Mussoorie Queen of Hills

Mussoorie: Best places to visit in/ around the town

1. Landour and Lal Tibba Area
In my book, among the best places in Mussoorie to visit, Landour sits right at the top. Landour is a quaint little place frozen in time. Set up in pine and deodar forest, the same old houses from the pre-independence days, a little market place and two churches constitute Landour. {If you wanna know more about exploring Landour, do check out: Landour in Mussoorie}

2. Mall Road, Mussoorie:
Right at the heart of Mussoorie is the Mall Road, the center of all attractions in Mussoorie. In fact, a lot of visitors hardly move beyond! They come, stay, enjoy the Mall Road vibes, and go back! So, no wonder it’s among everyone’s list of best places to visit in Mussoorie. You typically find a Mall Road in the Himalayan hill stations. For me, Mall Road in Mussoorie is easily the best of the lot, maybe only comparable to that of Shimla. With amazing view of the Doon Valley below, a beautiful sunset in the evening, and the most bustling market place for shopping and culinary pleasure, Mall Road is everything that a tourist wants in the evening. In spite of being crowded in the evening throughout the year, you will enjoy the ambiance (we certainly do).

3. The expanse of Mall Road:
Though the Mall Road runs from Library Bazar in the north-west to a little beyond the Landour Tower in south-east, covering ~ 3 kms, the main section ends at Picture Palace in Kulri Bazar area. From Library Bazar to Kulri Bazar, it’s a lovely enjoyable walk walk of nearly 2 kms. The main section of the Mall Road is closed to general traffic in the busy hours, i.e ~9 AM to 9 PM (varies from time to time). This means, it’s mainly meant for pedestrians, though pedal rickshaws, and local vehicles are allowed. That’s why it’s a pedestrian’s delight; I just love walking around the Mall Road. At some stretches of the road, there are no shops, and one can hang around leisurely.

4. Gun Hill
About middle of the Mall Road, there’s a cable car point from where one can take a ride up to the Gun Hill at 6640 ft (~2020 meters), the second highest point in Mussoorie. Else, one may choose to trek a distance of less than a kilometre, though it’s a steep ascent. Among the best places to visit in Mussoorie, Gun Hill offers wonderful 360-degree view of the valleys around Mussoorie. On a clear day, one can see up to the mountain peaks of Banderpunch, Pithwara and the Gangotri group.

4. Company Garden
Every great hill station must have a great garden too! Mussoorie has its own great garden- the Company Garden, or Company Bagh. Established in 1842 (I’m not absolutely sure of this), laid out by Dr. H. Fackner, a British officer for recreational purposes, the garden still charms one and all. Though it has been renamed as Atal Udyan recently, locals still call it by its good old name. The multi-level garden remains full of flowers and other ornamental plants throughout the year. If you are a flower lover, it’s definitely one of the best places to visit in Mussoorie. Elevating its beauty, there’s an artificial waterfall and a small lake for boating.

5. Happy Valley/ Dalai Hill/ Buddha Temple
When his holiness, 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet had to flee his country in 1959, he came to Mussoorie first. A local rich person gifted him a hill in the Happy Valley area to settle down with his people. Later, the hill was called Dalai Hill. Recently (2022), a Buddha statue has been erected at the top of the hill. It takes a hike of about 500 meters to reach the top. But the hike is absolutely worth it, with gorgeous 360-degree view of the valleys around. Less than 3 kms from Library Chowk, Happy Valley is definitely among the best places to visit in Mussoorie.

6. George Everest House/ Peak
Sir George Everest, the legendary man after whom the highest peak in the world is named, lived and worked as the Surveyor General of India out of a house over a hill top between 1830 and 1841. Ironically, he had no direct connection with the discovery and mapping of mount Everest! However, his contribution to the Great Trigonometric Survey was immense.

7. Camel’s Back Road
Captain Frederick Young, the man credited with the establishment of Mussoorie built the first building on Camel’s Back Road. He, along with FJ Shore, built a Shooting Lodge in 1823 on this road for facilitating hunting sports for the British officers. During many of my walks there, I couldn’t locate the Shooting Lodge on the road. If anyone knows if that lodge still remains, please let me know. From near the Library Bazar, Camel’s Back Road runs 3 kms parallel to the Mall Road, and joins it near the Mussoorie main post office. With spectacular views of the Kedarnath- Badrinath mountain ranges, it’s a pleasurable walk. In recent times, some entrepreneurs have put a few golf-carts for visitors in case they can’t walk the whole distance.

7. Kempty Falls:
About 20 kms away from the town is the beautiful multi-level Kempty waterfall. It takes about 45 minutes to reach there. On the way, you will come across beautiful little villages and typical pahadi houses. You will love the wonderful views of the different shades of the Himalayas- from lush green to brown and black to snow-capped white mountains.