Haridwar
Introduction
Haridwar is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India, situated in the south western part of the state. It is the largest city in its district.
Before you go
Haridwar means "Gateway to God," and it is one of the Hindu holy places in India, a centre of Hindu religion and mysticism for centuries. It sits on the banks of the River Ganges at the point where the river descends from the hills to the North Indian plains, and it draws large numbers of Hindu pilgrims from all over the world. Come prepared for a place of pilgrimage rather than a resort: alcohol is strictly banned, so avoid any illegal consumption. Expect beggars and charlatans, and be wary of Sadhus offering one-to-one tutoring in return for money. Monkeys can be aggressive in grabbing food from your hands, and cows and their leftovers are common on the roads, so watch your step. Timing matters. During festivals, especially the Kumbh Mela, Haridwar is packed to bursting and beyond, and stampedes have occurred, with the bridges across the Ganges the most dangerous spot. If you travel during those periods, plan around the crowds and take particular care on the bridges.Getting there
Haridwar sits about 200 km from Delhi and is well connected by both road and rail from across India. Book your train or bus in advance, particularly during pilgrimage season. It is worth avoiding the Hindu month of Sawan, around July, when crowds are heavy, the main roads are blocked and hotels, buses and trains are packed; the monsoon from late May to August is also a poor time to visit, as rain will hinder your trip. From Delhi you can rent a car or private taxi, or take the train, which runs frequently and costs less than a private cab.
By air, Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport is the nearest, a domestic airport about 20 km from the city centre with frequent flights from Delhi; taxis from there to Haridwar cost ₹400. Delhi, roughly 200 km away, is the nearest international airport and is well connected to domestic and foreign airports. Haridwar Junction (station code HW) has frequent trains to Delhi (4–5 hours) and Dehradun (1 hour), plus a few trains a day to Rishikesh, though buses on that route are faster and much more frequent. The station is on the south side of town, within walking distance of most hotels but a 2-km hike to Har Ki Pauri. The bus station, close to the train station, is chaotic and has no signage in English, but regular services run from Delhi (theoretically 4 hours), Rishikesh (one hour) and other important towns of North India. Check the bus condition before booking and go for cushioned, push-back seats, as the long, bumpy ride takes a toll; AC buses are in short supply during summer vacations, so arrive an hour to an hour and a half before your preferred departure to secure a reservation.
Getting around
Central Haridwar is compact and best explored on foot, with the main sights clustered around the river and the old town. The railway station sits on the south side of town, within walking distance of most hotels, but it is a 2-km hike from there to Har Ki Pauri, the most sacred ghat — so plan on either a decent walk or a short rickshaw ride to reach the riverfront. Cycle rickshaws are the classic short-hop option and easy to flag down; auto-rickshaws and taxis are also available at the train and bus stations. Agree on your fare before you set off.
If you want to spend more than three hours visiting ashrams and local temples, hiring a taxi for that purpose is an option, as is an auto-rickshaw for similar distances. For longer journeys, Haridwar Junction is well connected by train, with frequent services to Delhi and Dehradun, and a few trains per day to Rishikesh — though buses are faster and much more frequent on that route. The bus station is close to the train station, but it is chaotic and has no signage in English, so inspect the bus before committing and opt for cushioned, push-back seats. Book trains and buses in advance, especially during pilgrimage season, and if you can, avoid the Sawan period and the monsoon, when roads are blocked and services are packed.
Where to stay
Haridwar has accommodation to suit most budgets, from dharamshalas and guest houses to riverside mid-range hotels and a handful of upmarket options. Check-in at most hotels is around noon, and many places sit within walking distance of Har Ki Pauri or the railway station. If you want a modern cluster rather than the old-city lanes, look to Bhopatwala, roughly 5 km north of the centre, where a group of newer hotels has appeared.
