7 Breathtaking Motorcycle Rides You Must Experience From Delhi
Delhi functions as both a cultural hub and historical center and provides access to extraordinary northern Indian natural areas. Motorcycle enthusiasts find pure satisfaction in exploring destinations that lead through mountains along with deserts and forests and cross rivers. The following list features seven excellent motorcycle trails departing from Delhi which will amaze any rider who enjoys adventure.
1. Manali via Chandigarh (NH44/NH21)
Passing through Delhi you will find many individuals choose to travel by motorcycle to Manali which locals call the 'Queen of Hills.' Starting on National Highway 44 (NH44) you travel to Chandigarh until you continue on NH21 towards Manali. The journey starts with Haryana and Punjab plains before reaching the green mountain valleys of Himachal Pradesh. A significant touristic area along this road includes the Pinjore Gardens close to Chandigarh while Kasauli maintains a peaceful atmosphere and the Solang Valley presents itself to travelers when they get to Manali. As a road journey which lasts 570 km it provides perfect mountain views and cold climate for bike riders.
2. Rishikesh via Haridwar (NH58)
Any person seeking relaxation through spiritual discovery and the beauty of nature should start driving towards Rishikesh by taking the NH58 route from Delhi through Haridwar. The 230 km path takes road travelers through multiple charming towns beginning at Meerut and Muzaffarnagar and ending in Haridwar. The road from there leads directly to Rishikesh where the Ganges River flows along its banks. The journey provides breathtaking views of dense forests together with riverfront landscapes and scenes of rural living options. Take time to visit Lakshman Jhula and Triveni Ghat since they offer unforgettable moments.
3. Jaipur via Neemrana Fort (NH48)
Fitting into the same period of time as the previous ride is the journey to Jaipur which makes Rajasthan's Pink City come alive. Traveling along NH48 will take you through 260 kilometers where you can experience the Aravalli Range's fort and palace elements scattered across its range. Visitors should prioritize visiting Neemrana Fort because its hilltop position offers sensational landscape views to everyone. When getting close to Jaipur you will find a transition from the green landscapes into the dry desert regions of Rajasthan that showcase its royal traditions. During your visit to Jaipur you should discover the important sites which include Amber Fort alongside Hawa Mahal and Jal Mahal.
4. Nainital via Moradabad (NH9)
A trip to Nainital experienced by nature lovers presents the perfect chance to visit this natural destination. Delhi serves as the starting point from where you should take NH9 to Moradabad and Rampur. Riding the 300-kilometre path offers the combination of undulating hills together with thick forests and delightful villages. After reaching the town visitors will encounter the serene Naini Lake which is enveloped by elevated peaks. The correlation of natural sites around this destination includes Bhimtal along with Sattal and Jim Corbett National Park which offers both scenic and adventure-filled experiences.
5. Shimla via Kalka (NH44/NH22)
The Delhi-Shimla highway offers motorcycle enthusiasts two different national highway segments starting from NH44 through Kalka before proceeding on NH22. With 350 kilometers of passage the trip is distinguished by sharp turns alongside challenging elevation changes that offer breathtaking Himalayan mountain views. Along the journey you will experience delightful stops at Parwanoo followed by Solan allowing time for enjoyable food tasting and handicraft shopping. The end destination of Shimla provides Colonial buildings together with miniature railway rides that allow you to witness snow-capped peaks completely.
6. Sariska Tiger Reserve via Alwar (NH48)
The journey to Sariska Tiger Reserve through Alwar brings an exciting experience for all wildlife enthusiasts. The 200-kilometer distance from Delhi along NH48 unfolds the rough beauty of Rajasthan. Visitors should stop in Alwar to appreciate the heritage sites before progressing toward Sariska. Sariska Tiger Reserve contains all three members of the big cat family together with numerous types of birds making it attractive to wildlife observers. Sariska Tiger Reserve presents an exceptional natural environment from its dry deciduous forests and its rock formations.
7. Mukteshwar via Kathgodam (NH9)
Sitting in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand you will find the hidden destination of Mukteshwar which provides peaceful retreats and breathtaking mountain vistas. Naturally, the excursion starts from NH9 while traveling through Moradabad and Kathgodam before concluding at 350 kilometers. Absent altitude elevations the air maintains fresh quality and the landscape transitions into lush greenery. Mukteshwar receives its fame from its apple orchards while featuring historic temples as well as elevated viewpoints facing the grand Himalayan mountain range. Mukteshwar stands out for those people who need a peaceful escape from urban bustle to connect with nature.
Tips for a Safe and Enjoyable Ride
These following steps must be considered before starting any motorcycle rides.
