From Delhi: Rishikesh Guided Day Tour by Car

Rishikesh in a day — the honest version

It is 240 km each way and the day runs around eleven hours. That is real, and you should book it knowing you will spend five of those hours in a car. What you get in exchange is the Ganges where it comes out of the Himalaya, clear and cold and green, which is nothing like the river at Varanasi.

Pickup is early from Delhi, Noida, Gurugram or the airport.

Laxman Jhula and Ram Jhula

Two suspension footbridges across the river, a couple of kilometres apart, and the centre of gravity of the whole town. You cross on foot with pilgrims, motorcycles, cows and monkeys — do not carry food in your hand near the monkeys, they are organised.

Temples stack up on the east bank in tiers, and the view back across the water from mid-bridge is the photograph everyone takes.

Parmarth Niketan

The largest ashram in Rishikesh, over a thousand rooms, with the ghat where Ganga Aarti is performed every evening at sunset — lamps, singing, and the river carrying flame downstream. If your day runs late enough to include it, stay for it.

The town

Rishikesh has been a place of meditation for centuries and a place of yoga schools since the Beatles came to Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's ashram in 1968. That ashram is now abandoned and covered in murals, and you can walk through it for a small fee.

The markets sell rudraksha beads, Ayurvedic oils, singing bowls and a great deal of tourist tat; your guide knows which shops weigh honestly.

Rules to know before you arrive

Rishikesh is entirely vegetarian and alcohol-free within the municipal limits. This is not a suggestion and there is nowhere to get around it.

Included

Private air-conditioned car with driver for the full day, and a guide in Rishikesh. Meals, entrance donations and any rafting or activity bookings are separate.