Travelogue: My fantastic trip to fairyland hill station Lansdowne in Uttarakhand

New Delhi: Picturesque landscapes of Lansdowne compelled me to visit this fairyland hill station which is situated in Pauri Garhwal district in the state of Uttarakhand. Lansdowne (named after the then Viceroy of India, Lord Lansdowne in 1887), is a cantonment town at a height of 5597 feet (1,706 m) and is 45 km from Kotdwar. Day-1: Last year I visited the place from Delhi by road. I left in the early morning at 6 am and reached the place around 12 pm and stayed at a resort located on "Tip N Top" (top point in Lansdowne) owned by Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam Ltd (GMVN). After checking-in, in the afternoon, it was time to had lunch and after a quick nap, I was getting restless to explore the location. Because the place is quite small, so one does not have many places to explore. But whatever the places are, all are very beautiful. In the evening, my exploration drive started with a visit to Santoshi Mata temple which was half a km from the place of my stay. Then it was time to visit the small market of Lansdowne. It was 3 km from my resort so going by car was a better option. There were no malls or big shopping places in the market as the Lansdowne itself is a small town. By the time my trip to the market was almost complete, it was evening (around 6 pm). Completely tired, I decided to rush back to the hotel. What after that? Dinner and sound sleep! Day-2: My day started early as the plan was to visit "Sun Rise Point" which was just 500 meters from my location. However, it was a cloudy day so spotting the sun wasn't possible. Then around 9 am, visiting Saint Mary's church was a good option. (It was also around half km from the Tip N Top) The church is at a very beautiful location from where one can spot entire mountain range of Himalayas. After coming back, I decided to check-out from GMVN hotel and moved towards lower Lansdowne. But before that, visit to Bhulla Tal Lake and War Memorial was must as both were on way back to lower Lansdowne. By noon, around 2 pm, I reached lower Lansdowne (called Doggada). The place is blessed with a shallow, clean river in which one can relax his muscles. It is highly recommended that one must stay here for a night in order to enjoy the natural beauty. Having one night stay here, while one is surrounded by green mountains on both the sides and a river flowing close to the camp has its own pleasure. It will be good if you reach Doggada by afternoon so that you can enjoy your dusk. Next day at around 10 am I left back for Delhi. Image: Anurag Kumar

Preferable duration of stay: 2 nights Duration of journey by road: 6 hours Preferable mode of transportation: Bus/car Expenditure for a couple (depends on your pocket): Between Rs 8,000-12,000 Safety level: 5/5 (Very safe)  Points of interest: Mata Temple, Market, Saint Mary's church, Bhulla Tal Lake, War Memorial and Doggada campsite