Lansdowne is small, quiet and green, a town to walk in rather than tick off. Here is what there is.
Photos: Golu dand (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ashish Gupta from Noida, India (CC BY 2.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Bhulla Tal, a small man-made lake about 3 minutes below the town, built with the help of the Garhwal Rifles' young soldiers. Paths, lawns, a footbridge and small boats.
Go up to St Mary's Church, the old stone church the army keeps for visitors, and the Tip-n-Top viewpoint beside it, over the Shivaliks to the snow peaks on clear days. The Santoshi Mata temple at the top of the town has a wide Himalayan view too.
Lansdowne is the home of the Garhwal Rifles' regimental centre. The war memorial stands on the parade ground, and the regiment's museum, the Darwan Singh Sanghralaya, keeps photographs, arms, captured weapons and medals. Darwan Singh Negi was one of the first Indian soldiers to win the Victoria Cross. Both need prior permission from the army; ask locally how to apply.
Tarkeshwar Mahadev, Shiva's shrine at about 1,800 m in deodar and pine forest, about 123 minutes from the town on our routing. Give it a morning.
Wikivoyage names Kanvashram, about 14 km away, the hermitage of the sage Kanva, linked in the story of Shakuntala with the birth of her son Bharat, and the Durga Devi temple, about 24 km away. We have not measured these roads.
Try the local sweets: Wikivoyage mentions bal mithai and a local sweet called chocolate, sold at the sweet shops in the market.
Copy the one-day town walk or the weekend from Delhi, and read how to reach Lansdowne and the best time to go.
Walk to Bhulla Tal, go up to the ridge for St Mary's Church and the Tip-n-Top view, visit the Santoshi Mata temple at the top of the town, and, with the army's permission, the Garhwal Rifles' war memorial and museum. Give a second day to the forest temple of Tarkeshwar Mahadev.
The regiment's museum, the Darwan Singh Sanghralaya, named after Darwan Singh Negi, one of the first Indian soldiers to win the Victoria Cross. Wikipedia says it shows photographs, commanders' arms, captured weapons, campaign history and medals. The war memorial stands on the parade ground; both need prior permission from the army.
Tarkeshwar Mahadev, the forest temple of Shiva, is the best-known outing, about 123 minutes away on our routing. Wikivoyage also names Kanvashram, about 14 km away, the hermitage linked with Shakuntala and the birth of her son Bharat, and the Durga Devi temple about 24 km away, both towards Kotdwar.
