Nainital & Corbett — Lake and Forest in Three Nights

North-east out of Delhi across the plain and then up into the Kumaon hills — a long drive of around seven hours, the last two of it climbing. Nainital sits at about 2,000 m in a bowl around a lake the town takes its name from, and was built by the British from 1841 after a sugar merchant came across it. The afternoon is arrival and the Mall, which runs along the water; boats work the lake until dusk and the rowed ones are better than the pedalos.

Snow View by ropeway or road in the early morning, when the Himalaya to the north is most likely to be clear — Nanda Devi among the peaks visible, at 7,816 m the highest entirely within India. Naina Devi temple sits on the lake shore and is one of the Shakti Peethas. The afternoon drops to the smaller lakes below the town: Bhimtal with its island, Sattal's cluster of interconnected water, and Naukuchiatal, which is said to have nine corners and to grant a wish to anyone who sees all of them at once.

South-west out of the hills to the Ramganga valley, around three hours. Corbett was declared in 1936 as Hailey National Park and was the first in India; it was renamed for Jim Corbett, the hunter of man-eating leopards and tigers who became the campaigner for its protection. The reserve holds one of the densest tiger populations anywhere along with elephant, sloth bear and gharial. The afternoon takes Corbett Falls and the Garjia Devi temple, which stands on a rock in the middle of the river.

An early jeep safari into one of the reserve's zones — sal forest, the grassland the locals call chaur, and the Ramganga running through it. Safaris are booked, allocated and priced by the forest department rather than by any operator, and the zone you are given is not something anyone can choose. Then south-west across the plain to Delhi, around six hours, so the flight home should be an evening one.