Jyotirmath, the end of the highway journey and the start of the Auli road, in January 2017. Photo © Tanuj Namboodri, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
How far Auli is from Delhi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Haldwani and Nainital, which trains get you closest, what the buses really do, the last stretch up from Jyotirmath now that the ropeway is shut, and where to stop for the night in winter.
The short answer: Auli is 491 km from Delhi by road, about 12 hours without stops on Google Maps, up the Ganga to Rishikesh and then along the Alaknanda on NH 7 through Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Chamoli to Jyotirmath, the town most people still call Joshimath, and finally 12 km up the Auli road. From Haldwani it is 308 km, about ten and a half hours, by the Kumaon road through Ranikhet and Dwarahat to Karnaprayag, where it joins the same highway. No train goes beyond Rishikesh yet, and no bus runs to Auli itself: the nearest stations are Yog Nagari Rishikesh (259 km), Haridwar (283 km) and Dehradun (296 km), and in the yatra season Uttarakhand Roadways runs buses from Rishikesh to Badrinath that pass through Jyotirmath. The ropeway from Jyotirmath to Auli has been shut since January 2023, so the last stretch is by road. In winter none of these drives fits into one day of light, so plan a night on the way.
By Nandini Upreti, Contributor, Almora. About the author ↓
The roads and distances on this page hold good every year. The things below change, so they sit here with the day we checked them.
Getting to Auli in winter 2026-27
Sources: Amar Ujala (Chamoli, 21 June 2026 and 25 January 2026), the Uttarakhand Roadways timetable (read 28 October 2026), Amar Ujala (Chamoli and Dehradun, 20 October 2026, for the Badrinath date), Indian Infrastructure (15 September 2026) and Swarajya (21 November 2025) for the railway.
We measured every route on Google Maps on 27 and 28 October 2026, to the Auli slopes, with usual traffic and no stops.
| From | Distance | Drive without stops | Way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delhi (India Gate) | 491 km | 11 h 52 min | Meerut, Haridwar, Rishikesh, then NH 7 |
| Haridwar railway station | 283 km | 8 h 32 min | Rishikesh, Devprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag, Chamoli |
| Yog Nagari Rishikesh station | 259 km | 7 h 47 min | NH 7, as above |
| Dehradun railway station | 296 km | 8 h 48 min | Down to Rishikesh, then NH 7 |
| Jolly Grant airport, Dehradun | 273 km | 8 h 6 min | Rishikesh, then NH 7 |
| Haldwani bus stand | 308 km | 10 h 31 min | Bhowali, Dwarahat, Chaukhutia, Karnaprayag, then NH 7 |
| Kathgodam | 303 km | 10 h 20 min | The same road |
| Nainital (Tallital bus stand) | 279 km | 9 h 31 min | Ranikhet, Dwarahat, Chaukhutia, Karnaprayag |
| Pantnagar airport | 332 km | about 11 h | Haldwani, then the Kumaon road |
| Karnaprayag bus stand | 90.6 km | 2 h 59 min | NH 7 through Chamoli and Pipalkoti |
| Jyotirmath (Narsingh temple) | 12.3 km | 33 min | The Auli road |
From Kumaon, Nainital is closer to Auli than Haldwani is, by 29 km, because the road from Nainital heads straight for Ranikhet without the climb up from the plains. Google Maps put the Jyotirmath to Auli stretch at 12.3 km on 27 October and 13.3 km on 28 October, depending on where in town it started; allow 35 to 40 minutes in daylight.
There is no railway into the Alaknanda valley yet, so every train trip to Auli ends at Haridwar, Rishikesh or Dehradun, and the rest is road. Haridwar has the most trains and is on the way; Yog Nagari Rishikesh, the new station on the edge of Rishikesh, is 24 km closer to Auli but has fewer trains from Delhi; Dehradun only makes sense if your train suits you better, since the road from there goes back down through Rishikesh. These are the daily trains from Delhi that fit a trip to Auli, with times as published and compared across three booking sites on 28 October 2026; check the railway’s own enquiry service before you book, since winter fog delays northern trains.
