It was August, my birthday month and just like the last year, we decided not to travel anywhere for the sake of our safety. But it was too hard to not think about the mountains and the beaches, the travel craving was at its peak. Surprisingly, this time even Nemit was missing the travel too much, he kept asking us when we will go on a vacation. And, we kept ignoring our inner voice until we could no longer control it. And, finally, we decided to keep all our fears aside and planned this family road trip from Delhi to Lansdowne.

However, this time the planning was next level and we had only 3 days to finalise everything.

Hello friends, welcome back to my blog. If you have been following us for quite some time now then you know that our travels are mostly to the less explored, quiet, and peaceful destinations. We try to avoid crowded tourist destinations as much as possible since that is not our style of travelling.

And, this time again we chose the destination which is not too famous among the tourists.

Planning for The Trip

The moment we decided to travel, we had to choose the destination. The beaches or the hills?

Since we felt we were not yet ready to resume air travel, we chose the hills. Next question was, Himachal or Uttarakhand?

Check out – Weekend Getaway from Delhi? Where to go, Himachal or Uttarakhand?

And, because we had only the weekend with us, we wanted to visit a nearby hill station.

By the evening, we zeroed upon two places where we could go, Rishikesh or Lansdowne?

I don’t have much experience of driving in the mountains but both Rishikesh and Lansdowne are known to me. We visited Rishikesh in 2019 and I drove to Lansdowne with my parents in 2013. So, now the final decision had to be made based on the place we like for our stay.

Check out our Rishikesh Road Trip Vlog from 2019, here-

Where to Stay?

We wanted to be very careful while booking the place to stay. Even though the coronavirus cases have drastically reduced in numbers, we still can’t take the risk. So, our best bet was to look for Airbnb properties like cottages with a bedroom, hall, and kitchen.

Check out – Why You Should Book an Airbnb when Traveling with Kids?

We didn’t like the Airbnb properties in Rishikesh, the ones we liked were out of our budget. So we called the resort where we stayed the last time. There the manager told us that weekend is not the right time to visit as it gets a bit crowded. Even that resort was fully booked for the weekend. We took the cue and dropped Rishikesh from our list.

It was Wednesday morning, I was sitting with Nemit for his online class. While he was busy doing his work, I was busy scrolling through the Airbnb app. And, just then I found this beautiful property by the name Blue Pine Orchards, 30 mins from Lansdowne. It looked really good. They had private 2 bedroom studio villas with a front yard. And, from the pictures, it looked perfect, just what we were looking for.

We booked it!

Source – Blue Pine Orchards

One tip – You may avoid booking through the 3rd party websites if you are looking for some discount. You can call the property first, and talk to the senior personnel, there are high chances they will offer you a good discount for booking directly.

Travel Guidelines to Visit Uttarakhand

Most asked question – Is the RT-PCR report mandatory for travel? Yes!

Before traveling to any place, do check the travel guidelines of that state. When we checked it was mandatory to carry a travel e-pass, vaccination certificate, or the RT-PCR negative report along with the hotel booking receipt.

All these documents were checked at the border and our details were registered. It took around 15-20 mins for the whole procedure at the check post.

Source – euttaranchal

The day we booked the hotel, we went for our RT-PCR test, the test was not mandatory for the kid. After that, we were just hoping that we get our negative report by the next day so that we could start our packing.

All our stars were in favour of this trip, we got the report within 12 hrs and we spent our Thursday packing our bags and daydreaming about the mountains & the pine trees.

Preparing for the Road Trip – Delhi to Lansdowne

No matter where you are travelling to, when you have kid/s with you, plan everything very carefully. I want to talk about packing for kids here.

• Always pack warm clothes even if the temperature shows not too cold. Go prepared.
• Always carry an umbrella and raincoat. The weather in the mountains is quite unpredictable.
• Carry a lot of dry snacks for munching on the go.
• During the road trips, we usually pack sandwiches and masala idlis, favourite of our son.
• Don’t forget to pack your child’s favourite toy.
• The car seat is a must for the safety of your child.

Check out – 5 Simple Packing Hacks for Traveling with Kids.

PIN IT!

