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Old 18th March 2009, 22:47   #1
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Delhi-Hardwar route info (& other details)

Planning to go with family on one of the next weekends. I've never been there before, in fact never been on that highway ever, okay may be until Ghaziabad (I think Hardwar is in that direction, right?) but never beyond.

My queries:

1. Best route to follow?
2. Distance?
3. Time taken?
4. Road condition?
5. Any point to be avoided along the route?
6. Once you reach Hardwar, are there sufficient parking lots? How far/close are they from the bathing ghats?
7. Anything to be avoided at all cost once you are there?
8. Anything to be compulsorily done at all cost once you are there?
9. Any must see/do/bring back/take to?
10. Is overnight stay essential/advisable? Any good hotels?

I think I should avoid going there during the navratras, right? Is there otherwise always a rush? Any/all tips & tricks are welcome. Is Rishikesh doable in this trip if you have only a Saturday & a Sunday?
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Old 18th March 2009, 23:17   #2
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I think meerut-muzaffarnagar-Roorke is the only choice unless you have lots of time.

Roads condition is bad and no divider, so you have to be very careful.

Meerut bypass is in bad condition with diversion without any notice board.

if you start early, around 5 AM you can reach haridwar by 9 AM, Parking is not a problem.

The must avoid are those pandits sitting on the ghats, once you are trapped, they will do all kind of puja for you by making you emotional and will fleece money.

aloo, puree, halwa is must must. Mansa devi and chandi devi trip by rope way is good experience.Attend the aarti at night, one of the experience.

As you are travelling for the first time, I suggest you stay there overnight. There are abundant of hotels in Haridwar


Quote:
Originally Posted by kkdelhi View Post
1. Best route to follow?
2. Distance?
3. Time taken?
4. Road condition?
5. Any point to be avoided along the route?
6. Once you reach Hardwar, are there sufficient parking lots? How far/close are they from the bathing ghats?
7. Anything to be avoided at all cost once you are there?
8. Anything to be compulsorily done at all cost once you are there?
9. Any must see/do/bring back/take to?
10. Is overnight stay essential/advisable? Any good hotels?

I think I should avoid going there during the navratras, right? Is there otherwise always a rush? Any/all tips & tricks are welcome. Is Rishikesh doable in this trip if you have only a Saturday & a Sunday?
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Old 19th March 2009, 03:24   #3
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answers in bold

My queries:

1. Best route to follow?
ghaziabad-modinagar-meerut-muzzafarnagar-roorkee


2. Distance?
240kms from vikas puri

3. Time taken?
a little more than 5 hours

4. Road condition?
not that good. they are making a 4 lane highway. so alot of diversions with some nice long smooth tarmac.

6. Once you reach Hardwar, are there sufficient parking lots? How far/close are they from the bathing ghats?
next to the ghats only, but are pretty much full. road at har ki pauri have been dug up for water lines. so avoid going in with your car.

10. Is overnight stay essential/advisable? Any good hotels?
overnight stay is advisable. hotel alaknanda is there next to the ghats in the narrow market lane at the ghats. some hotels are there before getting into the city with parking

I think I should avoid going there during the navratras, right? Is there otherwise always a rush? Any/all tips & tricks are welcome. Is Rishikesh doable in this trip if you have only a Saturday & a Sunday?
skip the navratri rush if possible. and rishikesh is not that far. doable if you leave early morning on saturday.

Last edited by white_vdi : 19th March 2009 at 03:26.
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Old 19th March 2009, 20:03   #4
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Okay, so 240 kms it will be for me too.

How far will the Har-ki-paudi or the bathing ghats be from the hotels with the parking facilities? Any particular ones recommended? The distance from hotel to ghats can be covered in auto or on foot?

Would you suggest going all the way to Rishikesh first, then coming back to Hardwar by evening to attend the recommended aarti? Then staying for the night at Hardwar? What would you suggest doing at Rishikesh?

Any good place to take a break on the highway?
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Old 19th March 2009, 20:57   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kkdelhi View Post
(I think Hardwar is in that direction, right?)
1. Best route to follow?
4. Road condition?
5. Any point to be avoided along the route?
10. Is overnight stay essential/advisable? Any good hotels?
Is Rishikesh doable in this trip if you have only a Saturday & a Sunday?
Yes - Hardwar is along the NH-58, via Meerut.
If you plan to leave Delhi by 5/5:30 AM, use the highway, via Meerut bypass, as other members have told you. If you leave after 6:30AM, take a small detour:
>>> follow the NH58 from Ghaziabad to Muradnagar
>>> once you cross Muradnagar, look out for the Ganga canal
>>> cross the bridge over the canal (there's a busy dhaba to your right hand side)
>>> immediately after the bridge, turn left ALONG the canal - it's a fairly narrow road
>>> follow this road for about 65 km, till you meet the NH58 again north of Khatauli, near the Cheetal Grand Hotel.

This route has far less traffic, and no truck traffic. You also avoid the traffic jam on Meerut bypass where the flyovers are being constructed, as well as the traffic in Modinagar, Modipuram, Khatauli etc. But keep off this road after nightfal(unsafe).

You can stay overnight at any hotel as per your budget, at Hardwar or Rishikesh. Rishikesh is 25 km from Hardwar, so where's your problem in not being able to cover Rishikesh?

