[mkbksc]

Originally Posted by anandjha

Fairy Dale is also good. An old cottage converted into lodge. According to Outlook Traveller (very old issue) it is the best place to stay in Lansdowne. Within walking distance of Gandhi Chowk. Had stayed there last summer.

Glad to see someone from Bokaro munching miles. Me from Dhanbad staying in Vasundhara.

Great.Will keep that in mind when I go next to Lansdowne. Feels really good to get in touch with so many 'like-placed' people. Jai Jharkhand.

[krazydriver84]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

I am leaving this Friday morning with family for one night stay at Lansdowne. Would come back to Noida on Saturday evening. Just a short weekend excursion.

Please somebody let me know how can Meerut city be avoided. I do not want to get stuck in Meerut morning traffic.

Try and hit Meerut by 5. It will be a breeze to go through.

Originally Posted by DragonRider

Not surprised at the sudden spike in queries about Lansdowne, it certainly is one of the best and viable getaways from NCR. Also, its a good stepping stone for those who are not too much into hill driving. Just want to check if you've done any recent trips and would you still stand by your statement regarding the route above.

Yes, the route is amazing.

[mkbksc]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

Now , for the return journey from Lansdowne.We started at 03:00 PM after a hearty lunch at Mayur in Lansdowne.

# The hill descent was smooth with little traffic. we came across a group of around 30 bikers who were probably going to Lansdowne.
# After retracing the same route which we took while going, we reached Bijnore. The bypass cut was missed and we went inside the town. Luckily for us, this route inside town involved just one left turn and was without traffic jams.
# After Bijnore, we reached Miranpur. This time,we decided to go via Khatauli to avoid evening rush hours at Meerut.
# At Miranpur, the horse shoe road, that I had mentioned earlier was traversed and we reached a T-Point which showed Muzaffarnagar to the right and Meerut to the left.
# On this T-Point, Monty Million? QSR is located. It looked well lit and overall nice from the road.
# We moved towards Muzaffarnagar and after 12 kms, reached Jasnath.
# From Jasnath, we took a left turn for Khatauli that was 18 kms away. Inside Khatauli, after crossing the flyover, we again took a left turn to hit the expressway NH58.
#Road from Miranpur to Khatauli is good.Though it was dark, there was movement of some motorcycles and jeeps on this road.
# To our delight, we found Cheetal grand outlet at the junction of Khatauli road and NH58. After a cup of warm coffee and some snacks, we started on NH 58 towards Delhi. It was around seven fifteen in the evening.
# Muradnagar and its neighbouring cousins were surprisingly free of traffic snarls and we zipped through these places. Maybe, saturday evening and india-australia match played a part.
# We reached Noida Home at 09:15 PM after dropping bro-in-law at indirapuram.

Distance between Lansdowne & Noida Sector 61 was 256 kms. via Khatauli.

One correction,
Inside Bijnore, while returning from Lansdowne, a RIGHT turn is to be taken from a prominent chowk which has proper road signages.

After retracing the same route which we took while going, we reached Bijnore. The bypass cut was missed and we went inside the town. Luckily for us, this route inside town involved just one right turn and was without traffic jams.

[ank.nsit]

Originally Posted by mkbksc

Around 30 kms from bijnore, on the outskirts of najibabad, there is a hp petrol pump and a canal that crosses NH119. Take a right turn from the petrol pump and move along the canal to hit the Najibabad-Moradabad road.

Hi, I will be travelling to Lansdowne this weekend.

Can you please confirm if this right turn is the Najibabad Bypass road?

[mkbksc]

I am not sure if this is the najibabad bypass. After travelling for 6-7 kms along the canal, you take a left turn on the najibabad moradabad road. You touch the town again but it looks like the outskirts of the town.

I spoke to someone who happened to go inside the town, i.e. did not take the right turn at the canal.He wasted 90 minutes inside the town because of the traffic jam on account of an under construction flyover.

[DCEite]

Hi All,

We will be travelling to Lansdowne in mid of April.
This is the first time we are travelling to Lansdowne.

Google throws up following route (Muradnagar/Meerut bypass/Khatauli/Miranpur/Bijnor/Najibabad/Kotdwara/Lansdowne):
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/In...29.8377457!3e0

Some queries:

1) Is this above route the most optimal and "safest" one? (since we would be travelling with an infant 1.5 yrs)

2) Any decent eating places in between?

3) Any other tips?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Hi All,

We will be travelling to Lansdowne in mid of April.
This is the first time we are travelling to Lansdowne.

Google throws up following route (Muradnagar/Meerut bypass/Khatauli/Miranpur/Bijnor/Najibabad/Kotdwara/Lansdowne):
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/In...29.8377457!3e0

Some queries:

1) Is this above route the most optimal and "safest" one? (since we would be travelling with an infant 1.5 yrs)

2) Any decent eating places in between?

3) Any other tips?

Can tell you till Bijnore from Noida/Delhi.

Take the Meerut bypass and use the toll road to reach Muzaffarnagar. You can stop at Midway, some 10-12 kms before Muzaffarnagar and this place has Haldiram, McDonalds, Subway, Coast Coffee etc etc.