Delhi to Lansdowne – The Trip Begins

It was Friday morning, surprisingly that day we woke up even before the alarm. Our bags were ready, all our documents in place, the food was packed and we were all set to go on a road trip from Delhi to Lansdowne. We started at 6.30 am from Noida and reached our destination at 2.30 pm. We took 2 long breaks only after crossing Kotdwar. Since it was raining the whole night and some of the road patches were not in good shape, we wanted to cover most of the distance without stopping. Thankfully, our son, Nemit didn’t make any fuss this time, he was totally enjoying the road trip.

This is the route we followed-

Noida – Meerut – Bijnor – Najibabad – Kotdwar – Lansdowne – Chundai (Blue Pine Orchards)

Source – Google Maps

When it comes to hill stations, not many tourists prefer visiting Lansdowne probably because it’s not that commercialised and there are not many things to do here.

But if you prefer quiet, serene, and peaceful surroundings with not many tourists around then Lansdowne is a perfect place for you. It offers an unspoiled beauty to its visitors.

And, if you want to show your children how it feels to be closer to nature, then nothing can beat this place.

Check out our Day 1 Lansdowne Vlog here –

One Request– Avoid going to any hill station during monsoons especially when you are travelling with kids.

Lansdowne is still the safest of all hill stations during the rainy season.

We travelled in the last week of August. Usually, the rains stop by this time. But this year we can clearly see the impact of climate change since we are getting more than normal rainfall in the Northern regions. And the day of our travel we got to know that it will be raining heavily for the next 3 days.

Though there were small landslides at few places around Lansdowne the roads were still accessible. Mainly because this area is maintained by the army.

Luckily, we didn’t face any problem during our trip and there were only light showers which in fact enhanced the beauty of the place and made it more scenic.

Check out – 26 Best Tips for Traveling with Kids.

That’s all for this travel blog – Delhi to Lansdowne Road Trip. See you next time!

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My theme for #MyFriendAlexa is All under one roof called Parenting. And, this is my second post under the category Travel #TravelingWithKids.

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Whenever the summer heat gets unbearable all I dream of is escaping to the beautiful hills. We, North Indians are in so much love with nearby hill stations that many of us refer these as our summer home. We are soon going to enter the hottest months of this season. And all I can hear is the buzz around for planning a perfect weekend getaway from Delhi.

In fact, we are also in the vacation planning mode for the next month. It’s been 3 months since our last holiday. And, now we badly need a quick escape from all the city chaos and stress to recharge our mind & body. The other day I was discussing the options for a weekend trip with my husband. And, we were shortlisting the places we could consider for our little getaway.

But this time we ended up in an argument on where to go. And, this has happened for the first time that we were having clashing ideas for shortlisting a destination. I want to explore some new place in Himachal Pradesh this time whereas hubby dearest has his heart in Uttarakhand.

I reminded him of our last couple of hill vacations in Uttarakhand. To which he refreshed my memory of visiting Manali on last New Year’s Eve. Ok, but I don’t think that counts. It was too cold and we could not explore Manali at that time.

Where to go on a Weekend Family Trip? Himachal or Uttarakhand?

It’s not that I don’t like Uttarakhand, it is as dearest to me as Himachal. But Himachal is more lively and is full of adventures. I mean if I think of it now, I feel the choice of place depends on what kind of vacation you are looking for. As you know, I am a die-hard adventure lover and that’s my biggest calling while deciding a place to visit.

Pic from our Trip to Kausani

Sumit is also an adventure enthusiast but this time he’s looking for a leisure trip. And, he successfully convinced me for another weekend getaway from Delhi to Uttarakhand. I agreed only on one condition that we will stay at an Airbnb like our last family trip to Mukteshwar. I will be revealing the place in my Instagram stories next week so catch me there for all the fun.

Our weekend getaway is almost sorted. But if you are still confused about whether to go to Himachal or visit the unexplored Uttarakhand, check out the below points.

Pic from our Manali Trip in Himachal

• Why choose Himachal Pradesh as a perfect weekend getaway?

1- Himachal is undoubtedly a more developed state as compared to Uttarakhand with better infrastructure.

2- It is also the preferred choice of tourists due to the many facilities it offers to them.

3- The roads are much better from Delhi to Himachal as compared to roads leading to Uttarakhand.

4- Huge adventure opportunities for tourists of all ages.

5- There’s a wide variety of stay options in Himachal as compared to Uttarakhand.

Pic from our Mukteshwar Trip in Uttarakhand

• Why choose Uttarakhand as a perfect weekend getaway?

