Private villas in Rishikesh

Rishikesh is two places at once. There is the town — the bridges, the bells, the crowd on the ghats at dusk — and there is the valley above it, which is forest, river noise and very little else. People who love the place usually stay in the second and visit the first.

Wildcrest Nature Resort is a set of cottages built into a hillside above the river, with a swimming pool on the terrace and the Shivalik hills rising behind.

The point of being up the hill

Height and distance. You get the river as a sound rather than a crowd, you get cool air in the evening, and you get to choose when to go down into the town rather than being in the middle of it all day. Come back up after the evening aarti and the contrast is the whole experience.

What people actually do here

Walk. The forest paths behind the cottages are the part guests underestimate. Sit by the water. Go down for the river and the bridges, and come back. Practise yoga somewhere quiet, if that is what brought you — and there is no obligation, the valley is just as good for people who came only to stop moving for a week.

Rafting is arranged locally in the seasons when the river allows it; the team will tell you honestly whether it is running.

Who it suits

Anyone who wants the river without the crowd. Families. Groups who want one place to themselves. People who find a spiritual-tourism high street exhausting after an afternoon and would rather sleep somewhere with birdsong.

When to come

Spring and autumn are the easy answers — warm days, cool nights, clear air. Winter mornings up here are genuinely cold and very beautiful. Summer is hot below and noticeably better above. In the monsoon the forest is spectacular and the river is loud, but paths get slippery and water sports stop.

Booking

Direct, through this site. No booking fee, no commission.