- Budget: Guest houses such as Ambience Guest House and Hotel Gayatri Classic in Shravan Nath Nagar, and Hotel Jimmy on Sadhubela Marg, offer air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned rooms. Hotel Haridwar Residency on Kankhal Road is a short walk from the railway and bus station, with singles through four-bed rooms and a 24-hour reception. Hotel Bhagwati Niwas sits on the banks of the Ganges near Vishnu Ghat, with rooms facing the river and a private ghat. Hotel Ganga Azure on Railway Road has small rooms and hot water only in the early morning. Dharamshalas are plentiful, including Jhakad Dharam Sala under the flyover bridge at Bharat Mata Mandir and Shri Ram Sharnam Ashram in Bhopatwala.
- Mid-range: Bhaj-Govindam near Bhimgoda Bridge offers hut-style accommodation with a common lawn overlooking the river. Chitra Heritage and Virasat Residency, both on Chitra cinema Street, are a short walk from the railway station and Har Ki Pauri, with spacious front-facing rooms and parking. Hotel Ganga Darshan is close to Har Ki Pauri, banks and the local market. Hotel LandMark on Main Jwalapur Haridwar Road puts you within reach of Har Ki Pauri, Daksh Mahadev Temple and the commercial market. Teerth at Subhash Ghat sits right beside Har Ki Pauri, its balconies giving river views.
- Splurge: Haveli Hari Ganga at Ram Ghat is a comfortably appointed hotel and spa with a private ghat and some balconies over the river. Ganga Lahari at Gou Ghat, close to Har Ki Pauri, has rooms opening onto a central corridor facing the river. Ginger Haridwar in Bhopatwala is clean and minimalistic, while County Inn & Suites at Haripur Kalan, Motichur, is the international branded option, though it lies some 6 km out of town. Hotel Hari Heritage on Rishikesh Road, opposite Shantikunj, and Hotel Shiv Murti near Shivmurti chowk round out the higher end.
Food & drink
Haridwar is a purely vegetarian town, and alcohol is banned throughout it, so your eating and drinking will revolve around choley, thalis and sweets rather than bars. Head to Upper Road en route to Mansa Devi Temple for Bhagwati Chole Wala, an old institution serving chole baturey, bun bread with choley, minced buns in choley gravy and rice choley, with piping hot choley stew, salad and lassi. Nearer Har Ki Pauri, Hoshiyarpuriwala is another long-standing shop with a wide range of North Indian delicacies and a house dessert, while Mohan Puri at Harki Pauri is the area's best-known food shop, though it gets congested in festival season. For choley kulche, try Sushanto Choley Kulche wala in Ramghat main bazaar on the curve en route to Mansa Devi Temple. Around Subhash Ghat, just below the steps south of Har Ki Pauri, you will find Chotiwalas Asli, which claims to be the original unfranchised Chotiwalas and serves a filling paneer-and-vegetable special in a creamy tomato base topped with cheese and yogurt; the other Chotiwalas outlets around town offer a broad menu of South and North Indian favourites with some Indian-Chinese dishes. Bengali cooking is well represented: Dada Boudir Hotel on Railway Road serves lunch and dinner, Didir Hotel opposite Hotel Vishrant at Vishnughat is known for its thalis and Dhokaar Dalna, and Mashir Hotel at Vishnughat offers unlimited Bengali thalis plus a puri sabji breakfast. South Indian food turns up at Kwality Mysore Restaurant on Upper Road and at Dosa Plaza opposite the railway station, which offers a huge range of dosas alongside Indian and Chinese food. For something air-conditioned and multi-cuisine, Sindh Dugdh Bhandar on Railway Road has been popular since 1948, and Spice N Nice on Main Jwalapur Haridwar Road serves Punjabi, South Indian, Chinese and Continental dishes. Kreams n Kountry on Station Road is a good stop for pao bhaji, rajma chawal, veggie burgers, chaat and ice cream.What to see and do
