A weekend from Delhi

The drive, without the optimism

Google will tell you six and a half hours. It is usually seven to nine, because the last stretch is hill road and hill road does not care about your average speed. Plan for nine and be pleased when it is seven.

• Route AVia Dehradun and MussoorieDelhi → Meerut → Muzaffarnagar → Roorkee → Dehradun → Mussoorie → Suwakholi. The one we would pick. The views start early and you reach us sixteen kilometres past Mussoorie.
• Route BVia Rishikesh and ChambaDelhi → Haridwar → Rishikesh → Narendra Nagar → Chamba → Kanatal → Dhanaulti → Suwakholi. Quieter, fewer towns, follows the Ganga for a stretch. You come at us from the Dhanaulti side.
• Route CVia SaharanpurDelhi → Baghpat → Baraut → Shamli → Saharanpur → Dehradun → Mussoorie. Worth it if you are starting from west or north Delhi and want to skip Meerut.

When to leave

Leave Delhi before six in the morning on a Saturday, or after nine on a Friday night and break the journey at Dehradun. The thing to avoid is arriving on the hill section after dark on your first visit — the bends are fine, but our turning is easier to find in daylight, and between November and March the last stretch can be slick.

What two nights actually looks like

• Friday night or Saturday morning: the drive. Arrive, eat something on the terrace, do nothing else.
• Sunday morning: up early for Surkanda Devi — the road runs past our gate, and the Himalayan view has usually clouded over by midday.
• Sunday afternoon: Dhanaulti is twenty minutes on, or Landour is sixteen kilometres back the other way. Pick one, not both.
• Monday: leave after breakfast. You will hit Delhi in the evening.

Two nights is the minimum that makes the drive worth it. One night means you spend more time in the car than out of it.

What it costs

The Valley Room is ₹5,500 a night with a balcony over the valley; The Macramé Room is ₹4,000. Both sleep two. Booking direct means no platform commission on top, and dogs are welcome at no charge.