Naini lake from Snow View, 6 January 2019. Photo © Slyronit, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
How cold the days and nights really are, which weeks of January brought snow in the last seven winters, what freezes and what keeps running, and what a room costs once the New Year crowd has gone.
The short answer: January is Nainital’s coldest month and its best bet for snow. Days are mostly clear and around 12°C, nights fall to about freezing, and frost is on the paths most mornings: the old IMD table for the town gives a January night of 1.7°C and a record low of minus 5.6°C. Snow fell near Nainital in January in five of the last seven winters, usually for a day or two in the second or third week, and it settles on the ridges at Snow View, Naina Peak and Kilbury rather than on Mall Road. After the New Year rush clears in the first days of the month, the town is quiet and rooms cost about the same on a Saturday as on a Tuesday. Come for the cold, the views and the empty lake, and treat snow as a bonus you can catch if your dates are loose.
By Meghna Bora, Contributor, Nainital. About the author ↓
Most of this page holds good every year. The things below change from winter to winter, so they sit here with the day we checked them.
January 2027
Nainital has no current IMD normals of its own, so three sources between them give the fairest picture: the old IMD table for the town, the current normals for Mukteshwar, the observatory 200 m higher on the next ridge, and modelled data for the town’s height from the Open-Meteo archive for the last six Januaries.
| Source | Average day | Average night | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| IMD, Nainital, 1961 to 1979 | Not used here | 1.7°C | Record low minus 5.6°C |
| IMD, Mukteshwar, 1991 to 2020 | 12.1°C | 1.7°C | 45.6 mm of rain over 3 days |
| Modelled, Nainital, January 2021 to 2026 | 9°C to 14°C by year | 0°C to 2.4°C by year | 4 to 13 frosty nights a month; lowest minus 4°C in 2023 |
The ranges matter more than the averages. In a dry January like 2025 the days reached 14°C and the town had six frosty nights. In a wet one like 2022, with snow, the days stayed below 9°C and thirteen nights went below freezing. What every January shares is the shape of the day: a hard cold morning, bright sun from about ten, a warm hour or two around midday on the sunny side of the lake, and a sharp drop as soon as the sun drops behind the hills in the afternoon.
Over the seven winters from 2019-20 to 2025-26, snow fell near Nainital in January in five of them. That is the best record of any month, and it is why January and the first half of February are the weeks to aim for.
| Winter | January snow | Where it settled |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | 8 January 2020 | A local report had much of Mall Road white |
| 2020-21 | None in January | The first fall came on 4 and 5 February |
| 2021-22 | 9 and 10 January 2022 | The peaks; the big fall that whitened the town came on 3 and 4 February |
| 2022-23 | 13 January 2023 | The ridges, in an otherwise very dry winter |
| 2023-24 | None in January | The first fall came on 1 February |
| 2024-25 | 12 January 2025 | China Peak, Snow View and the upper town; reports disagree on Mall Road |
| 2025-26 | 23 January 2026 | China Peak and Kilbury; reports disagree on the town |
Four of the five January falls came between the 8th and the 13th, and the fifth on the 23rd. That does not make the second week a promise, because snow follows the western disturbances, not the calendar, and January 2024 and 2021 had none at all. What it does say is that a January trip from the second week on has better odds than any week in December.
Two habits help. Watch the forecast, and when a disturbance is due, plan to be up on the ridge the morning after the weather clears. And go high: researchers at Nainital’s Aryabhatta institute said in January 2025 that snow now falls mainly above 2,000 m, which is about the height of the lake, so the ridges catch it far more often than the town. Our guide to Nainital snowfall has every dated fall since 2019 and the best places to stand.
Frost is the everyday January hazard, more than snow. Shaded paths, steps and the upper roads towards Snow View, Kilbury and Pangot are glazed until mid-morning on most days, and after a snowfall they ice over. Walk in shoes with a real grip, and drive the upper roads only once the sun is on them.
Many of the older buildings around the lake are cold inside after dark, and a good rating earned in May says little about January. Before you book, ask whether the room has a heater and whether it costs extra, whether it runs when the power goes, when there is hot water, and how many blankets come with the bed. The power question is a fair one: the big snowfall of February 2022 brought down trees and lines and left the town without power or water for 36 hours.
Nainital does not close for winter. Mall Road, the shops and the Naina Devi temple stay open, and so do the hotels and restaurants.
The ropeway from Mallital to Snow View runs through the winter except in bad weather. The district’s page lists 10 am to 4 pm and a return fare of Rs 190, but that page was last updated in 2019; the most recent fare we found reported was Rs 370 for adults, in November 2024. On the morning after snow it has the longest queue of the year, and a taxi towards Kilbury reaches the same snow with fewer people.
Boating carries on, but it stops in rain and fog, as it did for a whole day on 22 January 2022. The High Altitude Zoo is closed on Mondays and on national holidays by the district’s page, which in January 2027 means Tuesday the 26th as well. The Cave Garden at Sukhatal, the Himalayan Botanical Garden and Tiffin Top, which had visitors over the last New Year, are all fine in January sun.
