Ranikhet Experience: Ranikhet is a quiet, sleepy cantonment town covered with misty clouds & a pleasant weather. A perfect place if you prefer a peaceful & a laid back holiday gazing away at the mountains & the semi-circular step farms etched along its slopes
Food, sight-seeing and shopping: The Mall area is the quieter part of Ranikhet, as are the Pine forests. However, in contrast, the Sadar Bazar and Gandhi Chowk areas have the main market -colourful, crowded and filled with tiny shops along the road selling everything from grocery to shoes to carts filled with Peaches, Litchis, Pears,Gooseberries and Raspberries. Make sure you visit the Golf Course, maintained by the Army, its a visual delight, very scenic & makes for beautiful pics. On the same route, Kalika Temple is another 4kms ahead. In an opposite route leading towards the Mall area, are the Chaubatia Orchards & Jhula Devi Temple which are also good places to visit.The former located around 7 kms away from the market is a thickly covered forest area abundant in Fruit bearing trees and the latter is a unique 'Temple of Bells' where the courtyard is filled with Bells of various sizes which have been tied up in gratitude of wishes granted by Jhula Devi. Enjoy the fruits being sold at the Chaubatia Orchard counter, freshly plucked Pears, Peaches, Plums and Litchis sold at as low as Rs.11,13,15 per kg! And once you've climbed up and down, one can relish hot snacks at the Canteen inside and also pick up an assortment of Juices, Jams and condiments run by the Uttarakhand government. Nearby Chiliyanaula, around 4kms away has the famoust HairaKhan Shiva temple overlooking the valley.
Activities & things to do: Take at least one quiet stroll amidst the Pine covered slopes, its an experience worth every minute, watching the Pines reach out to the skies with Pine cones scattered along your patch. Watch cadets, students practice at the Narsingh Ground near the KRC Woollen Factory.There's a War Museum adjacent to the KRC woollens, but getting renovated.
Travel tips, How to reach, travel warnings etc: Ranikhet is around 80kms from the Dhangarhi gate of Corbett Reserve Forest, via Machod.If you are driving from Delhi, via Ramnagar, you need to add another 260kms (5-6hours) till Ramnagar. Another route is from Nainital, which is around 1.5 hours north via Bhowali which is around 12kms from Nainital, followed by another 45kms to reach Ranikhet
