Ranikhet

As with Nainital, the drive here takes less than two hours but is an event in itself. After leaving the crowded confines of Nainital on a road that hugs the mountain, you'll quickly enter the town of Bhiwali—a grubby little place, with small shops and tea stalls that serve as the center of the local fruit industry. In season the roadside is crowded with men selling crates of apples, peaches, and plums to travelers and dealers, and for the next hour of your drive the bottom of the river valley is filled with small orchards. After crossing another small river, you'll head back up to Ranikhet, at which point the forests give way to some spectacular sections of terraced farmland.

Ranikhet itself is ensconced in evergreen confines on a Himalayan hilltop. Of all the British hill stations in India, only Ranikhet retains some of its original sylvan tranquillity. This may be because it's an army town, home of the Kumaon Regiment ever since the Raj, so development has been controlled. The spacious army cantonment stretches along the Mall, which winds along the top of hill, and many of the regiment's stone buildings, erected well before Independence, are still smartly maintained specimens of colonial architecture. Walk on the Upper Mall Road to see the Parade Ground or Regimental Headquarters. Ranikhet has at least six old colonial churches that are usually open to visitors.