These are the lowest prices shown online on 11 November 2026 for one night for two people, for a Saturday and a Tuesday in the middle of January. They are not a promise, and they may or may not include breakfast or tax. Properties run in order of their Google rating, among those rated 4.3 and above, and none of them pays to be listed here.
| Property | Google rating (reviews) | Sat 16 January | Tue 19 January |
|---|---|---|---|
| DLS Hotels Emerald | 4.8 (918) | Rs 3,456 | Rs 3,456 |
| Swiss Hotel and Spa | 4.7 (1,200) | Rs 3,433 | Rs 3,433 |
| The Lawrence Solitaire | 4.7 (2,100) | Rs 3,671 | Rs 3,671 |
| Moustache Select | 4.6 (388) | Rs 5,396 | Rs 4,653 |
| Orchid Nainital | 4.4 (681) | Rs 1,814 | Rs 1,814 |
| The Imperial Green | 4.4 (1,400) | Rs 3,791 | Rs 3,791 |
| The Palace Belvedere | 4.3 (2,300) | Rs 3,333 | Rs 3,341 |
| The Earl’s Court | 4.3 (1,200) | Rs 10,767 | Rs 9,268 |
The striking thing is how little the weekend adds: most of these rates are the same on the Saturday as on the Tuesday, and one is cheaper. That is the difference January makes after the Christmas and New Year week, when the same rooms sell for far more, often with two-night minimums. Our guide to New Year in Nainital has those rates for comparison. If you would rather sleep somewhere milder and drive up for the day, staying in Haldwani works well in January; our page on staying in the plains for a Nainital trip explains when.
Mid-January brings Kumaon’s Makar Sankranti, which families keep at home as Ghughutiya: sweet ghughute fried in the evening, strung into garlands, and fed to the crows by the children the next morning. In 2027 the Sankranti falls on the night of 14 January, so the main days are likely the 15th and 16th. Our guide to Ghughutiya explains the custom and why some families keep it a day early, and the big public fair of the season is the Uttarayani Mela at Bageshwar.
January’s clear air makes the high points the best day out. Snow View and Tiffin Top have the snow range in view on most mornings, and Kilbury and Pangot, a short drive out of town, are quieter and colder, with birds in the oak forest. If there is a forecast of snow, Mukteshwar, about two hours away and 200 m higher, is the nearer place most likely to catch it.
Kainchi Dham, about 17 km away, is calmer in January than at any other time, though it still fills on weekends and on 1 January itself; our guide to Kainchi Dham parking explains the weekend rules. Bhimtal and the lakes below it are milder for a slow afternoon. Wherever you go, start after the sun is up and be back before it drops, because the shaded bends freeze again as soon as it goes.
The road from Haldwani to Nainital is dry and open on nearly every January day; we found no report of snow closing it in the last three winters. What slows January is fog in the plains. The overnight Delhi trains to Kathgodam can run hours late, and some are cancelled for the season, so leave a margin on both ends of the trip and avoid a same-day connection. Our Delhi to Nainital guide compares the train, the bus and driving, and our guide to driving in Uttarakhand in winter covers frost, chains and fog on the road.
Nainital has no current IMD normals of its own, so the January figures here come from an old table for the town, from Mukteshwar next door and from a weather model; treat them as a guide to the month, not a forecast. Reports disagree about whether snow settled in the town itself on several recent snow days. We could not confirm this winter’s ropeway fare or the zoo’s winter hours from an official source updated since 2019.
The room rates are what was shown online on the day, and the snow record comes from dated local news reports. Nobody from this site telephoned a hotel for this page. If you have been to Nainital this January and something has changed, please tell us.
In most years, on a day or two. Snow fell near Nainital in January in five of the last seven winters, on 8 January 2020, 9 to 10 January 2022, 13 January 2023, 12 January 2025 and 23 January 2026, and not at all in January 2021 or January 2024. It settles on the ridges at Snow View, Naina Peak and Kilbury and rarely lasts on Mall Road.
January is the coldest month. The old IMD table for Nainital gives an average January night of 1.7°C and a record low of minus 5.6°C, and modelled data for the last six Januaries put days at about 9°C to 14°C and nights at around freezing, with frost on 4 to 13 nights a month.
Only in the first few days. The New Year rush runs to the first weekend of January, after which the town empties and stays quiet apart from weekends and the day after any snowfall, when people drive up from the plains to see it.
Yes, if you want clear cold days, an empty lake and the best chance of snow, and you pack for nights near freezing. It is not a month for long evenings outdoors, and boats stop in rain and fog, so plan your days around the morning sun.
It runs through the winter except in bad weather. The district’s page lists 10 am to 4 pm, though that page dates from 2019 and the fare has risen since; the last fare we found reported was Rs 370 for adults in November 2024. Expect a long queue on the morning after snow.
A thermal layer, a fleece and a proper down or padded jacket, with a woollen cap, gloves and thick socks for the evenings, and shoes with a good grip for frosty paths. In the midday sun you will take most of it off, so dress in layers.
Both are good, and together they hold almost all of Nainital’s snow. January has had snow in five of the last seven winters and February in four, so the second half of January to mid-February is the window to plan around.