Worthwhile day trips from Delhi

[Rtech]

Was wondering which places close to Delhi/Gurgaon are worth a trip. Preferably should be able to get there in the morning and back in Delhi by night.

Any suggestions Delhi guys?

[tsk1979]

Though delhi is near to himalays, the no of places to which to go are mostly in plains.
you can try Taj Mahal in agra.
Jaipur
Chandigarh+Timber Trail(Its a very long ropeway, amazing to see for the first time)

Delhi itself has lots of places to see. If you can get your hands on "52 weekend getaways from delhi" by outlook, look it up.

BTW what kind of trip are you looking for. You wanna do some hill driving? In that case uttranchal is near but its a 4 hour drive to mussourie, and mussourie is a dirty town!

An interesting link http://www.arounddelhi.com/

[Deeps]

And we should be assuming that you are planning to drive RT?

[Rtech]

Thanks for the info tsk. How long would the drive be to the Timber Trail?

Deeps, it was originally planned to be a driving holiday but doesn't look likely now. Although we will be driving to wherever from Delhi.

[ntomer]

Try Kuchesar. It's about 100 KMs from Delhi on the NH-24 (Delhi-Lucknow highway). The road is very good for most part, only the last 6-7 KMs aren't on the highway.

Kuchesar is a small village, where Neemrana Group of Hotels have acquired and refurbished a old fort. The setting is historical and very peaceful. You'll enjoy the place.

\N

[tsk1979]

From gurgaon heres the itenary for timber trail.

1. Start at 6am or before that(Very important, otherwise you will be in delhi for 2-3 hours). gurgaon is the other end.
2. 7am you exit delhi
3. 11am you are in chd. Dont stop here. Near the border the turn to shimla is there. I think near Zirakpur. Before 1am you will be at Timber trail. Take the ride. Spend 2 hours there
4. Start at 4pm. Reach chd city by 5:30pm. You can either visit sukhna lake(not advisable in winters as its dark by then and you cant do much) or stroll at sector 17 and eat some grub. At around 7ish start from chd.
5. 10pm you hit delhi, 11pm you are at gurgaon.

If you are an early riser, start at 5am. You will reach chd border by 9am and by 10:30 you are at timbertrail. That way you can return to chd by 2pm, visit the sukhna lake, rock garden(They are close to each other) and have a nice stroll at sec 17 market.

the best place to have dinner is at the dhabas just after karnal toll gate.(its the last toll gate while coming back from chd). Immediately after toll you will dhabas to your right and a petrol pump. Amazing food both veg and non veg.

while going you can eat at the joints just after kalka. Dont forget to buy the local fruit wine. Great taste and healthy too. You get rodhedron, apple, grape wines. There are lots of stalls on the way.

If you make the 5am start from delhi, you can even head ahead of timber trail and do some 20kms of real hill driving and see the sights. BTW which car will you be driving?

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

From gurgaon heres the itenary for timber trail.

1. Start at 6am or before that(Very important, otherwise you will be in delhi for 2-3 hours). gurgaon is the other end.
2. 7am you exit delhi
3. 11am you are in chd. Dont stop here. Near the border the turn to shimla is there. I think near Zirakpur. Before 1am you will be at Timber trail. Take the ride. Spend 2 hours there
4. Start at 4pm. Reach chd city by 5:30pm. You can either visit sukhna lake(not advisable in winters as its dark by then and you cant do much. At around 7ish start from chd.
5. 10pm you hit delhi, 11pm you are at gurgaon.

If you are an early riser, start at 5am. You will reach chd border by 9am and by 10:30 you are at timbertrail. That way you can return to chd by 2pm, visit the sukhna lake, rock garden(They are close to each other) and have a nice stroll at sec 17 market.

hey man, don't you think it'll be too hectic for him. This will be about 800 KMs of drive in a day. I suggest you goto someplace within 150 KMs of Delhi, that'll be much easier and you'll be able to enjoy yourself more.

\N

[Rtech]

Great stuff TSK! We will be renting a car once I get to Delhi.

Also heard about a place called Kasouli (spellcheck??). Any info on that?

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Great stuff TSK! We will be renting a car once I get to Delhi.

Also heard about a place called Kasouli (spellcheck??). Any info on that?

Kasauli is about 30 KMs from Kalka, thus about 330 KMs from Delhi. There is a town called Dharmpur about 15 KMs from Kalak on the Shimla highway, take a right turn from here and you'll reach Kasauli after a 13KM drive. It's a small quaint cantonment town. I would not recommend it to day trips. The beauty of this place is fully appreciable only if you spend 2-3 days here; you will love the leisurely life.

\N

[tsk1979]

Its a nice hill station you can visit. About 300kms from delhi. Its quiet and you can just stroll around and sight see for about 2-3 hours(Weekend getaways has excellent info on these places, try google too, lots of links)
Chd to parwanoo = 30kms(1 hour)
Parwanoo to kasauli = 32kms(1 hour)

http://hptdc.nic.in/cir0101.htm has excellent info on these places

BTW have you enquired about rentals. Hertz can be pretty expensive. I dont have much idea about others who offer self drive cars in NCR.

@ntomer : Timber trail will be just 270kms of drive (240kms to chd, 30 on the hills so I guess its nothing for a TBHPian!

[speedsatya]

drive on the GT road ...this is teh NHA1...superb 4 lane highway till chandigarh ...u can do this stretch in about 4 hours if u leave early in teh morning ...from chandigarh you drive to Shimla..on teh way u will get Solan...where u have the Old Monk factory

[suman]

Originally Posted by Rtech

Great stuff TSK! We will be renting a car once I get to Delhi.

Also heard about a place called Kasouli (spellcheck??). Any info on that?

Check this out -

http://www.hptdc.nic.in/cir0101.htm#kasa.

RT, there are wonderful getaways in Himachal but would suggest you plan on an overnight stay. That way you don't get too stressed out driving back & forth.

Check out above website for more ideas.

Have a blast, I know we do every time we go to Himachal and we go there every once in a while

[tsk1979]

Nope speed. The four lane is only till Ambala. After that is about 40kms of hell. When I say hell I mean it. Drag racing buses occupying both the lanes hurtling towards you at 100kmph while you scamper towards the berms.

Delhi border to ambala = 2.5 - 3 hours early morning. After that 1 hour till zirakpur and then about an hour to parwanoo.

[ntomer]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

@ntomer : Timber trail will be just 270kms of drive (240kms to chd, 30 on the hills so I guess its nothing for a TBHPian!

Buddy I recently drove to Chail from Delhi; went on Saturday and back on Sunday, and believe me it was hectic, left me no time to enjoy myself.
BTW, Zirakpur from Karnal by-bass is 270 KMs, Parwanoo from Zirakpur 30 KMs, and Timber-trail from Parwanoo 32KMs. And remember he's based in Gurgaon, so Gurgaon to Karnal by-pass another 30 odd KMs, adds up to 362 KMs, to and from 725 KMs. Man it may not be much for a TBPian but remember it's a fun-trip for him, not a driving holiday.

BTW TSK, you seems my kind of person, loving long drives on hills (I have drove to Delhi-Chail, Delhi-Kasauli, Delhi-Shimla, Chandigarh-Dalhousie, Delhi-Nainitaal, Delhi-Kausani, Delhi-Mussorie). Let's plan a drive sometime, I am planning to drive to Lansdowne on New Year eve. You game?

\N

[tsk1979]

Hmm, new year I may be out of town, but will let you know if something can come up. You normally go on driving holidays with wife?