| Train | Leaves Delhi | Arrives | What it means for Auli |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14341 Mussoorie Express | Old Delhi 22:25 | Haridwar 05:50 | Overnight; on the road at first light, as far as Karnaprayag or Jyotirmath that day |
| 12401 Kota–Dehradun AC Express | Hazrat Nizamuddin 23:50 | Haridwar 03:55 | Overnight but arrives in the dark; wait for daylight before setting off |
| 19031 Yoga Express | Old Delhi 05:05 | Haridwar 11:20, Yog Nagari Rishikesh 12:25 | Far enough for Rudraprayag before dark |
| 12017 Dehradun Shatabdi | New Delhi 06:45 | Haridwar 11:35 | The same: a night at Rudraprayag or Srinagar |
| 12055 Dehradun Jan Shatabdi | New Delhi 15:20 | Haridwar 19:27 | Sleep in Haridwar or Rishikesh, start next morning |
| 22457 Vande Bharat | Anand Vihar 17:50 | Haridwar 21:11 | The same; not on Thursdays by two of the three sites |
From Haridwar or Rishikesh the road climbs along the Ganga to Devprayag, where the Alaknanda comes in, and then follows the Alaknanda on NH 7 through Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Gauchar, Karnaprayag, Chamoli and Pipalkoti to Jyotirmath. From Yog Nagari Rishikesh it is 137 km and about four hours to Rudraprayag, and from Haridwar station 192 km and about five and a half hours to Karnaprayag, both natural places to stop. Driving all the way from Delhi, the plains stretch to Rishikesh is 238 km and about four hours, so most people drive to Rishikesh or Haridwar on the first day and do the mountain road on the second and third.
The railway from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag, which will cut this journey down a great deal, is still being built. The main tunnels were nearly all dug by September 2026, but Indian Infrastructure reported a completion date of December 2029 and Swarajya one of December 2028 for the first train, so do not plan on it before then.
From Kumaon there is no need to go round by Rishikesh. The road from Haldwani climbs through Bhimtal and Bhowali, past Kainchi Dham to Khairna, and on through Ranikhet, Dwarahat and Chaukhutia before dropping to the Alaknanda at Karnaprayag, where it meets NH 7. Haldwani bus stand to Karnaprayag is 214 km and about seven and three quarter hours on Google Maps, and Karnaprayag to Auli another 90.6 km and three hours. From Nainital the road goes by Ranikhet and Dwarahat, and Tallital to Auli is 279 km. It is a slow road with long climbs, and the one we would most avoid after dark.
From Delhi, the Kumaon route makes sense if you want to come by train to Kathgodam. The overnight Ranikhet Express leaves Delhi Junction at 22:05 and reaches Kathgodam at 05:05, which leaves a full winter day to reach Karnaprayag; our Delhi to Kathgodam train guide has the other trains and this winter’s fog cancellations. It is also the natural way to combine Auli with Nainital or Kainchi Dham, which our Delhi to Nainital guide and our Haldwani to Kainchi Dham guide cover.
No bus goes to Auli. The question is how close a bus gets you, and the answer depends on the season. We read the Uttarakhand Roadways timetable on 28 October 2026. It listed no bus from Delhi to Jyotirmath. From Kashmere Gate in Delhi there was an evening ordinary bus at 20:30 to Gopeshwar, by Haridwar, Rishikesh, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Chamoli, where you would change for Jyotirmath, and three buses to Srinagar in Garhwal, at 05:00, 20:00 and 21:30, all bookable online. From Rishikesh there was an ordinary bus to Badrinath at 05:30, bookable online, and four Char Dham buses at 06:00, 07:00, 11:00 and 17:00 sold at the counter, all passing through Jyotirmath; from Haridwar there was one at 05:00. These run for the Badrinath pilgrimage, which ends on 16 November, and we could not confirm a winter timetable after that date. The arrival times the timetable gives did not look reliable, so allow a full day from Rishikesh to Jyotirmath. We could not get fares to show on the booking site.
From Haldwani, Roadways listed no bus to Jyotirmath, Karnaprayag or anywhere on the Badrinath road, so from Kumaon you go by taxi or your own car. Private operators also sell overnight buses from Delhi to Joshimath on booking sites, listed at about 14 to 15 hours; we have not travelled on them and do not vouch for them.
Shared jeeps also run between the towns on NH 7, but they keep no timetable and we found no published fare, so ask at the taxi stand in Rishikesh, Srinagar, Rudraprayag or Karnaprayag. A taxi for the whole trip is the usual winter choice for families, and our Haldwani cab guide lists operators for the Kumaon side.
Jolly Grant airport at Dehradun is the nearest with regular flights from Delhi and other cities, 273 km from Auli by Google Maps, about eight hours by road. The Chamoli district’s own page gives Jolly Grant as 222 km from Chamoli town, which is further down the valley. On the Kumaon side Pantnagar is 332 km and about 11 hours away, so it only helps if you are coming from Haldwani anyway. A small helicopter service on the government’s regional scheme began on 6 December 2025 from Dehradun to Gauchar, with stops at New Tehri and Srinagar, Haldwani Live reported; Gauchar is on NH 7 about 100 km below Auli. We could not confirm that it still runs or what it costs, and there is no helicopter service to Jyotirmath or Auli.
