Are you planning to visit Nainital soon for enjoying your holidays? If you are visiting there for the first time, check out this article to get information about this lake city, the sightseeing points and some interesting facts about this hill station.
Nainital is one of the most visited hill stations of India located in the foothills of Kumaon Hills in Uttarakhand. The pear-shaped lake in Nainital attracts visitors from different corners of India. Apart from exploring its natural beauty, you can enjoy here boating, yachting, paddling on the beautiful lake.
Photo credit: Clicked by me
What to see?
Some of the major attractions of Nainital which you must explore for sightseeing are:
Nainital Lake
This pear-shaped lake is the major attraction of Nainital. Here, you can enjoy boating, yachting with your family and friends at an affordable cost.
Naina Devi Temple
This temple is located just beside the Nainital lake and at one end of Mall Road. This temple was reconstructed to repair the damage caused during the landslide of 1880.
Pt. G.B. Pant High Altitude Zoo
Photo credit: Clicked by me
This Zoo is located at the top of a hill. You can either reach there on foot or hire a cab. Here, you will see Snow Leopard, Siberian Tiger, Goat Antelope, Birds, Pheasants, Red Panda, and much more.
Ropeway and Snow View
Ropeway or Cable car is one of the exciting things located beside Mall Road. If you wish to get a panorama of Nainital, then Ropeway is a must for you. After going through Ropeway, you will reach Snow View Point. From that point, you can view snow-capped Himalayan peaks only if the weather is clear enough.
Eco Cave Gardens
This is the natural garden on Nainital containing six caves as well as some musical fountains. These caves are especially loved by children.
Paragliding
In Nainital, you can also enjoy Paragliding. There is a paragliding point near Bhimtal and Naukuchiatal lakes. The cost of paragliding per person is around 2000 INR.
ARIES Observatory
There is large ARIES Observatory around 8 kilometres from Nainital. ARIES stands for Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences and there is no such entry fee to visit this observatory. If you are interested in astronomy, then you can visit this observatory.
When to visit?
The temperature here usually drops to 7 degrees Celsius and goes up to a maximum of 27 degrees Celsius in summers. In winters, the temperature goes to -3 degrees celsius with an unexpected snowfall sometimes. So, the best season to visit here is between April and September. 
Photo credit: Clicked by me
How to reach Nainital?
By Air: Pantnagar airport is the nearest airport located around 70 kilometers from Nainital. There is a daily flight from Dehradun’s Jolly Grant Airport to Pantnagar airport at 2:10 PM.
By Rail: Kathgodam is the nearest railway station that is around 35 kilometers away from Nainital.
By Road: Nainital is well connected with nearby cities by roads. You can find regular government and private buses for Delhi, Haridwar, Dehradun, Bareilly, Lucknow, and other cities.
Interesting facts and information about Nainital:
- If you are searching for accommodation, then you will notice that hotels or lodges that are established near the lake will charge high fares. Also, the hotels which have a lake view from their balcony will have higher fares than hotels that are far away from the lake.
- Some of the popular movies were shot here like ‘Koi Mil Gaya’, ‘Kati Patang’, ‘Masoom’, ‘Vivah’ and ‘Kaal’.
