Mussoorie
Hill Station Of Garhwal; The Queen Of The Hills · Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
A hill station on a ridge above Dehradun in Uttarakhand, at around two thousand metres, called the Queen of the Hills and for well over a century the nearest big mountain escape for Delhi. The British founded it in the 1820s, and it grew into a resort of boarding schools, churches, hotels and cottages. Its heart is the Mall Road, busy with families and honeymooners in season, with views across the Doon valley on one side and snow peaks on the other on clear days. A cable car climbs to Gun Hill, Camel's Back Road offers a quieter walk, and Kempty Falls, below the town, is a crowded bathing spot. Above Mussoorie lies Landour, an old cantonment of steep lanes, pine and deodar forest and colonial houses, home for decades to the writer Ruskin Bond, and far calmer, with its famous bakery corner at Char Dukan. Mussoorie is the gateway to the Yamunotri road and to treks in the Garhwal. It is very crowded on summer and holiday weekends, when the road from Dehradun jams. Winter brings occasional snow.
Mall Road, Mussoorie, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, 248179, India
NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The usual pattern: the Mall and Landour are open all day, every day, with the Mall busiest in the evening. The Gun Hill ropeway runs roughly from morning to evening in daylight and stops in high wind or for maintenance. Kempty Falls is open in daylight and can be closed in heavy monsoon flows. Char Dukan cafes open for breakfast and close in the evening. Parts of the Mall may be closed to vehicles at certain hours. THE TRAPS: arriving on a Friday evening in May, going to Lal Tibba at noon when the peaks are gone, and driving the Dehradun road after dark in monsoon rain. Confirm times before travelling.