Luxury Shimla Tours

Shimla was the summer capital of British India, and its Mall Road and timber churches still hold that era's shape.

Christ Church on the Ridge in Shimla, the second oldest church in North India

Overview

Shimla At A Glance

The British made Shimla their summer capital in 1864, moving the government uphill each year to escape the heat. That legacy still shapes the town center, from the pedestrian Mall Road to Christ Church, the second oldest church in North India. A private guide and driver can reach the quieter ridgelines beyond the center, away from the pace of the town's day-trip crowds.

Where To Stay: The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla, Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Resort, Shimla
Continue To: Dalhousie, Dharamshala, Kasauli

What To See

What To See In Shimla

Shimla's real highlights are what a private guide builds each day around.

Fort / Palace / Heritage

Kalka–Shimla Toy Train

A narrow-gauge mountain railway from the plains up to Shimla, opened in 1903 and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A narrow-gauge train crosses a stone arch viaduct on the Kalka-Shimla railway through pine-covered hills.

Fort / Palace / Heritage

The Ridge & Mall Road

Shimla's open promenade and the shopping street below it — the social heart of the old British summer capital.

Crowds walk the open promenade beside Christ Church on The Ridge in Shimla.

Fort / Palace / Heritage

Viceregal Lodge

The grand Scottish-baronial mansion built for the British Viceroy in 1888, now the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

spiritual

Jakhu Temple

A hilltop Hanuman temple above Shimla, crowned by a 33-metre statue visible from across the town, with resident monkeys.

Nature / Wildlife

Kufri

A small hill point about sixteen kilometres from Shimla, known for snow in winter, meadow walks in summer and a nature park.

A person stands on an open snow slope with Himalayan peaks beyond, near Shimla.

Fort / Palace / Heritage · Half day

Kalka–Shimla Toy Train Ride

A one-leg ride on the UNESCO-listed narrow-gauge railway between the plains and Shimla, through the tunnels and around the hillsides.

Passengers wait beside the narrow-gauge train at a Kalka-Shimla railway platform.

Fort / Palace / Heritage · 3 hours

Shimla Heritage Walk

A guided walk through colonial Shimla — the Mall, the Ridge, the Gaiety Theatre, Christ Church and the lanes of the old bazaar below.

People walk a heritage street on Shimla's Mall Road past colonial-era buildings.

How To Travel

Journeys Through Shimla

Every journey comes with a private guide and driver for each day on the road. Full details live on each journey's own page.

Snow-covered peaks tower over deep forested slopes with pines in the foreground in Kullu.

11 Nights

Slow Himachal

Dalhousie · Dharamshala · Manali · Shimla

Layered blue Himalayan ridges recede toward a distant snow-covered range near Manali.

8 Nights

Himachal in Depth

Dharamshala · Manali · Shimla

Snow-covered Himalayan peaks rise behind a foreground of evergreen fir trees near Manali.

7 Nights

Himachal Honeymoon

Dharamshala · Manali · Shimla

A snow-topped mountain range rises above forested foothills with houses scattered below.

6 Nights

Wellness in the Hills

Dharamshala · Manali · Shimla

Shimla's hill-station skyline of stacked buildings sits below a mountain under a blue sky.

6 Nights

Toy Train & the Colonial Hills

Manali · Shimla

A wide green Manali valley opens toward cloud-wrapped mountains in Himachal Pradesh.

5 Nights

First-Timer's Himachal

Manali · Shimla

Where To Stay

Where To Stay In Shimla

Stays are chosen for the setting and the service, then matched to the pace of your route.

The heritage facade of The Oberoi Cecil on Mall Road, Shimla.

hotel · premium

The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla

★★★★★

The Cecil is a heritage hotel at the quiet end of the Mall in Shimla, a few minutes' walk from the Ridge. It opened in the 1880s and kept its Raj-era bones: a tall glass-roofed atrium with a fire, wood floors, old photographs. The rooms are warm and traditional, and the valley-side ones look across the pines to the hills. There is a heated indoor pool, a spa, and a good restaurant. Being in the town is the point here, as against Wildflower Hall's forest. Christ Church, the Gaiety Theatre and the shops are a short walk, and the toy train station is close. It is the premium choice for a Shimla stay built around the colonial town itself.

Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Resort, seen across the cedar forest above Shimla.

resort · luxury

Wildflower Hall, an Oberoi Resort, Shimla

★★★★★

Wildflower Hall stands in twenty-three acres of cedar forest at Chharabra, about a dozen kilometres above Shimla, at twenty-five hundred metres. It was once the residence of Lord Kitchener, and the house is grand: panelled halls, log fires, deep verandas. The rooms are large and warm, and most look out over the deodars to the snow line. There is a heated indoor pool that seems to run into the forest, an outdoor jacuzzi in the trees, a spa, and terraced gardens. It is set well away from the town, which is the point. The staff arrange the drive into Shimla, the toy train, and walks straight from the grounds. It is the finest stay in the state, and the reason many trips base in Shimla at all.

years crafting private India journeys

30,000+

travellers guided end to end

4.5

from 15 reviews on Trustpilot