1- Uttarakhand is more serene and peaceful. It is an explorers delight as not many tourists are seen in this part.

2- People of Uttarakhand are extremely helpful & friendly.

3- Their hospitability is beyond comparison. They can go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.

4- Many hill stations are not yet commercialized & offers an unspoiled beauty to its visitors.

5- Garhwal and Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand are known to be the safest places in India. Hence, a perfect getaway option for solo travelers and families.

You may also read – Weekend Getaway to Kausani in Uttarakhand!

I hope I cleared up some confusion about where to go this summer holidays. So, what are your plans for a weekend getaway with the family? Do share with me in the comments below.

That’s all for now, see you guys tomorrow with another travel related post.

Today is Day 23 of #BlogchatterA2Z and the letter of the day is ‘W’. My theme for the challenge is ‘Traveling with kids’ & I have chosen W for Weekend Getaway. 

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You may read all my posts under BlogchatterA2Z here!

Reference – https://www.quora.com/Which-is-a-better-state-Himachal-Pradesh-or-Uttarakhand

The post Weekend Getaway from Delhi? Where to go, Himachal or Uttarakhand? appeared first on Growing With Nemit.

Hey guys, many of you know that we took a weekend trip recently, to Kausani, which is a beautiful hill station in Uttarakhand. And, if you have followed my stories on Instagram and Facebook, you have a fair idea of how much we enjoyed and what all we did during our weekend getaway. And if not, you can still check out those stories on my Instagram in Highlights – Travel.

This post is part of the blog train where 24 awe-inspiring bloggers are going to share their story of ‘Summer’. Hop on the train to read some amazing blogs. Today is Day 1 of the blog train and my topic is ‘Summer Weekend Trip to Kausani’. And in this post, I am going to share my first-hand experience of an unplanned weekend getaway. I hope to provide as much information as I can to help you plan your trip.

Hosted By: Neha Sharma

This trip was a sudden plan, and we finalized everything in just one day. We wanted to go on a road trip in our own car to some nearby hill stations like Lansdowne, Shimla, or Mussoorie and spend a couple of days there. However, due to our last minute planning, we couldn’t find a satisfactory place to stay. Of course, we were going on a leisure trip, and we wanted a place close to nature, away from the hustle and bustle of the city. A place where we could feel like resting in the lap of nature with no distracting noises around us.

Morning Family Selfie on the way

You may also want to read Road Trip & Car Safety – Things you must know when traveling with kids!

We got the shock of our life when we couldn’t find a single decent hotel for our stay. Every hotel/resort we were checking was full. I feel that’s the saddest part of living in Delhi/NCR since every other person is planning a weekend trip to the nearby hills in summer. Now, we had to decide on a new place and it was then when my hubby, mentioned this hill station, Kausani, which is also known as the ‘Switzerland of India‘.

Image Source – Wikipedia

I searched on google frantically about this place and was mesmerized by its beauty. The next thing I remember was, Sumit booking a cab and a hotel for us. Ya, we had to travel by cab, since Kausani is quite far from Noida, 393 Km, and 10 hrs, to be precise.

Kausani is famous for its scenic splendour and its spectacular 300 Km-wide panoramic view of Himalayan peaks

-Wikipedia

Due to the lack of information, not many people know about this place. Also, it’s quite far from Delhi, hence, it’s not at all populated with tourists. And this is exactly what we wanted.

You may also read  – How to travel with pets!

Best Time to Visit Kausani –  Summer (March to June)

Summer months in Kausani starts from March and go on till June. And the temperature during these can range from 11 degrees to 28 degrees Celsius, which is quite pleasant. If you are visiting in June, you can also get to experience pre-monsoon showers. It’s always better to pack some light woollens if traveling to any hill station even in Summer months. You never know when the weather changes on the hillside.

On the way fun

How to Reach Kausani from Delhi NCR?

Car – Hire a cab or drive yourself, it can take up to 12 hours to reach there.

Train – The nearest train station is Kathgodam near Nainital and from there you can take a cab or bus for a further journey of 4 hours to Kausani.

Air – The nearest airport to Kausani is Pantnagar. Book a flight from anywhere to Pantnagar and take a cab for your further journey.

