Musoorie – Still the Queen of Hill Stations!

Mussoorie-Queen of Hill Stations

Yes it is true- the old saying that Mussoorie is the queen of hill stations in India still remains the fact. The serene quiet, the changing colors of mountain, soothing cool weather all work together to make your travel trip to Mussoorie a unique experience. To feel the ultimate experience of quiet and beautiful hill station Mussoorie, what you need to do is to give yourself some time- some time to see all over, some time to feel the unheard music that the mountains sing there. In short, you should go to enjoy hills there and not just to spend your weekend in Mussoorie! For this, you have to plan the trip to Mussoorie in just the right manner. How? I'll tell you- not to guide you but to explain it to you how I enjoyed the ultimate hill station of Uttaranchal in the most enjoyable way.

Prioritize Your Objectives About Your Trip to Mussoorie

Whether you have come here for sight seeing or for relaxing in the laps of Himalayas or to enjoy to the fullest. Your objective will determine what to do and how to go for it in Mussorie. Mind you, if you are going to Mussoorie for shopping, you rather drop the idea for that because what you'll get here you can get anywhere except the beauty of mountains!

Buransh Flowers

So, if you are in Mussoorie for sight seeing, you should just arrange for your stay in a hotel and do not at all worry about the mode of transportation for moving within Mussorrie. One of the best things that I saw in Mussoorie was the unity among the taxi drivers. There is this one taxi owners' association who controls the trips to the local sights of Mussoorie. You just have to leave the message at your hotel reception for calling a taxi and the taxi is sent by the association (the one whose number falls.) You cannot strike deal or bargain with any of the taxi drivers as they stick to the rates fixed by associations for package tours for local sight seeing. And they won't go without number.

Now you can select one of the local tour packages for each of your day's stay. ( for sight seeing two to three days stay is enough in Mussoorie.)Here is how we planned our Mussoorie Trip (you will get some details about the sights too- of course from my view point- you can feel totally different when you are there at the sight!)

Day 1 At Mussoorie

You can decide to see the local sights within Mussoorie on Day 1. We saw Yamuna Bridge, Kempty Falls, Santura Devi Temple, and Buddhist Temple on Day 1 of our stay in Mussoorie.

Yamuna River

Yamuna Bridge- A sight which has not yet lost its natural touch. It is sans crowd. Most of the people do not travel till Yamuna bridge but yes they miss a lot- a lot of “natural beauty” in Mussoorie. The Bridge in itself has nothing ubique about it but you can feel the very sweet sound of flowing Yamuna beneath it, you can see the clear water rolling over the little and big rocks and also the white froth that is formed when the flow of water is tried to be stopped by the rocks! Don't just see the river Yamuna from atop the bridge, go near it. There is a little canal like way for going near the river- dark and rocky- but you will enjoy seeing and feeling and touching the cold water after you reach there! You can enjoy tea and local biscuits at the roadside shops built in the houses of local people.

Kempty Falls- The most famous sight of Mussoorie- in fact, the representative picture of Mussoorie- seen everywhere. However, those who are in search of natural beauty of Kempty Falls might be a little disappointed- as it has been over commercialized. The Kempty Falls stands between the surrounding hotels, shops and other such commercial ventures. You can enjoy bathing here just like you do in the water parks. And for your information, you do not need to carry anything- you can hire clothes for bathing from the shops there. Also, if its raining, you can even hire umbrellas, we actually did that- this is one of the positive points of Kempty Falls.

After you leave your taxi, there are two options for reaching Kempty Falls- you can either go by the Ropeway over there (you can come back too through ropeway with the same ticket) or you can take stairs to reach the sight. We took stairs for reaching the Falls and came back by Ropeway. If you go by stairs- you can enjoy the tasty hot and spicy “chhola masala” being sold by the local vendors. However, if you do not like the over crowded and over commercialized Kempty Falls, you can proceed towards the somewhat quiet Kempty Lake there only. Kempty Lake is the little pond type lake behind the Kempty Falls where you can enjoy boating too.

Religious Chakras, Buddhist Temple

Santura Devi and Buddhist Temples- Santura Devi Temple is a good sight to visit not only for religious purpose but to have a view of mountains from above as you have to climb a little to get to the Santura Devi Temple. However, because you will get to see more beautiful scenes from even more heights from other sights, you can avoid this sight. Buddhist Temple is also a good place for those who either want spend some time in peace or those who have not seen a Buddhist temple yet (like me).

Mall Road- It is the heart of the city. A leisurely walk through the Mall in Mussoorie watching the stuff being sold there and having snacks after the whole day of sight seeing is really refreshing. Do not forget to watch some of the interesting places of Mussoorie through Binoculars here. The boy showing this will set the binoculars each time to let you see the palace of Nepal King, the college where some Bollywood movies have been shot and the old Mussoorie city among other sights.

Day 2 At Mussoorie

You can decide to go to little farther places around Mussoorie like Dhanaulti and even Tehri Dam- as we did.

Dhanaulti Eco Park

Dhanaulti Eco Park- If you are accompanied by kids, I recommend strongly to take them to this place as they will enjoy a lot here. Dhanaulti Eco Park is in fact a picnic area type venue surrounded with tall trees and interesting replicas of animals. It has been built around the theme of “Saving Trees and Jungles”. There is a wildlife picture museum too. There is also a shop that sells the local handicrafts made from textile, bamboo etc. While you can enjoy shopping, your kids will enjoy the surroundings with pictures of birds and statues of elephants, monkey etc. apart from having joy from swings.

Tehri Dam

Tehri Dam- If you can spare a little more money and time, I recommend you going to Tehri Dam- at the height of about 10,000 feet- it is totally a different experience watching the water of Tehri Dam surrounded by the big big mountains as if they are guarding this pure blue green water! You will love the sight even when you are on the way towards the Dam- it is amazingly beautiful scene – seeing the water and mountains together from the moving car on the serpent like curvy roads. And yes, do not forget to carry umbrellas if you want to spend more time at the beautiful Tehri Dam. There is no shop around which can give you umbrellas on rent!

Mall Road- Yes once again- seeing the lights increasing gradually far away through the mountains and strolling is really refreshing in the evenings. You can even do a bit of shopping if you like and have some photographs with the sculptures on walls there or just roam around to feel the cool beauty of the Queen of Hill Stations- Mussoorie!