Why Uttarakhand is the best place in India for a Holiday

Don’t listen to what they say. Just get out and experience it!!” Well… True that! Isn’t it? Ok, now let me ask you; what’s the first thing that comes to your mind whenever you hear about Uttarakhand. Is it the mountains, refreshing weather or perhaps the holy temples, religious and spiritual centers? Hang on there, did you realize that as you think about the answer, there’s a part of your heart that’s whispering “Dude there are lots of places to explore in Uttarakhand”. Well, honestly mine did that too.

Khaliya top trek – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

From last year and a half, since I started blogging, many of my readers asked me that how do I plan for such long tours? Do I opt for a packaged tour? Definitely not!! Why to book a packaged tour when all the information needed for planning is easily available over the internet. Gmaps, IRCTC, Wikipedia, Wikitravel, divineuttarakhand, and travel blogs are all there to help you in planning the itinerary. Let me put forward my backpacking solo trip of 16 days to explore the must-see places in Uttarakhand.

Auli – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Before the start of the journey

Generally, I don’t plan much!! Just in order to keep the traversing distance to the shortest, what I generally do is, locate all the places on Gmaps that I am planning to visit and traverse accordingly, in order to avoid repeating the road routes. I hope you got what I am trying to convey here.

This is how I traversed starting from Haridwar and ending the trip at Nainital.

I just pre-booked return journey flight tickets for Pune – Delhi (INR 4500) and a train from Delhi to Haridwar (sleeper class). Being not a full-time traveler right now, I have limited holidays and hence I prefer flights just in order to save that extra day. For stay, except booking Zostel at Rishikesh, I didn’t book anything.

Zostel Rishikesh

My journey to Uttarakhand

Uttarakhand is a unique state like any other state in our country and since I had heard a lot about it, I was very curious to visit it and to my surprise, it offered me more than what I expected of it. This land captured my soul.

Lakshman Jhula- Places to explore in Uttarakhand

As I entered the place, my body got numb and all I remember is the holy breeze that hit my body and made me realize about the part that was longing for this feeling of sacredness. With this warm welcome, I started my journey to one of the most beautiful states of our country “Uttarakhand” also known as “Devbhoomi” (Land of Gods).

En route to Auli – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Note: All INR spent below are inclusive of everything (travel, food and stay).

Day 0 (Pune – New Delhi – Haridwar) INR 2600   

• Pune to Delhi flight(INR 2200)
• Delhi to Haridwar overnight train (INR 190 – Mussoorie express – 22:25 – 06:05)

Are you satisfied with your 9 -5 job? Have you ever put a step forward to work on what you love to do and pursue it as a career? Maybe, a dream career will not give you as much as a 9-5 job, but it will surely give you happiness worth millions. I am happy that I took that step forward.

“Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.

Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

I was excited!! Excited to leave the daily routine in the chaotic city life and travel to the love of my life, “The Himalayas”.  With all the excitement of the long trip ahead, I boarded the evening flight for New Delhi. From Delhi, I took an overnight train to reach Haridwar early morning.

Devprayag – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 1, 2(Haridwar – Rishikesh) INR 1500      

Haridwar was first on my list. After spending around 8-10 hours exploring the must-see places of the sacred city, I headed for Rishikesh. The distance between Haridwar to Rishikesh is around 20 kms and one can opt for a bus/Tuk-Tuk (shared auto – INR 40) to reach the same.

Post for Haridwar is underwriting and will be published soon. For more details on my journey to Rishikesh, check out the earlier post: Rishikesh – Finding your inner self at Yoga Capital of the World (INR 1500 – 2 days)

Ganga Aarti – Triveni Ghat in Rishikesh

Day 3, 4, 5 (Rishikesh – Dehradun – Nag Tibba Trek – Rishikesh) INR 700

700 INR for 3 days? Abhi, are you kidding!! No, I am not!! Last year, Bikat adventures organized a photo contest and my photo was awarded the Viewers ‘choice prize. They gave me a voucher worth 5,000 INR which could only be applied to any of their packaged tours. And, I chose the Nag Tibba trek for which the cost was 5,550 INR. So only 550 INR from my pocket. Ha-ha!!

Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

I took an early morning bus from Rishikesh for Dehradun (INR 55 – 45 kms- 1 hour) where everyone was expected to assemble. For more details on Nag Tibba Trek, you may check out my earlier post: Nag Tibba Trek – An exciting snow trek in the lap of Himalayas.

Nag Tibba Trek – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 6(Rishikesh – Devprayag – Pauri) INR 700

I started my day a bit early and took a morning bus from Rishikesh (just outside Zostel) (INR 110 – 76 kms – 3.5 hours) and reached Devprayag around 11 am. To read more about my journey to Devprayag, you may give a read to my post: Devprayag – The confluence of the rivers Bhagirathi and Alaknanda to form “The Ganga”

Devprayag – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

After exploring the town for around 5-6 hours, next on my list was Khirsu. But, thanks to the concept of Hitchhiking, I ended up at Pauri (40 kms from Devprayag and 20 kms before Khirsu). And, I must admit that I was lucky enough to experience the beauty of this Hidden Gem. It was already 8 pm by the time I made it to the town, hence decided to explore it the next day. That’s the beauty of no fixed plans.

Pauri – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 7, 8 (Pauri – Khirsu –Pauri – Joshimath) INR 1200

Day 7, I planned entirely for exploring the town of Pauri. To be honest, I was left stunned and speechless seeing the beauty of this town. To know more about the places to explore in Pauri, you may check out my earlier post: Pauri Uttarakhand – Hitchhiking brought me to this hidden treasure.

