Almora & the Art of the Kumaon Hills

This is a private, 7-day tour through the Kumaon hills of Uttarakhand, built for travellers who'd rather watch a craft being made than tick off a checklist of monuments. You ride the Shatabdi Express from Delhi to Kathgodam, then travel by private vehicle through Almora's Aipan art and coppersmith lanes, the counterculture history of Kasar Devi's Crank's Ridge, the ancient temple complex at Jageshwar, and the forest sanctuary of Binsar with its Himalayan viewpoint at Zero Point. A private guide, driver and vehicle travel with you throughout, with no group and no fixed schedule, in your choice of three tiers: Premium, Luxury and Ultra-Luxury.

This Almora tour package international guests can book is a week in the Kumaon hills for people who like to see how things are made. Almora is a town of Aipan floor art, copper beaten by hand, a dance school that trained Ravi Shankar and a ridge, Kasar Devi, that drew scholars, poets and seekers for a century. It is a Kumaon art and culture tour built around those things, and a Kasar Devi Almora tour that goes past the temple to the ridge's story, and it ends in the forest at Binsar.

The route goes by train and road. The Shatabdi Express takes you from New Delhi to Kathgodam in about five and a half hours, and a private vehicle takes you up to Almora at about 1,642 m. You stay two nights in Almora, one at Kasar Devi and two at Binsar, with a night in Delhi at the start. A private guide, driver and vehicle stay with you from Kathgodam, so this is a private Kumaon tour with no group and no fixed hour to be anywhere.

The package is an offbeat Kumaon holiday with an Almora heritage tour at its centre, priced as a tailor-made Kumaon hills holiday in three tiers, Premium, Luxury and Ultra-Luxury. It is built for October to November and March to April, when the air is clear and the Himalayan peaks show from the ridge.

What to know before you book. Book the Shatabdi tickets early. The train leaves New Delhi at 6:20 am, which is why the plan starts with a night in Delhi, and the return reaches New Delhi at 8:55 pm, so a late flight suits best. Roads in the hills are narrow and winding, and rain closes them briefly in the monsoon. Kasar Devi, Katarmal and Jageshwar are working temples and dress is modest. Mobile signal is patchy at Binsar.

Temple access. In 2026 the Badri-Kedar Temple Committee resolved to bar non-Hindus from 47 temples in its charge. None of the places on this route was named in the reports we read, and we have not found a rule for the Almora temples. We confirm the position for your dates before you travel.

WHY BOOK THIS WITH BIZAREXPEDITION

Almora rewards guests who come for a reason, and we plan the week around the reason.

• Uttarakhand is our home base. BizareXpedition™ Services Pvt. Ltd. (CIN U63090UR2016PTC007433) is headquartered in Haridwar, so the Kumaon roads, the hotels and the drivers are known to us first-hand.

• The craft is real. The Aipan session and the coppersmith visit are with working artisans, not a show for a group, and your guide takes you to workshops that keep fixed prices.

• Privacy is the plan. You have your own vehicle, your own guide and your own table at every meal. Nobody joins the car, and every evening is yours.

• The pace suits the hills. Two nights in Almora, one at Kasar Devi and two at Binsar mean you unpack three times, not six, and the longest drive is under four hours.

• Three tiers, one route. The Premium, Luxury and Ultra-Luxury versions share the same route and the same guide standard. The tiers change the rooms, the vehicle and the private touches.

ACCOMMODATION CATEGORIES

Note on hotels. Almora has few luxury properties, so the Luxury and Ultra-Luxury tiers use AyurVAID Kalmatia, an 1867 hilltop house with eight chalets that now works as an Ayurveda retreat. The Kumaon has ten chalets at about 1,600 m on the Kasar Devi ridge. Mary Budden Estate, built in 1899, has seven rooms inside the Binsar sanctuary, so Luxury and Ultra-Luxury share it and differ by room grade. Property names are proposals and are confirmed at booking. Rates in this document are modelled, not contract rates.

3-TIER PRICING SUMMARY (indicative)

Prices are indicative and modelled. The upper figure covers date and season variation. The final quote depends on dates, hotels confirmed and any upgrade you choose.

Why Choose This Almora and Kumaon Tour Package

• Built around real craft, not a staged show. The Aipan art session is with a working local artist, and the coppersmith visit takes you into an actual workshop in Almora's Tamta mohalla — not a demonstration set up for tour groups.

• A ridge with an unusual story. Kasar Devi's Crank's Ridge drew Swami Vivekananda in the 1890s, Tibetan Buddhist scholars in the 1920s and 1930s, and poets including Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary in the 1960s — your guide walks you through that history on the ground where it happened.

• Genuinely private, throughout. Your own vehicle, driver and guide travel with you from the moment you step off the train at Kathgodam — nobody else joins the car, and every evening is yours.

