Nainital
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Day five. The town everyone comes for.
The lake, the temple, the peaks and the zoo. Done early it is a good day. Done late it is a queue.
Everyone does Nainital, and most people do it badly by arriving at eleven. Go early, walk rather than queue for the ropeway, and be out before the afternoon crowd. The zoo is shut on Thursdays. Every distance below is the road distance from our gate, not from the previous stop.
Set out by five for sunrise
Naina Peak trek start
Three kilometres each way and about an hour and a half up through oak and pine to the highest point above Nainital at 2,615 metres. Steeper than the reviews claiming it is easy suggest. Most visitors never do it because taxi drivers only take you to what the car can reach.
Early, before the town wakes
Naina Devi Temple
On the northern edge of the lake, one of the Shakti Peethas, and the spiritual centre of Nainital. Free footwear counter at the entrance. Photography is not allowed in the sanctum. Go at opening or in the evening, never at midday.
Mid morning
Naini Lake and Mall Road
The lake and the shopping street everyone comes for. Rowing boats are about Rs 320 for half the lake. Thandi Sadak on the far side has no vehicles and three small temples, and is the better walk. Check the clock on paid boat rides, which reviewers say runs fast.
Only if the sky is clear
Nainital ropeway to Snow View
Cable car from Mallital up to Snow View, five minutes each way, ten people standing per cabin, and an hour allowed at the top. Queues are long in season. Reviewers are consistently critical of the maintenance and the crowding at the top, so go early or skip it and walk up instead.
Morning, for the peaks
Snow View Point
At 2,270 metres on the Sher Ka Danda ridge. Nanda Devi, Trishul and Nanda Kot on a clear day, and binoculars for about Rs 50. The view is partly blocked by shops and trees, which several reviewers complain about with some justification.
Late morning
Tiffin Top, or Dorothy's Seat
A 360 degree view over the town, the lake and the Kumaon hills at 2,300 metres. Approach from Sherwood or Ayar Jungle Camp rather than the mule route, which is unpleasant underfoot. The ticket counter does not open until about nine.
Golden hour
Lands End
A quiet viewpoint at the end of the Bara Patthar road, looking down over Khurpatal lake and out to the plains. A short level walk from the road head, far less visited than Tiffin Top, and at its best in the last hour of light. The drop beyond the rail is real, so keep hold of small children.
Afternoon, not Thursday
GB Pant High Altitude Zoo
Snow leopard, red panda, Himalayan black bear and Tibetan wolf, on a hillside thirty minutes uphill from Mall Road. Well kept and worth the ticket. Steep throughout, so it is hard going with very young children or elderly parents.
Sunset
Hanuman Garhi
Built by Neem Karoli Baba, the same saint as Kainchi Dham, with a twenty foot Hanuman. Fifteen to twenty minutes uphill on foot. The sunset from here is the one people remember. Watch your belongings, there are a great many monkeys.
Every drawing here is waiting for your photograph.
We have illustrated these places rather than borrowing pictures that are not ours. If you photograph one of them, send it to us. If we use it, your name goes underneath it and stays there. Each stop above has its own Send your photo button, which opens WhatsApp with the place already named so we know what we are looking at.