Mussoorie & Auli Highlands

About this journey

This six-day route is our answer for travellers who want the Himalaya without a pilgrimage — no queues, no early-morning darshan, just two of the finest mountain towns in Uttarakhand and a great deal of very good driving between them. Mussoorie brings colonial-era charm, promenades and cloud-level views over the Doon Valley; Auli brings the raw article, with Nanda Devi filling the horizon from a meadow at 3,000 metres.

Mussoorie occupies the first stretch. The Mall Road in the late afternoon, the ropeway up Gun Hill for a 360-degree panorama, the level walk around Camel's Back Road at sunset, and — the part guests almost always say they liked best — the quiet cantonment of Landour above the town, where four roads meet at Char Dukan and Ruskin Bond has written for half a century. Kempty Falls is on the list if you want it, though we will usually steer you to the quieter Jharipani and Bhatta falls instead.

The drive from Mussoorie to Joshimath is long and it is the price of admission for what follows: down into the Doon Valley, across to the Alaknanda, then up through Devprayag, Rudraprayag and Chamoli with the river beside you the whole way. We break it sensibly, plan stops at the confluences where two rivers of different colours run side by side before merging, and get you into Joshimath with enough of the evening left to enjoy it. From there the Auli ropeway — 4.1 kilometres, among Asia's longest — does the climbing for you.

What Auli gives you depends entirely on when you come. From January to March it is India's best ski destination, with instructors, gear and slopes for absolute beginners as readily as for confident skiers. From April to June the snow is gone, the meadows are green and full of wildflowers, and the same view of Nanda Devi, Kamet and Trishul is available in warm light with a fraction of the people. We plan the ropeway and the meadow walks for early morning, since cloud in these valleys builds reliably from late morning onward.