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Itineraries  /  North India Birding Grand Tour
IN35 · India · Birding

North India Birding Grand Tour

Chopta · Jim Corbett National Park · Rajaji National Park · Sattal & Pangot
Duration
12 Days · 11 Nights
The route
Chopta · Jim Corbett National Park · Rajaji National Park · Sattal & Pangot
Style
Birds & wild country
Best season
Nov–Feb · winter
The route

11 nights, 4 stops — birds & wild country.

From Sattal & Pangot to Corbett, the route is built around India’s birds across forest, foothill and wetland.

Round trip · returns to Chopta

ChoptaJim CorbettRajaji
What you're tracking

What you'll see

Himalayan birds
Himalayan birds
A rich foothill list.
Forktails
Forktails
Along the streams.
Woodpeckers
Woodpeckers
In the oak forest.
Day by day

The journey, one day at a time

01Kathgodam → Sattal & Pangot

Into Sattal & Pangot

First light on the water.

Drive up from Kathgodam into the Kumaon foothills for a first afternoon's birding. Birding the oak and pine forest and the water hides, with forktails, laughingthrushes and a long foothill list.

02Sattal & Pangot

Foothill birding

Quiet hours, full lists.

Birding the oak and pine forest and the water hides, with forktails, laughingthrushes and a long foothill list. Working the hides and ridges for Himalayan foothill birds, comfortable and rich.

03Sattal & Pangot

Foothill birding

The dawn chorus.

Working the hides and ridges for Himalayan foothill birds, comfortable and rich. Sattal and Pangot pair genuine birding quality with easy comfort, which is rare in the Himalaya. They work for serious birders and for first-timers alike, and their proximity to Nainital and Corbett makes them simple to combine into a wider Uttarakhand trip.

04Sattal & Pangot → Chopta

On to Chopta

Patience and a long lens.

Transfer to Chopta and settle in, with an afternoon outing to get your bearings.

05Chopta

High meadows & monal

Eyes up, ears open.

Birding the high meadows and rhododendron for the Himalayan monal and other pheasants, with the Tungnath trek on offer. Early starts for the monal, plus the climb toward Tungnath and the peak views.

06Chopta

High meadows & monal

First light on the water.

Early starts for the monal, plus the climb toward Tungnath and the peak views. Chopta brings you into genuine alpine country — meadows, snow peaks, high-altitude wildlife — without a major expedition, by road and a short trek. It is one of the more accessible windows onto the high Himalaya's birds and scenery, with pilgrimage and views folded in.

07Chopta → Rajaji

On to Rajaji

Quiet hours, full lists.

Transfer to Rajaji and settle in, with an afternoon outing to get your bearings.

08Rajaji

Shivalik elephants

The dawn chorus.

Drives through sal forest and riverbeds for wild elephants, leopard and rich foothill birds, with king cobra country around.

09Rajaji → Corbett

On to Corbett

Patience and a long lens.

Transfer to Corbett and settle in, with an afternoon outing to get your bearings.

10Corbett

Tigers and elephants

Eyes up, ears open.

Morning and afternoon safaris in the Ramganga grasslands and sal forest, with tigers and big elephant herds.

11Corbett

Tigers and elephants

First light on the water.

Drives in the core zones, working the river and grassland where the game gathers.

12Corbett → onward

Departure

A last morning, then the road home.

A final morning in onward — a last outing or a slow start as time allows — before the transfer onward and the journey home.

When to travel

The season changes what you see.

Nov – Feb

Winter

Wintering species and comfortable conditions — the prime birding months.

Mar – Apr

Spring

Breeding birds in song as the season warms.

Wildlife you may see
Birds

Make it yours.

Add nights, swap a park, extend to the coast — this route is a starting point, not a fixed menu. Tell us how you travel and we'll route the rest.

Field notes, now and then.

Where to go · When to go · Wildlife in season

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