Rishikesh is a pilgrimage town of about 100,000 on the Ganges at 340 m, where the river drops out of the Himalaya into the plain. Come for the evening aarti at Triveni Ghat, the ashrams around Swarg Ashram and Tapovan, and Grade III rapids upstream from mid-September to June. Alcohol and meat are not sold here. Two full days is enough.
The Ganges leaves the Himalaya here, and the town on the bank sells stillness and whitewater in the same street. Rishikesh is vegetarian and dry by custom, so the evening ends at the ghat rather than the bar. Two nights covers it. Three lets you climb something.
Three rivers are said to meet here, and the town turns out at dusk for the fire ceremony: lamps passed along the steps, leaf boats let go on the current. It is louder and less choreographed than the ashram version upstream. Come half an hour early for a place near the water.
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's meditation academy, where the Beatles spent early 1968 and wrote most of the White Album. Abandoned in the 1990s and reopened by the forest department: domed stone huts, a painted lecture hall, and jungle taking back the rest.
The standard run is about 16 km of Grade II and III water back into town, with Roller Coaster and Golf Course the rapids people talk about afterwards. The season is mid-September to the end of June. The river is closed through the monsoon.
The largest ashram in Rishikesh, and the ceremony most visitors are taken to: chanting led from the ghat steps beneath a Shiva statue standing in the river. It starts and finishes earlier than the one at Triveni Ghat, so you can watch both in an evening.
228 m of 1986 steel cable, and still the crossing that carries the crowd, the cows and the scooters. Laxman Jhula, the 1929 original upstream, has been closed to foot traffic since July 2019, so the older bridge is now something you photograph rather than walk.
A Shiva temple at 1,330 m, roughly 26 km up a switchback road through Rajaji forest, on the spot where he is said to have swallowed the ocean's poison. Pilgrims still climb the forest trail from Swarg Ashram instead. Kanwar season fills it beyond comfort.
One of Uttarakhand's Shakti Peethas, on a 1,676 m cone about 25 km above the town. The reason to leave at half past four is the line of Himalayan peaks that comes up behind the shrine as the light arrives, with the Doon valley on the other side.
Thirteen storeys of shrines stacked above the river at Laxman Jhula, painted, crowded and free to climb. Every landing holds another deity and another donation box. The top floor gives the best view of both bridges and the bend the town is built on.
India's highest fixed-platform bungee, 83 m over a wooded gorge north of town, built and run to New Zealand jump-master standards. A giant swing and a flying fox share the site. Slots are booked ahead rather than walked up to, and there is a weight limit.
A short, steep path off the Badrinath road above Laxman Jhula to a three-tier fall, with a pool at the top worth the extra ten minutes of climbing. There is a ticket booth at the gate. Go after the monsoon, when there is water and the rock has dried.
A riverside ashram known for Iyengar-method classes rather than for retreats.
Daily practice in Tapovan, with teacher training run on a fixed calendar.
Thirteen painted floors above Laxman Jhula, and the best view of both bridges.
A Shiva temple at 1,330 m, reached by road or by the forest climb from Swarg Ashram.
A Shakti Peetha on a 1,676 m cone, and the sunrise everyone sets an alarm for.
Most rafting packages stop for a jump off the rocks and a float through flat water.
Three tiers up a steep path off the Badrinath road, with a ticket booth at the gate.
Jeep to the base, then a steep flight of steps to the shrine and the peak line.
The pilgrim climb from Swarg Ashram, still walked in thousands in Kanwar season.
Where the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanda meet and become the Ganga. Two colours, one river.
Yellow at the ghats to mark the turn toward spring, and the start of the wedding run.
Night-long queues at Neelkanth Mahadev, and processions through the town below.
Played hard in the town and around the ghats. The ashrams keep a quieter version.
A week of classes and talks at Parmarth Niketan, with teachers from dozens of countries.
Rishikesh is the road head for the four shrines, so buses and rooms fill from April.
The day the river is said to have come to earth. Bathing at the ghats from before dawn.
Walkers in orange carry Ganga water south through Shravan. Roads and ghats fill.
Lamps down the ghats and along both banks, with the aarti larger than usual.
Jolly Grant, about 20 km away and the only airport near the town. Taxis and shared vehicles cover the run in under an hour.
Two stations: the old Rishikesh terminus in town, and Yog Nagari Rishikesh, opened in 2021 on the Karnaprayag line and served by long-distance trains.
State buses from Delhi, Haridwar and Dehradun use the ISBT near Nataraj Chowk. Hill services for the Char Dham towns leave from the yatra stand.
Shared autos and e-rickshaws run between the town, Ram Jhula and Tapovan. The crossings are footbridges, so the last stretch is always walked.
Boiled potatoes fried down with cumin and dried chilli. The Garhwali staple.
Spinach and fenugreek slow-cooked in an iron pan and thickened with rice flour.
Roasted black gram ground to a powder, then cooked slowly. Heavy and earthy.
Mixed lentils soaked overnight and cooked to a thin curry, eaten over rice.
Roasted hemp seed ground with lemon and chilli. Sour, nutty, served with everything.
Barnyard millet cooked in milk with cashews. The dessert worth ordering.
The ghat breakfast: fried bread and a potato curry, eaten standing up.
Thick, sweet and served in a clay cup along the Ram Jhula road.
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