Haridwar's focal point is Har Ki Pauri, north of the centre, where devotees gather to bathe and worship on the Ganges. Legend holds that a drop of nectar fell here from the churning of the oceans at creation, and a stone wall bears Vishnu's footprint. Each evening around 7PM (5:45PM in winter), thousands gather to worship the river Goddess by placing diyas (floating lamps) in the water. You may be asked to make a donation if you linger near the ghats, and there are donation boxes at the centre of the ghats around the light poles; beware of con artists posing as officials. Other temples worth visiting include Maya Devi Temple on upper road, one of the 51 Shakti Pithas and the presiding deity from which Haridwar takes its other name, Mayapur; Chandi Devi Temple on the Neel Parvat, built in 1929 by Suchat Singh, the King of Kashmir, with a deity said to have been installed by Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century, reachable by cable car; and Mansa Devi Temple at the top of a hill near the centre, reached by cable car or a gently winding uphill road starting from Railway Rd, where the temple itself is aesthetically not particularly noteworthy but the views are grand, and where you should expect queues both to board the cable car and to enter the temple. Further out, Bharat Mata Mandir, dedicated to Mother India, is half temple and half nation-building exercise, with seven floors stacked with deities, saints and secular heroes of all Indian faiths, and some signage in English. Daksheswar Mahadev Temple in Kankhal is linked with the story of Mata Sati, Lord Shiva and Daksha Prajapati, while Sureshwari Devi Temple lies outside Haridwar within Rajaji National Park, a serene and religious site for which permission to enter is required from forest rangers. For wildlife, head to Rajaji National Park, spread over the foothills of the Himalayas and Haridwar, Dehradun and Pauri. Walking around the park you can spot elephants, leopards and deer, and the bird life is prolific, with a large elephant population. Haridwar is also the site of many religious festivals. Once every twelve years it hosts the Kumbh Mela, which rotates between Haridwar and Prayagraj, Ujjain and Nashik, while the Ardh Kumbh, or "Half Kumbh", is held every six years. Yearly festivals include Baisakhi in April, when devotees from Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Haryana converge here; Kanwar Mela in July, the largest yearly festival; Kartik Purnima, held 15 days after Diwali on the first night of the full moon in November; and Somwati Amavasya in July, almost as large as the Kanwar Mela. While the festivals are colourful and fascinating, they also strain the town's limited infrastructure to the breaking point and sometimes beyond, so book rooms and tickets well in advance and avoid travel by road, as the traffic jams can be horrendous.When to go
Haridwar's year divides into a hot season, a monsoon and a cool season, and each changes both the feel of the days and the look of the Ganges. In summer the heat builds steadily and shapes how you spend your time, with the river's cold water offering relief from the hot days. This is a typical northern Indian summer, so plan around the heat rather than fighting it.
- Summer: Days are hot and the cold Ganges is a welcome relief; expect the heat to dictate your daily rhythm.
- Monsoon: Rain falls and soil washes down from the upper regions, leaving the river discoloured and heavy with sediment rather than clear.
- Winter: Nights and early mornings turn cold while days stay mild, and the Ganges runs generally clear and cold.
If clear water matters most to you, summer and winter are when the river runs clear and cold; the monsoon is the season to expect rain and a sediment-heavy, no-longer-clear Ganges.
Three days in Haridwar
Day one: Arrive in Haridwar, the Gateway to God in Uttarakhand, India, where the River Ganges leaves the mountains for the North Indian plains. Expect sadhus and monkeys around the ghats, and check into a guesthouse in Central Haridwar. In the evening, go to Har Ki Pauri for the Ganges ceremony, one of the main reasons travellers come to this Hindu pilgrimage city.
Day two: Start early, when the timing is quieter, and walk the ghats near Har Ki Pauri. If you want to see more of the region, Rishikesh is close by, and you can reach it by road from Haridwar. From Delhi, you can also book a trip to Haridwar by train to Haridwar Junction (HW) or by air to Jolly Grant Airport near Dehradun. In the evening, return to the river for the ceremony again.
Day three: During Kumbh Mela, the city is at its busiest, so plan around the crowds. In Sawan, from July to August, the weather is warm and humid, and the ghats are especially full. If you visit in May, expect hot days. Check whether your guesthouse has AC, agree on a cycle rickshaw fare before you ride, and use English or Hindi to ask your way around North India.