Mary Budden Estate
Almora

At the very top of Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary sits Mary Budden Estate, an alpine sanctuary that’s all soul and stillness.

Originally built in the 19th century, nearly 8,000 feet above sea level, the estate was once the home of Mary Budden, a radical daughter of a British missionary who dedicated her life to educating girls and building community in Kumaon. Part of the boutique family behind Narendra Bhawan in Bikaner and Suryagarh in Jaisalmer, this heritage lodge retains the intimacy of a private home while sharing the group’s flair for deep storytelling and immersive hospitality.

There are just five cottages and two suites, each with wood-burning stoves, stone walls, antique furniture, warm woollen throws and views that drift out into cloud-laced valleys. It’s not luxury in the polished sense, it’s something more intuitive.

And for those with binoculars slung around their necks or simply an ear tuned to birdsong, Mary Budden Estate is a birder’s dream. Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary is one of Uttarakhand’s richest protected habitats, home to over 200 bird species, both resident and migratory. You might spot the black francolin, koklass pheasant, Himalayan woodpecker, grey-winged blackbird or Eurasian jay, and in winter, thrushes, warblers and flycatchers sweep through the forest like confetti. The estate’s own trails offer abundant sightings from your porch or on guided walks with naturalists who know every wingbeat by name.

It’s not just for seasoned ornithologists either, casual nature lovers will revel in the melodic dawn chorus and the flash of colour through the canopy. Mornings here often begin with a thermos of chai, a cashmere shawl wrapped tight and the stillness of the forest slowly stirring to life.

Days here unwind gently; practice yoga in the stone meditation hall with views across the valley, hike through mossy cedar forests in search of leopard tracks and soaring eagles or do nothing at all, just sink into a daybed and let the mountains work their quiet magic.

Meals are slow, nourishing and seasonal, Kumaoni vegetables from the organic garden, wild nettle soup, soft rotis, lentil stews, all served by lantern light under a canopy of stars. This is a dry region (no alcohol is served), but the warmth of the team, the clarity of the mountain air and the depth of conversation fill every glass with something richer.

For those who’ve fallen for the conceptual maximalism of Suryagarh or the irreverent design of Narendra Bhawan, Mary Budden is their contemplative sibling; meditative where the others are opulent, elemental where they are exuberant.

It’s little wonder the estate has captured the hearts of aesthetes and soulful travellers alike, having been featured in Condé Nast Traveller India, Travel + Leisure and Vogue, each celebrating its unique blend of ecology, elegance and emotional resonance.

This is a place for writers, wanderers, couples and thinkers, a mountain retreat not to escape the world, but to re-enter it with deeper breath.

There are no foreign lands. It is the traveller only who is foreign.
Robert Louis Stevenson