Landour is a quiet cantonment hill town just above Mussoorie, wrapped in deodar, oak and pine forests. It sits along a curved ridge with viewpoints like Lal Tibba, Sisters’ Bazaar, Char Dukan and Rokeby, offering panoramic views of the Doon valley on one side and snow peaks on the other. The air is cooler and calmer than Mussoorie’s busy Mall Road, with narrow lanes, colonial bungalows, small churches, cafés and the famous Landour Bakehouse giving it a “European village” feel. Because it is still a functioning cantonment, Landour has limited construction and quieter traffic than the main town, making it popular with writers, artists and slow travellers who come for walks, heritage architecture and peaceful homestays instead of loud commercial tourism.
About this place
History & highlights
Landour’s name comes from Llanddowror, a village in Wales; giving British names to new hill stations was common during the Raj. In 1827, the British Indian Army built a sanatorium and convalescent depot here, choosing the ridge for its clean air and cool climate. Landour quickly grew as a military recovery station, and much of it was formally notified as a cantonment, a status it still retains. Early on, Landour held the main military facilities while Mussoorie became the civilian resort; bungalows like Mullingar, built by Captain Frederick Young, and churches gave it a strong colonial character. The Cantonment Act of 1924 effectively froze Landour’s footprint, restricting new construction and protecting its forests. After Independence, the military hospital closed and some properties passed to Indian defence and broadcasting agencies (DRDO’s ITM, Doordarshan and AIR towers on Lal Tibba). In recent years, social media and heatwave escape tourism have made Landour suddenly famous again, bringing more cafés and homestays and also new challenges like waste management – but the core identity remains: a heritage cantonment hill town built for healing and quiet.
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