Our Weekend in Kausani

We visited Kausani in the last week of May and it took us around 12 hrs to reach our destination. We started in the morning around 5 am and made 2 stops of an hour each, one for breakfast and the other one for lunch. Our 1st stop was near Jim Corbett National Park and the other one was at Ranikhet. After reaching the hotel, we spent the rest of our evening at leisure, basking in the beauty of the surroundings.

Pitstop at Doaba’s Punjabi Dhaba near Jim Corbett National Park

I would suggest if possible start early and reach Kausani by 3-4 pm. This will give you ample time to rest and freshen up and get ready to enjoy the evening. Also, you will not feel as if you have wasted your day just traveling.

Route we followed

Source – Google Maps

Noida -> Ghaziabad -> Hapur -> Moradabad -> Kashipur -> Ramnagar -> Ranikhet -> Kausani

Kausani -> Almora -> Bhimtal -> Nainital -> Bazpur -> Moradabad -> Hapur -> Noida

This way we covered all the other nearby famous places like Ranikhet, Almora, Bhimtal and Nanital.

Where to Stay?

There are many beautiful hotels and resorts in and around Kausani. You can search on Google and book them directly by calling on the numbers provided. However, we like to check and compare the prices on various sites before booking. And then opt for the one which is as per our requirements and also comes under our budget.

Hotel Chevron Mountain Villa (Source – Google)

We booked a deluxe room for 2 nights at Hotel Chevron Mountain Villa, which is a beautiful property at a great location and one can have a direct view of the majestic peaks of the Himalayas from there. It not just offers a serene view of the surroundings but is also close by nature, a little far away from the marketplace. One more reason to choose this hotel was the beautiful lawn and a play area within the premises so that Nemit could enjoy freely.

Our Ratings

Location – * * * *
Food –  * * * * *
Service – * * * * *
Value for money – * * * *
Rooms – * * *

How we spent our first day in Kausani?

We wanted to keep our stay at leisure since we had just one day to relax and enjoy. So, we decided to stay at the hotel and just laze around. When we reached the hotel at around 5 pm, we didn’t go to our room, instead, we checked out the property and took Nemit to the play area. He was so happy to finally have something of his interest, I know he was clearly bored in the cab.

Nemit enjoying the swing in the play area

And, he met some people there who definitely had a good time looking at his mischievous stunts.

Nemit having a good time with a new friend we met at the hotel

The next day morning, we went for a nature walk, strolling a few km uphill from the hotel. The weather was pleasant and the morning view of the Himalayan peaks was breathtaking. We had a fun morning and spent an hour exploring the nearby beautiful flora and fauna. There was a small tea garden nearby and we tried to get some Bollywood style pictures standing in the center of the garden. However, it was a little difficult to try some stunts with Nemit. We managed to get a few good shots though.

Sunrise from our room – Taking a shortcut – Nature Walk – Beautiful flora on the way

While on our way back, we saw a mother Langur (black face monkey) with her little baby, playing on a roadside tree. We had to wait for some time as we were terrified to cross that path, it was completely deserted and we had no idea how that monkey would have reacted to us. Luckily, we met a local there, who helped us reach back to the hotel safe and sound. That experience was thrilling, you don’t get to see such encounters in the city, right?

After returning back to the hotel, we had a scrumptious breakfast, sitting on the lawn overlooking the serene view of the peaks. We spent the rest of the day at leisure, played badminton and carom, relived our childhood with Nemit. It was so much fun just running around with Nemit and doing nothing. Check out this small video.

The weather took a sudden twirl post-lunch and it started drizzling. As the day progressed, the wind became chilly. We had packed our winter jackets and it was the right time to take them out. And then we decided to go out to the market area, enjoy the weather and have some more fun.

I will continue further in my next post where I will share the things we did at the main Kausani market. Stay tuned as I will also be sharing my experience of watching the planets live at the Kausani Planetarium. And our adventure in Nainital. I hope you enjoyed reading until here and have already started planning your weekend trip to Kausani.

And now, it’s time to move on to the next station where Priyanka Patwari will share her take on the theme ‘Summer’ on her blog Flavors of World. Visit her blog and show some love.

Lastly, do comment below and let me know how you liked this post. Don’t forget to share the post and spread the love, with your friends and family. Sharing is Caring! Till next time, take care.

The post Plan a Summer Weekend Getaway to Kausani appeared first on Growing With Nemit.