On Muzaffarnagar bypass, keep watch for small boards pointing towards jansath take the right towards (under the flyover) and in 20-25 odd Kms you will reach Miranpur. From there it joins the road coming from meerut to Bijnore. Prominent signage you will not miss.

At Bijnore, take bypass and exit towards Najibabad road . Even if you miss the bypass, Bijnore is small town and need not worry. Just ask and you will get around.

NOTE: The meerut bypass road is a bit long but will be safest & least crowded. The road between Ghaziabad/Meerut is horrible and Between Muzaffarnagar to Miranpur is ok-ok. Good in patches and bad in some. It's a state highway.

I did Noida/Bijnore just few weeks back and this is the route I took. Much better than Meerut traffic.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by khan_sultan

Can tell you till Bijnore from Noida/Delhi.

Take the Meerut bypass and use the toll road to reach Muzaffarnagar. You can stop at Midway, some 10-12 kms before Muzaffarnagar and this place has Haldiram, McDonalds, Subway, Coast Coffee etc etc.

On Muzaffarnagar bypass, keep watch for small boards pointing towards jansath take the right towards (under the flyover) and in 20-25 odd Kms you will reach Miranpur. From there it joins the road coming from meerut to Bijnore. Prominent signage you will not miss.

At Bijnore, take bypass and exit towards Najibabad road . Even if you miss the bypass, Bijnore is small town and need not worry. Just ask and you will get around.

NOTE: The meerut bypass road is a bit long but will be safest & least crowded. The road between Ghaziabad/Meerut is horrible and Between Muzaffarnagar to Miranpur is ok-ok. Good in patches and bad in some. It's a state highway.

I did Noida/Bijnore just few weeks back and this is the route I took. Much better than Meerut traffic.

Thanks Khan_Sultan,


A small doubt:

Why not take right turn from Khatauli towards Khatauli-Miranpur road and reach Miranpur directly instead of going to Muzaffarnagar and coming back?

[khan_sultan]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Thanks Khan_Sultan,


A small doubt:

Why not take right turn from Khatauli towards Khatauli-Miranpur road and reach Miranpur directly instead of going to Muzaffarnagar and coming back?

The midway food/eating joint :-)

Plus the road is a tolled highway till that turn off from Muzaffarnagar bypass to Jansath. A bit longer but better roads.

Not sure of the road quality between Khatauli-Jansath.

[Aum]

Hi,
Planning a trip to Lansdowne from Delhi coming weekend. Any suggestion for stay options and route to take would be highly appreciated. Also how many days should be enough for Lansdown?

[mayankk]

Anyone has any current updates about the road conditions now from Delhi to lansdowne,and suggestions?

[akp666]

Hey Team BHP Fam,

Planning a trip to Lansdowne in the end of June. Does anyone have an update on the current route situation?

Is the route highlighted in blue in the link better or should I take the NH9 route via Hapur?

https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Ja...377457!3e0!5i1

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by akp666

Hey Team BHP Fam,

Planning a trip to Lansdowne in the end of June. Does anyone have an update on the current route situation?

Route is good, but if you can,look for another destination. The place has gone to the dogs with huge numbers visiting. With the current holiday season, you are guaranteed to be met with even more. I'd suggest kasauli/chail, but only drive down on a weekday. On weekends, the same holiday season means the thousands heading to Shimla throttle the road.

[akp666]

Originally Posted by mayankk

Route is good, but if you can....thousands heading to Shimla throttle the road.

I know man, and given a choice I would have skipped landsdowne specially on a weekend, but my grandparents who have visited this place for so many years want to visit again, they have a special bond with Landsdowne and I just dont have the heart to say no.

Plus I am going on the eid weekend, and I am prepared for the "aam junta"

Planning on leaving from Delhi my 4-5 am to get a headstart on everyone else. Thank you for the route advise, ill stick to the one with meerut pauri via khatauli

[ChupaRustam]

Our family went to Lansdowne couple of weeks ago over the 3 day weekend. Sharing my experience

Route: Delhi Dwarka-Ghaziabad-Modinagar-Meerut Bypass-Khatauli-Bijnor-Najibabad-Kotdwara-Lansdowne
- It took us 10 hours to get there. We started 5 AM from Dwarka and reached GMVN Tip n Top at 3:30. We had stopped couple of times for net 1 hour. But most of delay was due to landslides blocking the roads in hills.
- Till Kotdwara: Road is either good or average. Its mostly multi-lane highway with meridian till Khatauli. After that its mostly 1-2 lane road, with speed mostly between 40-80 kmph due to potholes, bullock carts, some people sitting on the road, etc. We crossed Kotdwara about 12 PM.
- Kotdwara to Lansdowne is hilly area. In normal weather seasons it should not be very hard to drive for any vehicle. However, in monsoon, route becomes very bad due to rains as there are many landslides. My Ciaz got slightly scraped a couple of times. We ended up waiting on 3 occasions waiting while JCBs were clearing the rocks and soil on the road because of just 2 days rains. Just this waiting took about 3 hours.
- Some taxi drivers told us that people were stuck on hill road till midnight on the previous day due to landslide.
- On return left at 8 AM and took the same route. It took us 11 hours this time, due to heavy fog in Lansdowne and crazy traffic jams in Ghaziabad, besides the 1 hour lunch break. About half an hour was also lost due to traffic in Khatauli. I think most of the traffic was due to Rakhi vacation. Before leaving we had double checked with hotel that there had been no rains on previous night and forecast of clear weather till 9 AM.

