Glorious as heaven itself must be , I have always thought the gates of heaven must be its crowning glory. That at least is true of Landsdowne, as you reach Kotdwar and find the sky measured out in the grey and blue. The grey is the hills of Pauri Garhwal that you are going to climb up to reach this oak and pine bordered town the British loved.
Try to do the 40 Km drive up to Lansdowne before sunset , or you will miss grand experience. As the road goes uphill watch the misst rise with you, out of nowhere. Pass by villages and say hi to the kids. Feel in your bones the climate change. Stop at the village of Dugadda mid-way, Walk across the swinging bridge, and promise yourself to pick up, when returning, some pebbles from the bed of invisible River ‘ Khoh’.
On entire Lansdwone after anunexpected turn on the Kotdwar-Pauri road, the first thing you will come across is the elegant Garhwal rifles cantonment, Lansdowne exists in, around and because of cantonment- the command office of the Garhwal Rifles Battalion of the Indian Army is located here. The cantonment board is in charge of the civic administration of town and ensures strict observance of all laws. This saves Lansdowne from haphazard and unchecked development. Formerly known as Kalundanda, the town was first inhabited by British in 1887, and in 1890 was named after Lord Lansdwone- sir Henry Petty-FitzMaurice, the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, 6th Earl of Kerry and Viceroy of India from 1888 to 1894.
Things to Do
Boat ride in Bhulla Lake.
Visit Kalagarh Tiger Reserve.
Visit Darwan Singh Sangrahalaya.
Visit St. John’s Church.
Trek to Snow Viewpoint.
Hike to Tip n Top Viewpoint.
Visit Bhim Pakora.
Visit Tarkeshwar Mahadev Temple.
Visit Kanavashram
How to Reach
Lansdowne does not have an airport of its own. The Dehradun Airport is used by travellers who want to reach Lansdowne by air. Indian cities that have flights for Dehradun are Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The airline companies serving at this airport are Air India, Jet Airways, Spice Jet and Ventura Air Connect. International travellers can reach Delhi Airport and take a flight for Dehradun. Buses and taxis are available from Dehradun Airport, to reach Lansdowne.
Nearest Airport: The nearest airport from Lansdowne is Jolly Grant Airport, in Dehradun. It is 145 Km away from the town.
Lansdowne is well-connected with Kotdwara by bus. It is quite easy to reach Kotdwara from Delhi, with multiple buses plying between the two cities for the 6 hours’ journey. Government buses by Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) and many private buses are available in A/C, deluxe and ordinary bus types. Kotdwara has UTC buses from other cities as well, like Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jaipur, Gurgaon and Faridabad. Lansdowne is an hour away from Kotdwara, with options of private taxis, minibuses or shared taxis for transport here.
Lansdowne does not have a railway station; the rail connectivity is maintained to this region by Kotdwara Railway Station. The Kotdwara Railway Station is 45 km from Lansdowne and the distance can be covered in an hour, by road. The Kotdwara Railway Station is under the Moradabad Division and falls in the Northern Zone of the Railways. The express trains Mussoorie Express and Gharwal Express connect Delhi and Kotdwara whereas Doon Express is the only long distance train in the region, covering cities like Kotdwara, Lucknow, Varanasi and Howrah.
