The spine of Mussoorie and the easiest place to start, since it's flat, mostly pedestrian-only, and lined with woollens shops, cafes, and stalls selling Maggi and momos. It fills up fast — by midday it's shoulder to shoulder in season — so an early walk before 9am is a genuinely different, quieter version of the same street.

A short ropeway ride from Mall Road gets you up in a few minutes; the walking route is steeper and takes 20-30 minutes but skips the queue. Either way, go before late morning — haze usually rolls in by midday and the snow peaks disappear. On a clear winter morning this is the best view in town for the effort involved.

More manicured park than wild nature — a boating pond, a modest man-made waterfall, flower beds, and a toy train for kids. It's not going to be the highlight of the trip, but it's an easy, flat, low-effort stop to break up a day that's otherwise a lot of uphill walking.

A flat, easy 3km walk along the hillside, popular with locals for an evening stroll. The rock formation it's named for is about halfway along. Time it for late afternoon and it's one of the better places in central Mussoorie to watch the sun go down over the Doon Valley without needing a car to get there.