Travel style · Garhwal
Treks and walks in Garhwal
From an afternoon ridge walk to two weeks on foot
Day walks between villages, teahouse treks in Nepal, camping treks to high lakes and passes. We grade every walk by hours, height gain and the highest point, and pair you with licensed local guides and porters where the rules or the terrain call for them.
Photo: Vaibhav 369 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · CommonsTrekking in the Himalaya is mostly walking on old paths between villages, which means you can choose your comfort: teahouses in Nepal, homestays in Ladakh and Sikkim, tents where nobody lives.
Garhwal is the western half of Uttarakhand, where the Bhagirathi and Alaknanda rise and join to become the Ganga. Come for the Char Dham shrines, Valley of Flowers, Tungnath and Rishikesh. Go May–June or mid-September–October; avoid July road travel. A saver week by UTC bus and GMVN dorms costs about ₹2,000–3,000 a day.
Trips
Treks and walks trips in Garhwal
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Comfort
Kedarnath, Tungnath and Badrinath by car
Private car with driver
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Deoria Tal, Tungnath and Chandrashila
UTC and GMOU buses, shared jeeps and a shared taxi
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Valley of Flowers and Hemkund by bus
UTC and GMOU buses, shared jeeps and walking
7 places
Where to go
Photo: Vaibhav 369 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Auli & Joshimath
Ski slopes and meadows facing Nanda Devi, above Joshimath
Photo: Alok · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Chopta & Tungnath
Meadows, rhododendron forest and the highest Shiva temple
Photo: gbSk at Flickr · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Gangotri
The Ganga's temple town, and the trail to its glacier source
Photo: Sharmaprakharr · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kedarnath
The highest Jyotirlinga, a 16 km walk above Gaurikund
Photo: Paul Hamilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Mussoorie & Landour
A Raj-era ridge town, and the quiet cantonment above it
Photo: Original: Rohit Sharma Derivative work: Unpeti… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Valley of Flowers & Hemkund
A UNESCO hanging valley that blooms in the monsoon
Photo: Atarax42 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Yamunotri
The Yamuna's shrine, where rice cooks in a hot spring
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Vaibhav 369 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Learn to ski on the Auli slopes
Auli's main slope, with a chairlift and ski lift, is where most Indians learn to ski. Take a day lesson with a certifie…
Photo: Vaibhav78545 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Meadow walk to Gorson Bugyal
From the top of the Auli slope, a forest trail of about 3 km leads through oak and conifer to Gorson Bugyal, a wide alp…
Photo: Dinesh Valke from Thane, India · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Narsingh temple and Jyotirmath in Joshimath
Visit Joshimath's two sacred centres: the Narsingh temple, which keeps an image of Badrinath through the winter, and Jy…
Photo: AjitK332 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunrise climb to Tungnath and Chandrashila
A pre-dawn climb on the paved path from Chopta to Tungnath temple, then the steep last 1.5 km to Chandrashila, above 4,…
Photo: MMohanty · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Morning walk to Deoria Tal from Sari
A 2.5–3 km climb from Sari village to a forest-ringed lake at 2,438 m, where Chaukhamba reflects in still water early i…
Photo: Vvnataraj · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Birding for monal in Kedarnath sanctuary
Walk the forest edges and meadows around Chopta at dawn with a local birding guide to look for Himalayan monal, Uttarak…
Photo: Asish Das75 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Evening aarti on the Bhagirathi at Gangotri
Watch the evening aarti of the goddess Ganga at her temple and on the riverbank as the gorge falls into shadow, then wa…
Photo: gbSk at Flickr · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Trek to Gaumukh, the Gangotri Glacier snout
An 18 km trail inside Gangotri National Park from Gangotri via Chirbasa and Bhojbasa to Gaumukh, the ice cliff where th…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Original: Rohit Sharma Derivative work: Unpeti… · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
GMVN Tourist Rest House, Ghangaria
The state tourism corporation's rest house in Ghangaria, the base village for the Valley of Flowers and Hemkund Sa…
Photo: Paul Hamilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Mid
Rokeby Manor
A restored 1840s stone estate on the Landour ridge near Char Dukan and St Paul's Church, now a small heritage hote…
Photo: Paul Hamilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Mid
WelcomHeritage Kasmanda Palace
A white nineteenth-century mansion above the Mall Road, built in 1836 as part of the Christ Church complex and bou…
Photo: Paul Hamilton · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Luxury
JW Marriott Mussoorie Walnut Grove Resort & Spa
A large resort at Siya village on the Kempty Falls road, west of Mussoorie, with valley-view rooms and suites, a s…
Treks and walks elsewhere