupees per day plus petrol costs. You will need a larger vehicle however so I think a little more.. Dilliwala may know more than me. Hotel Broadway on Camel's Back Road, not far from Kulri Bazaar, generally has budget rooms in your price range for that time of the year.

Hi homemaker,

I am greatly remiss in replying to your 2nd post - apologies! If you're still around and still need the info, here it is.
Firstly, here's a decent website you may browse for more info on the general area of Chakrata/Jaunsar: http://www.pandeyji.com/chakrata/chakrata.cfm

20th - Yes, you can easily visit Lakhamandal, then Tiger Falls, then proceed to Chakrata. You shud leave Mussoorie reasonably early though, so that you reach Chakrata before dark.
CAUTION: When coming from Lakhamandal the approach to Tiger Falls is unmarked - I drove right past it in July! (to my annoyance - but no time to visit the falls). You have to make sure you do not cross the village of Mindal (मिंडाल), if you do you've gone too far. The approach will be a little before reaching Mindal on the left-hand, you have to start asking when you get close to Mindal. It's an unmetalled road, and you have to walk 1.5 km approx from the parking area.

21st - Chirmiri -I obviously drove past/thru it on the way from Chakrata to Yamuna Pul/Mussoorie in July. but didn't know it was there! (first proper trip, not much time in hands). Click the 'What to do' link at a.m. website for more.
Ramtal - AGAIN missed it, even though I was looking for the approach, signage in the area is pathetic. It's on the Chakrata/Yamuna Pul road, and my mobile fone (roams on BSNL) even picked up a signal from the Ramtal tower!
Here's some useful info I found about it:
http://dehradun.nic.in/chakrata.htm
http://www.gmvnl.com/newgmvn/distric...dun_fairs.aspx
And here it is on wikimapia, altho now that you've seen it from the air, you may not need/want to go there huh?

22nd - Kanasar - excellent . That's the one trip I cud do in the limited time I had. Serene place, and ideal for a picnic. If you don't want to carry food though, then you can eat in the village of Koti, 3 km away (towards Tiuni). But you need to be there by 1 pm, otherwise they run out of cooked food.
Dara Gad sounds like a nice place to visit, further along the Tiuni road from Kanasar and Koti. Check the link at pandeyji's site.
From Lokhandi (before Kanasar), you can turn off for the Budher cave, but you need to be aware that it's 6.5 km of janglaat road - half driving, then half walking.
Hanol is worth a visit, but it's quite far for a return day-trip. Better to stay there in that case (there's a GMVN).

Car from Mussoorie to be released at Dehradun is no problem. Will cost approx 2000/day roughly for SUV-type.

Dear Homemaker,

I anong with my husband and 5 year old son would like to visit cgakrata-dhanulti & mussoorie in coming jan. Plz share your travelogue so that i can have an idea of the places, itinerary and hotels.

