Discovering Lansdowne - Best Peaceful Vacation Destination Near Delhi

Hi friends, I am back with a new summer vacation destination and this time it have discovered Lansdowne, which is a little known hill station in the foothills of Uttarakhand and Uttaranchal in India making it one of the nearest undiscovered hill stations to Delhi. It is an ideal place for peace lovers and it is meant for people who want to avoid the hustle bustle of mad tourist places in Delhi and also for those who want to avoid some popular but overcrowded hill stations near Delhi like Shimla, Mussoorie, and Nanital. Lansdowne is a place less discovered and underrated but one must visit this little place at least once, especially in the rainy season to explore the beauty it offers. I have provided information on what to see and do in Lansdowne, places to visit near Lansdowne, how to reach Lansdowne, cost of fuel for traveling from Delhi to Lansdowne in a private car, accommodation and boutique hotels in Lansdowne, and an interactive map and some cools pictures shared from one of my friend’s album.

What to See and Do in Lansdowne – Official Information

Lansdowne does not have much to offer in terms of nearby places to visit or do some mall road walks as it does not support the trend of having popular and crowded mall road culture as adopted by some other so called popular hill vacation destinations in India. Lansdowne is all about silent walks on lush green roads and visiting nearby peaceful temples (if you are a holistic kind of person or like to visit historic places). You can also enjoy some wildlife in Lansdowne as by late evening you can have some encounters with leopards and even elephants.

Lansdowne witnesses lots of rain (the secret is that it is equally chilled as its other higher situated counterparts like Mussoorie). Another place to visit is an old British church in Lansdowne. Lansdowne is also the place to visit if you like meditation, spa, yoga, or other adventure sports activities like boating, trekking, hiking, or simply watching different species of birds.

What we saw and did in Lansdowne – Personal Information

Me and my office friends have been only once to this place and since then, we have never managed to visit this place again, but this small town has some deep memories in my heart strong enough to not let me forget this beautiful place.

I visited this place in the month of August when it was raining. Interestingly it was raining right from the start of our journey from Delhi to the time we spent in Lansdowne to back to Delhi. It is really awesome to drive on roads completely washed by heavy rainfall and the moment we crossed Kotdwar and started hill driving, we got our jaw wide open by the magnificent views it offered. Though we were not able to visit or tour the entire area around Lansdowne due to the heavy rainfall, we did not regret as it was a treat in itself while enjoying the magnificent view of hills with the curtain of rain right from the balcony of our cottage sipping hot tea/coffee with piping hot pakoras or simply enjoying a Johny Walker Black whiskey with some lip-smacking snacks.

All we were able to manage was to visit the Tarkeshwar Mahadev Temple which is a good historic place and just for the reason that we could not explore this small town much on this tour is the very reason why me and my office friends intend to visit this place again in the near future.

Choose any road for walking in Lansdowne and you will not be disappointed as every road here heads towards lush green forests. This place is very silent as a town. Part of the reason why it is so isolated and silent is that it has been a home to the Garhwal Rifles of India and it is maintained by the Garhwal regiment and has strict rules and regulations.

Places to visit near Lansdowne

Tarkeshwar Mahadev Temple: A barely motorable road leads to this important temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. There are several water pools located around this temple, which increase the beauty and grace of this one of the oldest Shiva temples in India.

Gurukul: Gurukul, again across the river, is a traditional school for boys, which also provides yoga courses, ayurvedic medicine courses, and massage courses, et al. It is also possible to stay here.

How to Reach Lansdowne?

If you are going via air, Jolly Grant at Dehradun is the nearest airport, which is approximately 152 kilometers from Lansdowne. From the airport, you can hire a cab for this beautiful place.

By Air

If you are going via Indian Railways, nearest train station to Lansdowne is Kotdwar that is approximately 42 kilometers from Lansdowne.

By Train

If you are going by road in your private car like us, then Lansdowne is around 250 kilometers from Delhi; the route is good for most of the time.

By Road

From Delhi, take NH 58 till Meerut. Unlike other hill stations on this route for which one we take the Meerut bypass towards Haridwar, this time, you have to enter the crowded streets of Meerut towards Meerut Cant. (else you can go on to the bypass and ask directions for Meerut Cant. from there, but it will be a time consuming exercise).

As you reach Meerut Cant., take NH 119 towards Mawana (home of famous Mawana sugar mills in India) and continue on the same highway until you reach Kotdwar passing through towns like Ramraj, Mirapur (you will also cross Hastinapur of Mahabharata, the famous Kaurav Paandav historical place), Bijnor, Najibabad and finally reach Kotdwara.

From Kotdwar, hills start and as the roads are narrow, you must be extra cautious. Follow the universal hills rule of “sticking to your extreme left” and keep honking on blind turns. Remember that the vehicle going upwards and has the first right of way. From Kotdwara, the route is same on NH 119, which will take you to Lansdowne.

By the way, if you continue on the same NH 119, you will end up in meeting NH 121 and NH 58 again in the end, which will lead you to Pauri Garhwal and to Kedarnath eventually.

Cost Of Fuel Traveling From Delhi To Lansdowne in a Private Car

As the distance from Delhi to Lansdowne is approximately 250 kilometers and there is not much to visit around on car, one should add another 50 kilometers in total to the distance, so the total distance Delhi to Lansdowne and back to back comes to 550 kilometers as has been the norm of taking four people in a petrol or a diesel car to calculate the costs. We take 2 nights and 3 days as travel and stay time.

Fuel efficiency at 15 and 18 kilometers per liter for petrol and diesel respectively and cost of petrol and diesel at 52 and 40 rupees per liter respectively.

Total Fuel Cost divided Between Four People:

Petrol: 550 km/15 = 37 liters x 52= 1924/-

Diesel: 550 km/18 =31 liters x 40 = 1240/-

Accommodation and Boutique Hotels in Lansdowne

As Lansdowne again is a small place, staying options are not so much, except two to three boutique hotels apart from the government run hotel and guesthouse. Tariff ranges from 1000 rupees to 2500 rupees per night on double occupancy basis, so we take 2000 as an average.

So 2000 x 2 nights = 4000 so for 4 people it is 8000 INR.

Food in Lansdowne

Food is not much expensive here and it will cost you around 1500 per day so for 3 days, it comes to approximately 4500 INR.

Total Cost Of Traveling To And From Lansdowne To Delhi for Four People

Petrol Vehicle: 1924 + 8000 + 4500=14424/4 = 3606/- per person excluding liquor

Diesel Vehicle: 1240 + 8000 + 4500=13740/4 = 3435/- excluding liquor

So at last I would say that Lansdowne is full of picturesque beauty and discovering it once is worth your money and time. Who knows after discovering this less known hill station, you become a regular visitor of this peaceful summer vacation destination near Delhi.