The pretty little hill town of Almora sits on a five-km long horseshoe-shaped ridge, 1,650 metres above sea level. The town overlooks a verdant terraced valley and four ranges of hills -- Banari Devi, Kasan Devi, Shyahi Devi and Katarmal. From the town one can see the magnificent Himalyan ranges in the north with the peaks of Trishul, Nanda Devi and Nanda Kot standing tall in proud splendour.
Most hill stations in India were established by the British. But Almora has a different and older history. The Kashaya Hill on which the town is built is first mentioned in the Skanda Purana scriptures. In 1560 Raja Kalyan Chand of Kumaon made it his capital. It was then known as Rajapur; ancient inscriptions on many places still have Rajapur carved on them. The Chand dynasty ended when the Gorkhas from Nepal occupied the area in 1790. The British defeated the Gorkhas in 1815, and established a small army establishment and a cantonment.
BEST TIME TO VISIT
April - June and September - November
HOW TO GET THERE
BY ROAD: Almora is well connected by road to Delhi (380 km, approx 10-12 hrs ; NH 24 connects Delhi to Rampur via Hapur. At Rampur, turn and head north on NH 87 all the way up to Almora), Lucknow (466 km) and Dehradun (415 km).
From Kathgodam local transport, private taxies as well as buses run by private operators, and buses run by the state government corporation - UASRTC are available at all hours.
BY RAIL: The nearest railway station is at Kathgodam which is 90 km away. Kathgodam is connected by rail directly with Delhi, Lucknow, Dehradun and Kolkata.
