Where to stop between Mussoorie and Dhanaulti

There is a long stretch between Mussoorie and Dhanaulti where the shops thin out, the bends get serious, and there is nothing obvious to stop for. Then, within a few kilometres of Suwakholi, there are suddenly four places worth the handbrake. This is a guide to all of them.

Kafuli Cafe, at Soul Storries

For: a proper sit-down meal, and Garhwali food done seriously.

Kafuli is the in-house restaurant at Soul Storries, a wellness estate a few kilometres up off the road, and it is open to people who are not staying there. The cooking is the draw — farm-to-table, seasonal, and genuinely Pahadi rather than Pahadi-flavoured. Their namesake dish, kafuli, is the spinach preparation this region is actually known for, and you will also find aloo ke gutke and mandua roti alongside millet bowls and cold-pressed juices.

It is the most upmarket option on this list and priced accordingly. If you have driven up for an occasion, or you want to eat the food of this valley properly rather than eat pizza with a view of it, this is where we would send you.

Highlanders Cafe & Stay

For: the view, and a long slow coffee.

Highlanders sits at Suwakholi with seating angled out over the hills, and the view is the point. It is a calm, unhurried place to sit with a coffee for longer than you meant to, which on a drive like this is worth a great deal. They also have cottages and rooms if you decide not to carry on, and they are pet-friendly.

Of everyone here they have leaned hardest into being a place to sit rather than a place to eat and leave. If your afternoon has no schedule in it, that is a compliment.

Monal Cafe & Homestay

For: an unfussy meal with a family, and the best value on the road.

Monal has been on this road longer than most and has the reviews to show for it — consistently strong ratings across the booking sites, and a reputation as a straightforward, welcoming stop rather than a destination. Seven rooms, a restaurant, a terrace, parking, hot water. Roughly eight kilometres out of Mussoorie, so it is the first of the four you reach coming up.

If you are travelling with parents or small children and want a hot, uncomplicated meal without a wait or a wine list, this is the sensible stop.

Coffee & Clouds — ours

For: sourdough pizza, hill coffee, and eating inside the view.

Ours sits on a glasshouse terrace, so on a clear morning you are eating inside the view rather than looking at it through a window, and when the cloud comes up the valley it arrives at the table. Everything is cooked the moment you order it, which means nothing is fast. The sourdough pizza is what people come back for and the thing they tell other people about.

We are a mile off the main road, which is the one genuine disadvantage on this list — the other three are easier to pull into. Come to us if you want the detour to be part of it. More about the cafe.

Practical notes for the drive

• Fill up in Mussoorie. Fuel is not reliable past it, whichever of these you are heading for.
• Ring ahead in winter and in monsoon. All four of us are on a hill road; any of us may be having a difficult day.
• Cash is worth carrying. Signal on this stretch is patchy and card machines depend on it.
• Do the driving in daylight if you can. The bends are fine; the turnings are what catch people out.
• Going up to Surkanda Devi? Eat before, not after — the view goes by midday and you want to be up there early. Our guide to the climb.

Why we wrote this

Because people search for somewhere to stop on this road and mostly find listings rather than an answer, and because we would rather be the site that told you the truth than the site that pretended it was the only cafe on the mountain. If you end up at one of the other three and eat well, that is a good outcome. We are all better off if people think of this road as somewhere worth stopping at all.