Stay
Lansdowne is indeed very beautiful. It is a proper hill station in every sense. I mean places like Musoorie and Mahabaleshwar have become so crowded that personally to me they don't feel like a hill station anymore. Lansdowne is pretty serene and laidback in comparison. There is very little commercialization.
- We stayed at GMVN Tip n top which is right at the tip of the mountain. One has to book in advance, but I will highly recommend the hotel to the extent of suggesting not to stay in any other hotel if possible. Tip n top is itself a view point 2 mins walk from the hotel. We went there 3-4 times during different times of the day to enjoy the views at various times. Particularly amazing was looking at clouds floating over the mountains, sort of falling into the valley.
- The hotel had all facilities. It seems our government has spent a lot of money in building the hotel. The wooden cottages were amazing like the way they show in movies. Each "room" is a separate cottage separated from other cottages. I felt as if I was staying in my own house in the woods.
- Food was OK, containing typical Indian menu at reasonable prices. Somewhat like what we would see at a good dhaba. It was tasty. I particularly loved Kadhai paneer. I also liked pahari dishes (needed advance notice). For non-veg: sometimes they have right away but other times they don't. Its best to tell them couple hours in advance to be sure you get what you want.
- For common folks (non govt. people): Staff experience is average. Some staff clothes were hanging for drying on the back of cafeteria. Room service was somewhat slow. Cafeteria is nicely built with vitrified tiles etc. But food is served on plastic table/chairs. Staff keeps watching TV and you have to get up and go to them if you need anything.
- For govt employees (babus): staff will go all lengths to look after you. E.g. they will put table clothes on the table. One guy will stand right there at all times if you need anything. He will even hold tissue paper stand so that you don’t need to stretch yourself. I would say that the staff is local folks with very humble nature and it feels that they have been ordered to pay special attention to babus.

What I liked - 2 things in Lansdowne
1) Do nothing. Just sit back and relax in/near hotel. Enjoying the weather and natural beauty. The moss covered pathways and rocks, old trees, beautiful bushes, mountain slopes, misty valleys. Sometimes I would just sit on grass on a slope, put my gogs and just look into horizon. The list can go on and on. I did enjoy having tea/snacks while doing nothing.
2) Just walk around. From hotel, we walked on the road for few hundred meters and then got on isolated moss-filled trails which seemed to have been pretty much untouched for years. They passed through cliffs, mountain edges, dense trees and what not. Sometimes we would drive a few hundred meters and then get down at a wide spot and just look around. On many places I could see into lush green mountains dozens of miles into the horizon. Somehow we ended up on Santoshi mata mandir and saw that many people were taking the concrete route/steps to come to the mandir. We came down to road using that concrete route, but I feel that the trail we took was a much more enchanting experience than the concrete path. And we had 4 year kid with us all the time.
- We really enjoyed the sunset from one of the spots. With sunlight peeking through the middle of the tree-trunks and light reflecting from the mist of leaves. Truly relaxing and inspiring.

What I didn’t like
- Most of the designated/advertised "tourist spots" were pretty average and probably promoted mainly by people in tourism industry. E.g. I found that the view from the designated "sunset point" - which was actually pretty much on the road - was quite average compared to many undesignated points that I just happened to walk into and see the sunset. I guess tourist guides typically use the ploy of promising to cover lot of tourist points to customers.
End notes
- Check with hotel if it is safe to travel before you leave as rains can play havoc to the route. Couple of people had died in landslides on previous night in the region.
- Monsoon is the worst time to travel to Lansdowne, unless you are willing to get stuck for hours on mountains due to landslides. I think we were lucky that we got stuck only for 3 hours.
- Driving down is still the best way to reach there. There are many places with breathtaking views on the way also. You will get really confused where to get down and enjoy the views. Even the place where we waited while JCB were clearing the rocks had awesome views.
- Don’t run after covering all tourist spots. Rather relax and enjoy the views. Just walk around to find them. Also, don’t be in a hurry.
- Take the less taken paths. I loved walking on moss-covered paths.
- carry some water on the hills. There are very few shops outside the town center, which itself is a few hundred meters big.
- For a place to do nothing, it’s hard to say how long a stay is enough. I would say keep one full day stay there – so at least 2 nights should be minimum.
- There were some rowdy tourists who came Saturday afternoon and left Sunday noon. All the while they were just being noisy and were complaining that there is nothing. I feel they were missing the whole point. Some also misbehaved with the staff, threw garbage around and dropped leftovers at tourists spots. I understand thay had kids with them but that is no excuse to be such a disgusting guest. My request to readers of this forum: please don’t be one of them