On the return journey, get out of Hardwar by 4:30PM - you want to cross the Muzaffarnagar bypass by 6:30PM/7PM - after that time I would not advise you to be on that road for safety's sake. The return journey in the evening (if you leave Hardwar around 4PM) will take you 7 hours or more. Don't be deceived by the fact that you could make it to Hardwar in 5 hours in the morning. I've reached Rishikesh in less than 4 hours (250km) when I left home at 4AM, but I have taken over 9 hours to get back home too. It's just the huge amount of slow moving traffic on that highway that bogs you down.
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Old 19th March 2009, 21:20   #6
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some hotels are just next to the ghats and some at some distance. auto or rik will take you there.

yo can go to haridwar first, stay there and see the evening aarti. next day morning go to rishikesh and leave for delhi in the aftrnoon around 4. just a word of caution, traffic in ghaziabad in the evening is real bad! so dont get too late.
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Old 19th March 2009, 23:09   #7
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6. Once you reach Haridwar, are there sufficient parking lots? How far/close are they from the bathing ghats?
Yes a lot hotels and dharamshala's have their own parking. Going to Haridwar and taking a hotel room has never felt beneficial to me because , one roams around sightseeing Haridwar the whole day so only comes back to the room at night to sleep. There are a lot of good dharamshala's like one I remember is narsingh bhawan, just before Mansadevi ropeway, it is pretty well equiped and do check it out it offers A.C rooms and also has parking at a lower cost compared to hotels. If you want a hotel room I would say check out hotel ganga, it has its own private ghat. It is a little costly i think.

7. Anything to be avoided at all cost once you are there?
Absolutely avoid the panda's at the ghat, they literally become a pain in the you know what.

8. Anything to be compulsorily done at all cost once you are there?
When you go to Mansadevi Ropeway purchase the combined ticket, which includes fare for Mansadevi and Chandidevi Ropeway along with transportation by bus to Chandidevi Ropeway and back. It costs Rs165/- per person.Both the ropeways close around 6pm. The chandidevi ropeway only works with 50 people visiting the temple so the combined ticked is good.Be on the lookout for monkey's at both the temple's, waiting to snatch any and everything.

9. Any must see/do/bring back/take to?
Do visit both the temple's. Also watch the aarti of the river ganges, be there early at around 5.30pm reserve a good seat for yourself on the stairs, and wait for the aarti to begin at around 6pm.You can also visit Neelkanth temple in rishikhesh.

10. Is overnight stay essential/advisable? Any good hotels?
Overnight stay is advisable cause doing everything can be tiresome. Hotel's are there a plenty, but do checkout the dharamshala i told you. For breakfast Puri and bhotoora's at Mathura wala at the Har ki podi ghat are good and for lunch and dinner you can go to Hoshiyarpuri or Soni bhojanalya. Both are good.

i think that should help a little.
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Old 20th March 2009, 10:30   #8
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@kkdelhi : dont miss having the badam milk shake at cheetal grand

also the yummy parathas and choley at chotiwala ke restaurants(haridwar and rishikesh)

a must thing to do is ek pandit ki pitai(those guys are notorious man ,big time thiefs in the name of religion)

aur bhai ek dubki hamare naam ki bhi maar dena ganga maiya mein
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Old 21st March 2009, 15:47   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rajesh Rawal View Post
yummy parathas and choley at chotiwala ke restaurants(haridwar and rishikesh)
Wow, yes i just missed that, a must visit
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Old 22nd March 2009, 08:42   #10
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Other than pandits on the ghats, you will be accosted by uniformed people with 'chanda' books asking for donations to maintain the ganga. These are not really 'official' and go into private fund pockets.
Rishikesh is advisable to visit. If staying there, there is a KMVN/GMVN at Muni Ki Reti in Rishikesh. Huge rooms right on the river, not expensive...a whole different experience than crowded Haridwar.
The funniest thing I found in haridwar is that when you park your car there, guys come up to you with buckets offering to do a auspicious 'ganga snaan/religious cleansing' of your car...dont know if that takes the car performance to a 'higher plane'
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Old 22nd March 2009, 17:55   #11
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Must visit -

Chotiwala

Also make sure you atop at Cheetal Grand midway between delhi & Haridwar. Excellent food.
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Old 22nd March 2009, 18:06   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SS-Traveller View Post
>>> immediately after the bridge, turn left ALONG the canal - it's a fairly narrow road
>>> follow this road for about 65 km, till you meet the NH58 again north of Khatauli, near the Cheetal Grand Hotel.
+1.. this 1 hr drive will save you 2 hrs!
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Old 22nd March 2009, 19:26   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by panky12345 View Post
+1.. this 1 hr drive will save you 2 hrs!
Dont take the canal road in the evening. You must exit the road by 6 PM.
Further this road runs along with the canal and is very narrow and canal is quite deep. So drive carefully at slow speed.

After you exit the canal road at Khatauli, cross the bridge towards Muzaffarnagar and go 200 yards. On the right hand side you will see Cheetal Grand, which is a good place for Breakfast or Lunch etc.

On the entire route, road manners are unheard of and people have a nasty temper, so dont get into any argument with anybody, even if they are wrong.
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Old 14th May 2009, 11:26   #14
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BUMP: I was planning on a haridwar trip, someone told me that the road conditions are real bad these days and it takes around 10 - 11 hrs to reach.

Can anyone confirm this?
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Old 14th May 2009, 12:39   #15
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Last I know someone took a trip that route was end-April. No bad road surfaces reported - but the traffic was bad indeed. Took him 7 hours to get from Hardwar to Ghaziabad.
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