• A pace built for the hills. Two nights in Almora, one at Kasar Devi and two at Binsar mean you unpack three times, not six, and the longest single drive is under four hours.

• Local knowledge that runs deep. BizareXpedition is headquartered in Haridwar, in the same state as this route, so the winding Kumaon roads, the hotels and the drivers are known first-hand.

SEASON ADJUSTMENTS

Festival dates move with the lunar calendar, so we confirm them when we quote

What You'll Experience

• Draw your first Aipan pattern. A private session with a local artist, using red ochre mud and a rice-paste paint, the same materials used for generations on Kumaoni doorsteps.

• Watch a coppersmith at work. In the Tamta mohalla of Almora, where some of the town's most skilled coppersmiths — several of them national award winners — still beat copper by hand.

• Walk Crank's Ridge at Kasar Devi. The same stretch of ridge that drew scholars in the 1920s and poets in the 1960s, with sweeping views over the valley below.

• Stand inside the Nanda Devi Temple courtyard. Built in 1688 by King Udyot Chand, in the heart of Almora's old town.

• Climb to the Katarmal Sun Temple. A 9th-century temple with 45 smaller shrines gathered around it, reached by a short, steep walk.

• Walk through Jageshwar's temple forest. More than 125 stone temples to Shiva set among tall deodar trees, with a 1st-century-BC pillar and an on-site museum.

• Reach Zero Point at Binsar. On a clear morning, see Kedarnath, Shivling, Trisul and Nanda Devi lined up along the horizon from this forest sanctuary's highest viewpoint.

• Ride the Shatabdi Express. A comfortable, scenic train journey between Delhi and Kathgodam that lets the plains fall away before the hills begin.

Getting There: The Shatabdi Express

This tour uses one of India's better-known train journeys as its opening and closing act. The Shatabdi Express leaves New Delhi at 6:20 am and reaches Kathgodam by about 11:55 am, with breakfast served at your seat — which is why the itinerary starts with a night in Delhi rather than a pre-dawn dash to the station. On the way back, the train leaves Kathgodam at 3:20 pm and reaches New Delhi at 8:55 pm, so a late-evening or overnight international departure works best; if your flight is earlier, BizareXpedition can add a Delhi night after the train, quoted on request. From Kathgodam, a private vehicle covers the remaining 82 km up to Almora in three to four hours on a narrow, winding hill road — if you're prone to car sickness, telling your guide in advance lets the driver set a gentler pace.

Who This Trip Suits

• Culture- and craft-minded travellers who'd rather learn how something is made than photograph it from a distance

• Couples and small groups looking for a genuinely private alternative to Uttarakhand's more crowded pilgrimage and trekking circuits

• Readers of 20th-century counterculture and Buddhist studies history curious to see Crank's Ridge and the ground Ginsberg, Leary and Lama Govinda once walked

• Birders and gentle walkers drawn to Binsar's oak and rhododendron forest and its 200-plus recorded bird species

• Travellers comfortable with a train journey and hill roads as part of the experience, rather than wanting to fly directly to each stop

It suits guests happy with a slower, thoughtful pace and a fair amount of walking in the old town and forest trails; it's a less natural fit for anyone wanting a single headline monument or a fast-paced, sight-a-minute itinerary — Almora rewards travellers who come with a reason, and this trip gives you several.

PRACTICAL NOTES

• The train. The Shatabdi leaves New Delhi at 6:20 am and reaches Kathgodam at 11:55 am. The return leaves Kathgodam at 3:20 pm and reaches New Delhi at 8:55 pm. It runs seven days a week, with Executive and AC Chair Car, and tickets are booked early.

• Roads. From Kathgodam it is about 82 km up to Almora. The road is narrow and winding. If you get car sick, tell us and the driver sets a gentler pace.

• Altitude. Almora is at about 1,642 m and Binsar's higher points reach 2,270 m and more. The rise is gentle. Drink water and go slowly on the first evening.

• Weather. Days are mild and nights cool in spring and autumn. Bring layers, a light waterproof and walking shoes.

• Dress. Cover shoulders and knees in temples, and take off shoes at the door. The guide tells you where it matters.

• Binsar rules. The sanctuary is open from 6 am to 6 pm, and there is a daily fee that is higher for foreign visitors. Vehicle fees apply. Your fees are covered by the package.

• Crafts. Aipan and copper are real crafts made by working people. Buy from workshops your guide names, at fixed prices.

• Connectivity. Mobile signal is patchy at Binsar and the ridge. Your guide keeps a fixed daily check-in time with our office.

• Health. Anyone with heart or lung conditions should see a doctor before booking a trip above 1,500 m.

• Food. Kumaoni food is simple, and vegetarian and non-vegetarian options are both available at the hotels. Tell us about allergies and the guide arranges each meal.

• Wildlife. Binsar has leopards. Walk with the naturalist and do not wander in the forest after dark.