Wildlife enthusiasts find a treasure trove of biodiversity here, partly protected in national parks and wildlife reserves throughout the state. Most notably, Jim Corbett National Park and Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Park. Jim Corbett National Park is named after A famous British hunter-turned-conservationist. It is well known and popular as it is one of the tiger parks in India that is easiest to reach from Delhi. Apart from being home to a wide array of mammals, birds and plant life, it has very appealing landscapes and a well-laid out infrastructure of jeep trails. Nanda Devi & Valley of Flowers National Parks are two formerly separated but now joined protected areas lying almost completely at or higher than 3500m (11.500 ft). They can be explored only on foot.

To Hindus – who make up 83% of the state’s population – the higher reaches of Uttarakhand are known as Dev Bhoomi – the abode of the gods. This is not just folklore, as present day Hindu culture finds many of its roots in this area. It is believed that the sage Vyasa scripted the Hindu epic Mahabharata here. In the Middle Ages, the Hindu kingdoms of Garwhal and Kumaon made up the western and eastern part of the present day state, respectively.

Millions flock every year to the many pilgrim sites that the state harbors. Easily accessible places like Rishikesh, Haridwar are not only popular with Hindu pilgrims but also host numerous ashrams and yoga schools that cater mainly to foreign visitors. Much higher up, you can witness die-hard Hindu pilgrims and saddhus dipping themselves in ice-cold waters where Mother Ganga (Ganges) emerges from the mouth of a glacier.

Traveling by car, you may experience Uttarakhand as a never-ending series of curves and switchbacks, but after each of these bends new views and sights await you. The mountains are covered in forests and green fields and especially in the winter months you get breathtaking views of the snow-clad Himalayas on the border with Tibet (China). Uttarakhand counts numerous so-called hill stations, towns situated at medium elevation levels that have been welcoming tourist since the British era. These hill stations are popular with domestic tourists, but have a lot to offer to ‘foreigners’ as well. In and around them, you can find (with some effort) hidden lodges, boutique hotels and family-run retreats with a high degree of the ‘Hotel California factor’: you can check in any time, but you may never want to leave.