Review the weather predictions and check the road report(status) before you depart.
Each journey requires appropriate protective equipment that must include helmets with gloves together with jackets.
Keep yourself hydrated by carrying enough water together with snacks for sustaining your energy during the whole journey.
Regular maintenance checks on your bike will be crucial during long-distance driving because your motorcycle needs to function properly.
When visiting towns and villages maintain both respect for traffic regulations and customs that prevail in these places.
Emergency Kit: Keep a basic toolkit and first-aid kit handy for unexpected situations.
Your backpack should contain only vital items because it balances motorcycle riding and ensures comfort.
Conclusion
Motorcyclists should use Delhi as their base to access multiple thrilling adventures which come with distinctive challenges yet rewarding experiences. Seven interstate routes throughout the nation take travelers to unforgettable destinations because they lead to the Himalayas for high-altitude thrills as well as historical sites in Rajasthan and relaxing experiences in Uttarakhand hills. Start preparing yourself while developing your journey plan because you are about to generate everlasting memories.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
30 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘If this pause extends…': Expert advises students aspiring to study in US universities
With the United States pausing new student visa interview appointments and expanding its scrutiny of applicants' social media profiles, a wave of uncertainty has swept across Indian students aspiring to study abroad, particularly in the big four nations, namely the US, UK, Canada and Australia. The changes have raised concern among students, parents, and counsellors alike, particularly for those preparing for the September 2025 and 2026 intake. The shift could potentially block scholarships, defer admissions, or delay post-study work plans. Speaking to Suneet Singh Kochar, CEO, Fateh Education breaks it down – delays, rejections, scholarships, and friendlier options beyond the United States. A federal judge late Thursday temporarily blocked a proclamation by Trump government that banned foreign students from entering the US to attend Harvard University. Read | How foreign students helped US varsities become global campuses Kochar warned students to brace for uncertainty: 'We must prepare for the worst. If this pause extends, students should have a plan B.' Those midway through the process must now evaluate whether to wait it out, defer to the next intake, or consider equally good institutions elsewhere. For students eyeing the September 2025 intake, Kochar advises patience over panicking. 'If no improvement happens in two to three weeks, students might be better-off deferring to 2026,' he said, 'But don't rush into a decision just yet.' He urged students targeting 2026 to continue applying to US universities while simultaneously working on backup options. 'Don't halt your US application,' Kochar explained. 'But also begin applications in other countries to avoid last-minute disappointment over lost scholarships or filled seats.' Kochar pointed out that delays are possible but not certain. 'The pause is early-stage recalibration. If it ends quickly, many students could still get visas in time,' he said. Moreover, existing visa appointments remain unaffected. 'Students who already have scheduled appointments can still go ahead as planned,' he added. However, he cautioned students about quitting jobs or finalising travel plans until more clarity emerges. Social media scrutiny isn't new, but it's becoming more prominent. Kochar explained, 'Social media vetting has always existed as a way to weed out non-genuine applicants. Now it's being taken more seriously.' He elaborated that visa officers will look for inconsistencies in applicants' digital profiles – checking whether a student's online presence aligns with the claims made in their application. 'They'll also examine if someone could pose a security threat or hold extreme views,' he added. He advised students to clean up their profiles: 'Posts from as far back as five or seven years can be dug up. Delete anything that doesn't reflect who you are today. Social media forgets nothing.' Kochar clarified that the rules themselves haven't changed, only their enforcement has become stricter. 'The US is now rigorously imposing rules that were always there. For example, student visa holders still can't work beyond permitted hours, and OPT holders must avoid more than 90 days of unemployment,' he said. He urged students to proactively understand and follow immigration rules. 'You can't say 'I didn't know the rule existed'. If you're entering a country, it's your responsibility to understand its laws,' he stressed. Scholarships, unlike admission offers, don't always roll over. 'Scholarships are usually tied to a particular academic year and may lapse if not used,' Kochar said. However, he added that given the exceptional circumstances, some universities may carry over scholarships. 