Kathgodam to Bhimtal by taxi

The route at a glance

Distance

21–23 km. The Nainital district administration gives 22 km from Kathgodam railway station

Driving time

35–50 minutes

Altitude

1,370 m

Road

Kathgodam → Ranibagh → the Haldwani–Bhowali road via Bhimtal → the Bhimtal bypass

From Haldwani

28 km

From Nainital

22 km

From Bhowali

11 km

From Pantnagar airport

58 km

The lake

Larger than Naini Lake, with an island about 91 m from the shore reached by boat

Distances and journey times on this page are drawn from published sources and from our own driving, and are given as ranges because that is what they honestly are. A figure quoted to the kilometre on a Himalayan road is usually a figure someone made up.

We describe this road by the towns on it rather than by a highway number. Highway numbering in Uttarakhand was reorganised and a lot of travel sites still print obsolete numbers; we could not verify the current designation for this stretch, so we are not going to invent one.

The gentlest arrival in Kumaon

This is the real argument for Bhimtal and it is almost never made properly. Compare the two roads out of Kathgodam side by side.

Seven hundred metres less climb, roughly half the driving time, and a road that spends less of itself doubling back. Read as a tourism comparison that means very little. Read as a medical and practical one it means a great deal.

Who this actually matters for

• Anyone prone to motion sickness. Car sickness on these roads is caused by sustained cornering, not by altitude or distance. Thirty-five to fifty minutes with fewer continuous bends is a fundamentally different experience from ninety minutes of them, and we have had more than one family reach Bhimtal comfortably having previously written off hill travel entirely.
• Families with small children. A child who will sit still for forty minutes will not necessarily sit still for ninety, and a shorter first drive gives you a base you can make short day trips from rather than one long haul.
• Elderly travellers. Less time in the car, a lower final altitude and a gentler gradient. If a parent is arriving tired off a long train journey, this is the arrival to choose.
• Pre-dawn and late-night arrivals. Several trains reach Kathgodam before first light. Forty minutes of hill road in the dark is a much smaller thing to ask than an hour and a half of it, and you can be at a guesthouse by breakfast rather than mid-morning.
• Anyone arriving unwell, or with a long onward day tomorrow. Bhimtal is a good place to break into the hills gently and go higher the next day, once everyone has slept.

If you have not settled where to stay yet, our comparison of Nainital versus Bhimtal takes the decision on its merits rather than trying to sell you the longer drive.

Kathgodam to Bhimtal taxi and car rental fare

We do not publish a fixed rate card for this route, and we would rather explain why than show you a number that changes the moment you ask about it. A hill-route fare is not one number — it moves with the vehicle, the season, whether the driver returns empty, and how long the car is held.

Because this is a short run, the shape of the booking matters more than the distance. A straight drop of 22 km and a car retained for a day of Bhimtal, Bhowali and Nainital are very different pieces of work, and quotes that look wildly apart are often describing those two different things. Tell us which you want and the number stops being confusing.

What moves the price

• One way versus round trip. This is the single biggest factor and the one most quoted prices hide. On a hill route a one-way drop usually means the driver returns empty. You are paying for a vehicle and a driver's day, not only for the kilometres you sit in the car. That is why a one-way fare is often closer to a return fare than people expect.
• Vehicle class. A hatchback and a seven-seat SUV are different costs to run on a continuous climb.
• Season. Peak weeks — roughly late April to mid-June, and around major festivals and the Kainchi Dham anniversary in June — are busier and dearer than a quiet week in September.
• Waiting and sightseeing. A straight drop is not the same as holding the car while you spend three hours at a temple or a lake.
• Night travel and pre-dawn pickups. Overnight trains reach Kathgodam before first light. We do run those pickups; they cost more than a mid-morning one.
• Tolls, parking and entry charges. Nainital levies a toll on vehicles entering the town, and parking at Nainital and Kainchi Dham can be a real cost in season.

What we tell you before you book

When we quote you, we say plainly whether the figure includes fuel, driver, tolls, parking and state taxes, and what is charged separately. If something is likely to be extra — a long wait, an added stop, an early start — we say so before you commit, not at the end of the journey.

Which vehicle for this road

This is the one route from Kathgodam where we will actively tell most people not to upgrade. The road is good, the climb is modest and the distance is short. Spend the money on an extra day instead.

What is at Bhimtal when you get there

The lake is larger than Naini Lake, which surprises people who assume Nainital has the big one. Near its middle is an island roughly 91 metres from the shore, reached by boat, with an aquarium on it. On the bank stands the Bhimeshwara Mahadev temple, which dates from the seventeenth century, beside a forty-foot dam. The town takes its name from the temple, and the temple from Bhima of the Mahabharata.

The practical difference from Nainital is that Bhimtal is a lake with a town around it rather than a hill station built for the season. There is less to walk to and correspondingly less crowd, which is exactly why some travellers prefer it and others find it too quiet. We are not going to pretend it is either the better or the lesser choice — it depends entirely on what you want out of the week.

Bhimtal as a base

The official district distances make the case on their own. Bhowali is 11 km away and Nainital 22 km. Kainchi Dham is 9 km beyond Bhowali on the Almora road, so it is a short run rather than an expedition. Pantnagar airport is 58 km.

What that gives you is a base at a comfortable altitude with the busier places close enough to visit and leave. A car held for a day from Bhimtal covers Bhowali, Kainchi Dham and Nainital without any of the driving becoming a slog, and you come back to somewhere quiet at the end of it. If you are continuing deeper into Kumaon afterwards, the same road carries on through Bhowali towards Almora and Ranikhet.

Pickup from Kathgodam railway station

Kathgodam (station code KGM) is the end of the broad-gauge line in Kumaon. The railway stops here and the mountains begin, which is why almost every road journey into Nainital, Almora, Ranikhet, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh starts from this platform.

If you have booked with us, tell us your train name or number rather than only the arrival time. Trains into Kathgodam run late often enough that a time alone is not much use, and a train number lets us track you and adjust. There is no charge for a delayed train on a booking we already hold — we would rather wait than have you arrive at 5 am to no car.

We confirm the exact meeting point with you by WhatsApp the evening before, with a photograph of the vehicle, the registration number and the driver's name and phone number.

Full guide to arriving at Kathgodam railway station — what the exit looks like, the prepaid counter, what independent drivers will quote you, and what to do on a pre-dawn arrival.

Best time to travel

March to June is warm and busy, and Bhimtal handles the season better than Nainital does simply because fewer people come. October and November give the clearest air and the best views across the water, and are our own preference.

Late June to September is the monsoon. The lake is full and the hillsides are green, the crowds are gone, and the trade-off is rain, cloud and the occasional slip on the road up. December to February is cold but rarely blocked at this altitude — at 1,370 m Bhimtal sits below the levels where snow closes roads most often, which is another quiet argument in its favour for a winter visit.

Common questions