Nainital

The lake was sacred long before it was a resort: Naina Devi, whose temple stands on the northern shore, is the goddess the town is named for. The British version begins in 1841, when a sugar trader from Shahjahanpur named P. Barron built the first European house here and wrote enthusiastically about it. Within a few decades Nainital was the summer seat of the government of the United Provinces, with schools, clubs and a church in the deodars.

Then, in September 1880, after days of torrential rain, a hillside above the northern end of the lake gave way. About 150 people were killed and the original Naina Devi temple was buried. The debris was levelled into the open ground now called the Flats, where the town plays cricket and holds its fairs, and the temple was rebuilt close by. It is a strange thing to stand on, once you know.

Nainital is the gateway to Kumaon, and the region's culture shows through the holiday crowds: in September the Nanda Devi Mela brings processions and Kumaoni song to the lakeshore, and in autumn Sharadotsav fills the Flats with music. The boarding schools — some more than a century old — still give the town a term-time rhythm.

Kumaoni food is plain and good: bhatt ki churkani, a dark gravy of black soybeans; aloo ke gutke, potatoes fried with cumin and red chilli; ras, a slow-cooked mixed-lentil broth; bhang ki chutney made from hemp seeds. For something sweet, the cone-shaped singori wrapped in a leaf and bal mithai, chocolate-brown fudge rolled in sugar balls, come down from Almora.

Avoid arriving by car in peak season; parking is scarce, entry is often restricted and the last kilometres can take hours. Leave the car at your hotel and walk the Mall. Take a rowing boat on the lake early in the morning, before the pedal boats fill it. Tiffin Top and Snow View are best before the haze. And if you are visiting Kainchi Dham, Neem Karoli Baba's ashram on the Almora road, avoid the foundation day on 15 June unless you want a crowd of hundreds of thousands.

The lake is fed by springs and seepage from the hills, and the town's water supply depends on it. Every new construction on the slopes risks both the water and the stability of the ground — the 1880 landslide is not ancient history here. Choose existing hotels, travel light, and do not throw anything into the lake.

Travellers who want Kumaon without the crowds go on to Almora, about two and a half hours deeper into the hills — an old hill capital with a stone-paved bazaar and some of the best Himalayan views in Uttarakhand.