'This is not a normal year. If applications are paused, universities might have leftover budgets for next year. Still, nothing is guaranteed,' he warned. The COVID-19 pandemic created a significant backlog of students who deferred their plans during the 2020–2022 period. When international travel resumed, this pent-up demand led to a massive surge in outbound student mobility. However, not all students went abroad primarily for study, many were drawn by broader migration aspirations. This surge triggered policy recalibrations across popular destinations like the UK and Canada, where governments became wary of potential system misuse. Read | Sharp fall in Indian students going abroad: Canada, UK, US see first simultaneous drop in 4 years; here's why In the United Kingdom, for instance, the recently released white paper on international education explicitly acknowledged the financial and cultural value international students bring. Yet, it also raised concerns about misuse, highlighting, for example, the roughly 10,000 students who transitioned from study visas to asylum applications. This dual narrative of welcoming talent while tightening controls is shaping how countries manage future student intakes. Canada, too, has seen a sharp drop in student numbers. This decline stems from both policy unpredictability and systemic overcapacity. Retrospective rule changes and housing shortages left many students disillusioned, leading to a reputational setback. The Canadian government is expected to recalibrate now that its election cycle has concluded, likely moving from abrupt crackdowns to more nuanced regulations designed to attract high-quality talent while avoiding past mistakes. In light of policy unpredictability, Kochar suggests looking at newer destinations. 'Germany, Netherlands, Ireland, France, and South Korea are gaining traction. They offer high-quality education and have fewer bureaucratic hurdles,' he said. Students should also check if their intended courses are well-supported and if language requirements are manageable. 'In countries like Germany or France, English-taught courses are increasing. But students must be ready for cultural and language adjustments,' he added. Kochar noted that several alternative destinations are strengthening post-study pathways. 'Germany, for instance, allows an 18-month job-seeking visa after graduation. Ireland offers a two-year stay-back for master's students,' he said. 'These are serious contenders for students looking for long-term international exposure,' he added. One of the biggest mistakes students make, according to the expert, is choosing a country first and then retrofitting a course into that choice. Instead, students should map their career goals and identify which destination has the right ecosystem—government investment, industrial support, university research to support it. For example, Germany makes sense for automotive engineering due to its thriving research and development, and manufacturing sectors, while Ireland suits computer science aspirants looking for a thriving tech hub. Beyond sectoral fit, students must also consider their personality and lifestyle preferences. Introverts, for instance, may thrive better in compact campuses and smaller towns, where repeated interaction fosters deeper relationships and networks. In contrast, larger cities, while offering more part-time job opportunities, may isolate newcomers due to dispersed living and social circles. Choosing the right city, not just the country, can influence a student's ability to thrive. While university rankings are a common decision-making metric, the expert emphasizes focusing on institutional strengths and research areas rather than fluctuating rank numbers. He said, 'It is better to evaluate universities within rank brackets (eg, 0-5, 5-15, 15-25) and identify those aligned with the student's academic and career interests.' Beyond academics, students should assess extracurricular offerings, clubs, and student societies to ensure a holistic and enriching experience. Education, after all, is not confined to classrooms. Peer interaction, community engagement, and exposure to diverse activities all contribute to the kind of growth that shapes long-term careers, not just first jobs.
NDTV
38 minutes ago
- NDTV
Chenab Bridge Opens: Why It Was India's Biggest Engineering Challenge
Srinagar: The Chenab bridge, the world's highest railway bridge, is among the key infrastructure projects inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi today in Jammu and Kashmir. It is part of the 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Link (USBRL) that marks a key milestone for Indian engineering. The project also includes India's first cable-stayed rail bridge at Anji Khad. What Makes the Chenab Bridge Special The 1.31-km-long Chenab bridge project was approved in 2003, and its construction took two decades to complete. There are various reasons that makes it special: Built at a cost of Rs 1,486 crore, it is the world's highest railway bridge. An engineering marvel, it is made with 28,660 mega tonnes of steel that can withstand sub-zero temperatures as well as up to 40 degrees. At 359 metres, it is taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris by 35 times and is at least five times the height of Qutub Minar. The government had described it as the "biggest civil-engineering challenge faced by any railway project in India in recent history". The biggest obstacle to its construction was the area's challenging topography and remote location. Construction is a tall task in the Himalayan region, given the need for transporting huge machinery and other resources. The bridge can withstand wind speeds up to 266 km/hr and strong earthquakes. Decades of research and consultation were needed to ensure that it was strong enough for train movement and to withstand bad weather. The bridge has been designed in a way that allows trains to pass through at a low speed even if a pier supporting the structure gets damaged. Special Vande Bharats PM Modi also launched Vande Bharat train services between Katra and Srinagar that will likely be a game-changer for tourism in Kashmir. The trains are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and advanced features to ensure safety and passenger comfort. The trains can run even in sub-zero temperatures. Its special features allow smooth operations in the extremely cold areas of Jammu and Kashmir. They are equipped with silicon heating pads to prevent water from freezing and bio-toilet tanks. The trains also come with an auto-draining mechanism and an anti-spall layer that will help loco pilots operate the train safely during bad weather.
