Hello !
We went on a short vacation to Nainital, Uttarakhand in December 2016. Nainital is a hill station in the north India, in case you don't know (which I doubt). And we went there during the Christmas-New Year time. Now, if you are planning to view snowfall then I would suggest you to go there on new Years itself, since the chances of snowfall are higher at that time.
Although it gets really cold during the nights in December but the days are mostly sunny and warm. Make sure you carry your sweaters, scarves, gloves and woolen hats to cover yourself up. In case you forget to do that or you are like us who thought(being a pahadi) you can easily escape the winters.... umm.. don't worry there are plenty of shops that sell woolen clothes at nominal prices.
Ours was a 3 day trip. You can easily cover entire Nainital in 3 days.
Day 1: We drove from Delhi to Nainital. We started at 5:00am and reached there around 11:30 am - 12:00 noon. It was extremely foggy that day, else we could have reached at least an hour early. Since we were very tired so we just explored the local market after checking into our hotel. Always get a hotel on the main road, preferably the one which offers parking. Parking is an issue there and mostly people have to park their cars on the mall road paid parking space. It becomes quite inconvenient to go there everyday to get your car and then drive back to your hotel room and then go park your car and get back to your room. Duh.. !! not recommended.
We also went for a shikara ride in the famous Naini lake the same day and leisurely walked on the mall road to end the day.
For dinner, we went to Chandni Chowk restaurant on the mall road for all the 3 days. Highly recommended !
Day 2: We booked a taxi for Rs.600(BARGAIN !!) They will start from Rs.1500 at least) which took us to 7 tourist attractions in Nainital including: Khurpa taal, Lands End, Tiffin Top, Dorothy's Seat, Himalayan Peak point to name a few.
For a round trip to Dorothy's seat, we opted for the horses instead of trekking. You pay Rs.700 per person. It was an experience in itself. Highly recommended.
Lastly, we took the cable car to the mall road. The view from there is breath taking and it almost feels like you are watching a movie. Though, it is a very short ride of less than a min I think, but is definitely a MUST DO.
Day 3: On our last day we booked a taxi to Mukteshwar for Rs. 1500. It takes around 3 hours of drive to reach there. The weather is colder there as compared to the mall road area. It even snowed there. I would suggest your to carry gloves, hats and a nice warm jacket if you go there in winters. This trip takes your entire day. You can either stay there in one of many resorts Mukteshwar has or drive back to the mall road.
The 1st stop is the Golu Devta temple followed by the Tea garden and finally you reach Mukteshwar.
The main attraction for me was the point called Chauli ki Jali in Mukteshwar which offers a panormic view of Nainital. It is almost like the peak of the mountain. You can indulge in some adventure sports: zipline. They charge Rs 500 for it.
When we came back it started snowing and raining and got really really cold.
Since it was Christmas, the entire mall road was decorated with lights and colored papers. Midnight masses were held in the local churches and people would sing carols while taking out rallies. It was a very festive environment and made our trip so much more better. Nainital can be visited year around and offers so much for tourists.
For more details you can watch my vlog HERE
We went on a short vacation to Nainital, Uttarakhand in December 2016. Nainital is a hill station in the north India, in case you don't know (which I doubt). And we went there during the Christmas-New Year time. Now, if you are planning to view snowfall then I would suggest you to go there on new Years itself, since the chances of snowfall are higher at that time.
Although it gets really cold during the nights in December but the days are mostly sunny and warm. Make sure you carry your sweaters, scarves, gloves and woolen hats to cover yourself up. In case you forget to do that or you are like us who thought(being a pahadi) you can easily escape the winters.... umm.. don't worry there are plenty of shops that sell woolen clothes at nominal prices.
Ours was a 3 day trip. You can easily cover entire Nainital in 3 days.
Day 1: We drove from Delhi to Nainital. We started at 5:00am and reached there around 11:30 am - 12:00 noon. It was extremely foggy that day, else we could have reached at least an hour early. Since we were very tired so we just explored the local market after checking into our hotel. Always get a hotel on the main road, preferably the one which offers parking. Parking is an issue there and mostly people have to park their cars on the mall road paid parking space. It becomes quite inconvenient to go there everyday to get your car and then drive back to your hotel room and then go park your car and get back to your room. Duh.. !! not recommended.
We also went for a shikara ride in the famous Naini lake the same day and leisurely walked on the mall road to end the day.
For dinner, we went to Chandni Chowk restaurant on the mall road for all the 3 days. Highly recommended !
Day 2: We booked a taxi for Rs.600(BARGAIN !!) They will start from Rs.1500 at least) which took us to 7 tourist attractions in Nainital including: Khurpa taal, Lands End, Tiffin Top, Dorothy's Seat, Himalayan Peak point to name a few.
For a round trip to Dorothy's seat, we opted for the horses instead of trekking. You pay Rs.700 per person. It was an experience in itself. Highly recommended.
Lastly, we took the cable car to the mall road. The view from there is breath taking and it almost feels like you are watching a movie. Though, it is a very short ride of less than a min I think, but is definitely a MUST DO.
Day 3: On our last day we booked a taxi to Mukteshwar for Rs. 1500. It takes around 3 hours of drive to reach there. The weather is colder there as compared to the mall road area. It even snowed there. I would suggest your to carry gloves, hats and a nice warm jacket if you go there in winters. This trip takes your entire day. You can either stay there in one of many resorts Mukteshwar has or drive back to the mall road.
The 1st stop is the Golu Devta temple followed by the Tea garden and finally you reach Mukteshwar.
The main attraction for me was the point called Chauli ki Jali in Mukteshwar which offers a panormic view of Nainital. It is almost like the peak of the mountain. You can indulge in some adventure sports: zipline. They charge Rs 500 for it.
When we came back it started snowing and raining and got really really cold.
Since it was Christmas, the entire mall road was decorated with lights and colored papers. Midnight masses were held in the local churches and people would sing carols while taking out rallies. It was a very festive environment and made our trip so much more better. Nainital can be visited year around and offers so much for tourists.
For more details you can watch my vlog HERE
