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The route to be taken from Delhi to Valley of Flowers?
There are two routes that you can take to reach the Valley of Flowers from Delhi. Both of these routes only reach up to Govind Ghat. From Govind Ghat, you need to reach the Valley of Flowers by foot, on a 17 kilometres trek.
- Route No. 1 via Haridwar - Delhi > Meerut > Haridwar > Rishikesh > Devaprayag > Srinagar > Rudrapayag > Joshimath > Govind Ghat.
This route is about 517 kilometers long. It is recommended that you take a night halt in Rishikesh since vehicles are not allowed on the roads after 8:00 pm, during off-season and only up to 12:00 pm during peak season. From Delhi to Meerut, road conditions are good. There's a small stretch of roads between Ghaziabad to Meerut where the roads are a bit problematic but it's not bad. You can reach Meerut in about 3 hours or less for this stretch.
From Meerut to Haridwar, road conditions are okay. However, from Muzaffarnagar to Haridwar, the single lane highway can be an issue. You would need to change lanes most of the time as well due to the trucks obstructing the way. Just be careful with this stretch and make sure there's no vehicle approaching before you overtake. You can reach Haridwar in about three hours or less.
From Haridwar to Rishikesh, roads are in good condition. You can reach Rishikesh from Haridwar in about 40 minutes. As mentioned, do consider staying the night at Rishikesh. If not, just be careful on continuing on with your journey as most shops close by 8:00 pm during off-peak season.
From Rishikesh to Devaprayag, roads are in okay condition. But the same cannot be said if you're travelling during the monsoon season, as the roads can get blocked due to landslides. The distance is about 72 kilometres which can take 2 hours or more to cover.
From Devaprayag to Govind Ghat, again, road conditions depend on the weather. If it's raining, landslides are common which can lead to road blocks. This is about 270 kilometres long so it can take around 7 to 8 hours to cover.
- Route No. 2 via Haldwani - Delhi > Ghaziabad > Moradabad > Rudrapur > Haldwani > Raniket > Karnaprayag > Joshimath > Govind Ghat.
This route is about 600 kilometres long. From Delhi to Moradabad, road conditions are good. There are some diversions but you can easily pass through them. This is about 166 kilometres long and can take around 3 hours or more to cover.
From Moradabad to Rudrapur, road conditions are not that good. You'd encounter some bad patches along with craters. Be careful on this stretch. The route also has many trucks so that slows the journey as well. This is about 72 kilometres and can take around 2 hours to cover.
From Rudrapur to Haldwani, roads are good but teeming with traffic. This is just 52 kilometres long but the traffic can slow you down. So expect journey time to be around an hour or two.
From Haldwani to Joshimath, road conditions are good. This route also experiences less landslide and less traffic as compared to the first route. This is about 299 kilometres long and can take you 10 hours to cover that distance.
Joshimath to Govind Ghat is just 20.7 kilometres away and the roads are in an okay condition.
I would suggest taking the second route as it has safer road conditions. Aside from that, since you're driving at night time, you cannot take the first route which has some roads closed after a set time.
How safe is it driving on this route from Delhi?
This route is safer than the first route although it is also longer. But since your safety is the number one concern, then just choose this route. It doesn't have as much landslides unlike the first route even on monsoon season. Traffic is also considerably less in this route.
Would you suggest taking any other mode of transport instead driving there?
I would suggest just bring your own car. If you're not an experienced driver for these terrains, then you can just hire a driver. However, I still believe that it's safer to bring your own car and drive these terrains yourself. The route itself isn't that bad but you might get a bit tired towards the end of the journey. That's why it's recommended to have a stopover in between the journey. Bus and train journey are doable for this route but the frequency of jeeps from Rishikesh to Joshimath can be low.
I hope this helps!