Hindustan Times
an hour ago
- Hindustan Times
‘People are too afraid… of danger, death, discomfort': Lessons in life from a young mountaineer
Keval Kakka was a 17-year-old student of automobile engineering, sitting in his college canteen sipping tea with his friends, when he realised he was doing it all wrong. This wasn't the path he was meant to be on. He was meant to be a mountaineer. It was an unusual calling for a boy from Mumbai. But as he and his friends talked about what they were looking forward to most, he couldn't see it any other way. Some talked about wanting to work with a particular car giant, others talked about wanting to study further. When they turned to him, he remembers saying, 'I want to be in the mountains.' Soon after that day in the canteen, he announced to his family that he was dropping out. He couldn't take the idea of sitting at an endless series of desks. 'Had I finished the degree, I would have jumped into a regular job. I had already found joy in the mountains. I wanted to explore that further,' Kakka says. 'It wasn't conventional and I didn't know anybody who had made a career of it. But the only way to learn more was to take the first step towards what I wanted.' Kakka had grown up spending summers in the Himalayas. His father Hiren Kakka, a businessman, had introduced him to high-altitude treks early on. The deep connection with nature that he felt on those walks, 'the sounds as well as the solitude', felt like something he wanted to build his life around. Kakka, 34, has done exactly that. And recently, he made history of a kind. He is now the first Indian to have scaled eight of the world's fourteen 8,000-metre-plus peaks. (Two other Indians, Arjun Vajpai and Bharath Thammineni, have come close, reaching the eight-summit mark, but with climbs that required rescue attempts.) Kakka reached his milestone with a summit of Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, and a peak that had tested him severely before. In his first attempt, in 2022, severe frostbite and a broken toenail meant he had to retreat, just 100 metres from the top. Back at ground level, it turned out he needed a partial amputation of the toe, a procedure from which it took him four months to recover. 'The mountains are my school. They are where I shape myself as a human being. Each time I go to them, I gain something new. The syllabus is vast, and you can proceed at a pace you are comfortable with,' he says. Then again, make a mistake and the mountains will fail you and force you back down, he adds laughing. *** Perhaps his greatest lesson, Kakka says, has been that ambition must coexist with humility. 'The mountain is no place to satisfy one's ego,' he adds. One can plan, prepare, train. But eventually, as with so much of life, how the road unfolds is forever beyond one's control. In the motivational lectures and TEDx talks that he is now invited to deliver, from time to time, he uses this principle as the basis of what has become a core belief: that mountaineering is really just life, taken to its extreme. His Everest happened to be Everest, he says, but everyone has a mountain they hope to climb, and everyone knows the sense of fear, self-doubt and uncertainty that can keep them from chasing that big dream. We are too afraid… of danger, of death, of discomfort, Kakka says. 'The truth is that, to scale any new peak, you have to know how to fail.' Do the research. Acknowledge the risks. Feel the fear. Just don't let it take over. He knows, for instance, that he risks death each time he begins to climb an 8000er. He knows the storms he faces on these peaks are like nothing most humans will ever know. But being too afraid to face such a storm… that is scarier to him, he says. 'Death is inevitable. What do you want to do while you're here? What fears are you willing to face? What are you willing to lose?' *** Of course, losing is not the goal. Learning is. 'Be a good observer, because there are lessons all around,' Kakka says. He began training in the Sahyadris, after that day in the canteen in 2008, learning how to support his body through increasingly strenuous climbs. He didn't make his first Himalayan ascent until 2016. He was 25 that year, when bad weather left him stranded at 6,200 metres for three days, on the mountain of Kun in Ladakh. It was his first lesson in setbacks, patience and survival, he says. The following year, he summited his first 8,000er, Manaslu, in Nepal. The year after that, Cho Oyu, the sixth-highest mountain in the world, on the Nepal-Tibet border. He scaled this one without the help of a high-altitude guide. He learnt on these climbs that he really did flourish at high altitudes, in his own company, the exhaustion of the day rewarded with unbelievable sunrises and spectacular snowscapes. In order to continue evolving as a mountaineer, in 2019, he completed a double ascent of Everest and its neighbour, Lhotse, summiting both over six days. He won the Tenzing Norgay award after that feat, a prize handed out by the President. Then came Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri and Makalu, between 2021 and 2023. *** Fear is still the first thing he feels when he begins each climb, he says. But exhilaration is the other. The promise of a new peak looms ahead of him, as he goes about his daily routine, running his outdoor-equipment store in Mumbai and leading trekking groups around the Sahyadris. He isn't trying to glorify the danger, he adds. The goal is to come back down; to plan and prepare and proceed so carefully, that one does not die in one's youth but rather lives well past the age at which climbing is possible. 'This is not a battlefield where you have to give your everything,' Kakka says. 'The aim is to reach the peak with enough reserves to walk back down to base camp. That's success.'