Pauri – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Next day, I took an early morning shared taxi for Khirsu (20 kms – 30 INR, 30 minutes), as I wanted to return as early as possible; in order to catch a transport for Joshimath by afternoon. To know more about the beauty of the small village Khirsu, check out my earlier post: Khirsu Village – An unexplored hidden gem in the lap of Himalayas.

After coming back from Khirsu, I took a bus for Gopeshwar (INR 160 – 137 kms – 5 hours) and a shared taxi from Gopeshwar to reach Joshimath (INR 90 -60 kms – 2.5 hours).

Khirsu – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 9 (Joshimath – Auli – Joshimath) INR 800

I took an early morning shared taxi for Auli from Joshimath (INR 200 for a round trip). A Heaven for skiers and a delight for mountaineers, Auli is the perfect place to be at, in order to enjoy the live snowfall amidst huge Himalayan Mountains in the backdrop. After exploring the place for 4-5 hours, I happily headed back to Joshimath.

For more details on Auli, you can check my post: Experience snowfall amidst the snow-clad Himalayan Mountains at Auli Hill Station

Auli – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 10 (Joshimath – Karnaprayag –Tharali – Gwaldam –Garur –  Kausani) INR 900

The 10th day of my journey to explore the state of Uttarakhand was more about traveling to reach Kausani with just exploring the places that comes enroute. The two places which I wanted to explore on the way were Karnaprayag and Gwaldam. For more details on Gwaldam, check out my post: Gwaldam Uttarakhand – A quaint little hamlet in the lap of Himalayas.

• Joshimath to Karnaprayag by shared taxi (82 kms – 3 hours – INR 120)
• Karnaprayag – Tharali by bus (46 kms – 2 hours – INR 70)
• Tharali to Gwaldam by shared Taxi (23 kms – 1 hour – INR 50)
• Gwaldam to Garur by shared taxi (25 kms – 1 hour – INR 50)
• Garur to Kausani by bus (15 kms – 40 minutes – INR 30).

Gwaldam – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 11 (Kausani) INR 700

The entire day was planned to explore the beautiful town of Kausani. Being an offseason, it seemed that I was the only visitor in the entire town.To read more on Kausani, check out my post: Escape the scorching heat this summer by heading out to Kausani Uttarakhand.

Kausani – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 12 (Kausani – Almora – Binsar – Bageshwar) INR 800

The 12th day of my journey to explore the state of Uttarakhand was again more about traveling in order to make it to Munsiyari and just exploring the places that come enroute. The two places which I wanted to explore on the way were Almora and Binsar.

Due to the low frequency of transport between the route, I only managed to reach up to Bageshwar.

• Kausani – Almora by bus (52 kms – 2 hours – INR 80)
• Almora – Binsar by bus (25 kms – 1 hour – INR 35)
• Binsar – Bageshwar by bus (61 kms – 2.5 hours – INR 70).

Auli Ropeway – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 13, 14 (Bageshwar – Udiyari Band – Thal – Munsiyari) INR 1300

I started with my day very early in order to make it Munsiyari as early as possible. There is no direct transport available between Bageshwar and Munsiyari.

• Bageshwar to Udiyari Band by bus (55 kms – 2 hours – INR 70)
• Udiyari Band to Thal by shared taxi (20 kms – 1 hour – INR 50)
• Thal to Munsiyari by shared taxi (70 kms – 3.5 hours – INR 150)

It was around 2 pm by the time I made it to Munsiyari. So I planned to explore the town till late evening and do the famous Khaliya top trek the next day. To know how I explored Munsiyari, check out my post: Experience snowfall amidst the snow-clad Himalayan Mountains at Auli Hill Station.

Khaliya Top Munsiyari – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Day 15, 16 (Munsiyari – Bhowali – Nainital – New Delhi – Pune) INR 3800

As the trip was approaching to its end, the last on my list was the famous touristy town of Nainital. I took a shared taxi early morning from Munsiyari for Haldwani (250 kms – 12 hours – INR 500) and got down at Bhowali which is just a few kms from Nainital. It was almost late evening by the time I reached Nainital.

The next day was planned entirely for exploring the famous town of Nainital. To read in details how I traversed in Nainital to visit the must-see places of Nainital, check out my post: Nainital Uttarakhand – Exploring the City of Lakes on a day trip.

Nainital – Places to explore in Uttarakhand

Total expenses – 2600+1500+700+700+1200+800+900+700+800+1300+3800 = INR 15,000

I could have reduced trip expenditure (may be up to 13,000 INR) if there was an option to travel in nights. What I generally do is, explore a place for a day, take a night bus/train/Shared taxi to reach the next destination and explore the other place the following day and so on. It helps me to avoid taking a hotel/ lodge and thus save money. But since there is almost no transportation at night in the hilly terrains of Uttarakhand, I couldn’t save money on the stay part.

As I explored the state, I realized that both Uttarakhand and Uttarakhandi are special. Like the way we love to take something from the place where we visit as our token of memory; I am taking the love and warmness that this place offered me throughout my journey. Those sky and those hills were full of messages, messages of love. I’ll adore them and will keep them forever.

I hope this blog post gave you some idea on how to travel cheap and may help you in planning one such itinerary. Let me know if you have any queries or need help in planning your itinerary. Hope to see you travel soon!! Cheers!!!

The tent that I carry during the treks is Quechua Arpenaz 2 Tent. It has enough space for 2 people.

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