Dear sudeeptanusree,
Dhanaulti and Chakrata are 2 calm and quite beautiful places surrounded by nature.On the other hand Mussorie is very crowded like other big hill stations.
We made one -day trip to Dhanaulti from Mussorie.But it is advisable to stay there one or two nights.There you must visit the temple of Surkhunda devi which is situated on the top of a 10,000 ft high hill.You have to go there either on foot(takes more than 1 hour) or by horse.We took the 2nd option and it was a thrilling experience.But we climbed down on foot.From the top of the hill you will see the snow-clad peaks of Gangotri,Yamunotri,Sumeru parvat,Chaukhamba etc which is a great experience.
There are many other beautiful spots which we missed due to shortage of time.
If you wish to stay at Dhanaulti,then go there directly from Dehradun.Because Dhanaulti and Chakrata are in opposite directions from Mussorie.
It will be better to hire a car from Dehradun for your whole trip.Cost will be nearly Rs 2000/day.
Your 2nd visiting place should be Mussorie and then Chakrata,which is the most beautiful place among three.
There are 2 routes to reach Chakrata.----1.Go to Kempty falls,go onward,cross the Yamuna bridge,pass through the villages-Nagthat and Bairat khai and finally reach Chakrata.(about 70 km)
2.It is much longer route which we took.After Kemty falls you have to take the road running parallel to the Yamuna river.It is a nice route ,you can see the Yamuna river on your left side like a dancing girl running through deep gorge.On this road you will get a bazar area from where you MUST collect your lunch (or you may pack it directly from Mussorie ).
After more or less 30 km you have to cross the Yamuna and after another 5 km you will reach LAKHAMANDAL.It is said that it was the famous Lakshagriha of PANDAVAS.
After visiting Lakhamandal go through Lakhamandal road to Chakrata( about 40 km).Road is not so good but thrilling.
In Chakrata the best hotel is 'SNOW VIEW'which is a heritage building established by the englishman who first discovered the area.
Now the owner is Mr Vikas Aggarwal,a very good and helpful person.(Ph no.01360-272241,09411363231)
You have to book rooms as early as possible as rooms are few in number.
This is a beautiful place and try to stay there more days.You can see the SUNRISE and snow-clad peaks from the varanda of the hotel.
You must see The Tiger Falls,(17km on Lakhamandal road).After a short motorable road you have to treck down 1.5 km through 'Pakdandi',then have to cross short streams to reach near the falls.The trecking route and the view of Tiger fall(360ft )are simply mind-blowing.
A local guide must be taken.We found a local youngman who acted as our guide but did not agree to take any money.In his opinion he only helped us.
Other beautiful places are Deoban(10km),Kanasar(28km),Dar a gad etc. On your return journey you will take the route through kalsi,herbertpur to reach Dehradun.On this route Dakpathar is another tourist spot.
Lastly I have to say you must visit the website-- http://www.pandeyji.com/chakrata/chakrata.cfm
from which you will get detail informations and maps.Also the print-out of the 2nd post of Dilliwala will be helpful to you.
I have no idea about hotels in Dhanaulti.For Mussorie we book one from a travel agent of kolkata probably from Madurga travels.But I forgot the name of the hotel.It was good and within our budget.
I think my experience will be helpful to you.

Wow homemaker, if you saw all those peaks from Surkanda, I'm very envious! I've been there 3 times already, and never seen anything (always cloudy in the distance) !


P.S. Glad to know my post (Oct 08 I think you meant) was useful - I never figured out whether you went or not.

Dear Dilliwala,I am very sorry for not replying your post which was so helpful to us.
Yes,we saw all the peaks from Surkunda as the sky was clear. There was a man with a telescope and when we looked through it(Rs 10/person), the peaks came nearer to us.We were so happy!!Because
it was our first experience to see snow-clad peaks.

Thanks, homemaker, for the most informative post. Plz let me know the season you visited these places. We are planning either in nov / January. Plz let me know your views. In case we do not book car for the entire trip what are the ther options? Do u need a car for sightseeing in dhanulti & mussoori or we can take local transport available ?

Dear sudeeptanusree,I am happy that my post has helped you.We started from Kolkata on 21st Oct.and returned on 1st Nov.The weather was good;cool but not cold and the sky was clear.It was in between Durga puja and Kalipuja.I think Nov/Jan will be too cold,specially in Chakrata.
You can take local transport for Mossoori sightseeing.If you want to visit Dhanaulti first,then take a taxi from Dehradun and go there.Dhanaulti is a small place,but I heard that there is bus service between Dhanaulti and Mussoori(24km,1 hr journey).You will get proper information from the hotel of Dhanaulti( where you will stay).Try to contact them in advance.
But for Chakrata a hired car is best option in my opinion.It is a remote place and Army area and have not much transport.There are many beautiful places within 20-25 km.To visit those places you need a car,which you can use as per your time and requirment.

Dear Homemaker,

I had contacted Mr. Vikas Agrawal of snowview, he said there are 2 categories of rooms suit which are in the old building and double bed rooms which thay have constructed new outside the old building. Can you update me about the quality of these dbl rooms?