Nainital

Springing up from the steep slopes of the Kumaon foothills in southern Uttarakhand, Nainital continues to draw booming crowds of trekkers and view-seekers with the promise of breath-taking broadsides of the high Himalaya and majestic walking trails through the self-proclaimed Lake District of India (it’s said that the governors of the British Raj opted to settle here on account of their nostalgia for old England). The town itself is set idyllically on the banks of picture-perfect Naini Lake, which now hosts clusters of bobbing coracles and timber boats. These drift between the upper and lower banks, transporting passengers to and from the various resort hotels that reside amongst the deciduous forests and the entry roads to the south. Echoes of chanting and prayers sometimes bounce across the waters, twisting out of the shrines of the Naina Devi Temple, while the buzz of haggling and buying marks the Barra Bazaar, where Kashmiri shawls and wooden carvings burst from the stalls. Nainital tour guides also recommend heading out on one of the popular treks here in the high-season, either to the tip of China Peak, to Tiffin's Top, or the so-called Snow View at more than 2,000 meters up, where the dramatic ridges of Naina Devi erupt on the horizon.