The last climb from Jyotirmath to Auli is about 12 km of narrow road with sharp bends, past Sunil and the TV Tower. On a dry day any car manages it in 35 to 40 minutes. After snow it is another road: frost forms on the shaded bends, vehicles skid, and the single lane jams. On 23 and 24 January 2026 the first snow of the winter closed it until it was cleared, and on 25 January police stopped tourist cars at the TV Tower and let only four-wheel drives and local vehicles go further. Over the New Year of 2024-25 the district went further, ordering tourists from 30 December to leave their cars at Ravigram ground in Jyotirmath and go up in local taxis, at Rs 1,500 one way or Rs 2,500 for a same-day return, five to a taxi. Expect something similar on busy, snowy days, and keep the hotel’s or a local driver’s number handy.
The ropeway, about 4 km long, used to carry visitors from Jyotirmath to the top of the slopes. It has been shut since January 2023, when land subsidence in Joshimath moved the ground near its first tower, and in January 2024 the state said every tower would have to be replaced before it could run again. Some booking and travel sites still sell tickets or quote timings for it; they are out of date. The GMVN chairlift on the slopes at Auli is a separate lift that does run in winter, and our guide to Auli in winter has what we know about it this season.
The snow closures on record are above Jyotirmath: on the Auli road, and on the Badrinath highway beyond Lambagad, which was shut by snow on 28 February 2025. The highway’s weak points are landslides rather than snow, and in the monsoon they can stop traffic for hours: on 2 July 2026 debris at Pagalnala and Gulabkoti, between Pipalkoti and Jyotirmath, shut it for about eleven and a half hours, with some 8,000 pilgrims held at Pipalkoti, Jyotirmath and Helang. On the Kumaon side, the road over Chaukhutia and down to Karnaprayag is the slower half of the trip.
The state transport department’s advice for the hill routes is not to drive before 5 AM or after 7 PM. In winter we would stop earlier than that: be at your night’s stop by about 4 PM, because shaded bends freeze once the sun goes and the light fails soon after five. Check the India Meteorological Department’s forecast for Chamoli district from its Dehradun centre before you set out, and ask at your hotel or the Jyotirmath police about the Auli road each morning after snow. For when the snow is likely and how cold it gets, see our Auli in winter guide.
With winter daylight from about seven in the morning to half past five in the evening, plan two days on the road from Delhi or Haldwani, and three from Delhi if you drive the whole way. These are the plans we would use.
Karnaprayag, Rudraprayag and Srinagar are towns on the highway with hotels. Jyotirmath has the most rooms close to Auli, and Auli itself has GMVN’s huts and a few hotels; our Auli in winter guide weighs one against the other. For the rest of the season, start from our Uttarakhand in winter guide.
Auli is 491 km from India Gate in Delhi by road on Google Maps, about 12 hours without stops, by Haridwar and Rishikesh and then NH 7 through Rudraprayag, Karnaprayag and Chamoli to Jyotirmath, and 12 km up the Auli road. In winter most people take two days, with a night at Rishikesh, Rudraprayag or Karnaprayag.
Yog Nagari Rishikesh, 259 km away by road, about seven and three quarter hours. Haridwar is 283 km and has more trains from Delhi, and Dehradun is 296 km. The railway from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag is still being built and is not expected before December 2028.
No. No bus goes to Auli itself, and on 28 October 2026 Uttarakhand Roadways listed none from Delhi to Jyotirmath either. Its nearest were an evening bus from Kashmere Gate to Gopeshwar and buses to Srinagar in Garhwal. In the yatra season Roadways runs buses from Rishikesh and Haridwar to Badrinath through Jyotirmath; Badrinath closes on 16 November 2026.
Yes, by road. Kathgodam to Auli is 303 km on Google Maps, about ten and a quarter hours without stops, through Bhowali, Ranikhet, Dwarahat and Chaukhutia to Karnaprayag and then up NH 7. The Ranikhet Express from Delhi reaches Kathgodam at 05:05, which leaves a full winter day to reach Karnaprayag for the night.
About nine and a half hours without stops. It is 279 km from the Tallital bus stand on Google Maps, by Ranikhet, Dwarahat and Chaukhutia to Karnaprayag and then NH 7 to Jyotirmath. In winter daylight that means a night on the way, usually at Karnaprayag.