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

Himachal Pradesh · 12 Days

Himachal Grand Journey

The full state, unhurried — Shimla with a Kasauli day, Manali, Dharamshala with the Triund trek, and the quiet Chamba corner of Dalhousie and Khajjiar.

Day by Day

12 Days, In Full

The complete Himachal circuit, twelve days, with room in each part. Three nights in Shimla, with the toy train, the heritage sights, and a day out to Kasauli. The scenic drive to Manali for three nights: the temples, Solang and the Atal Tunnel, Naggar. West across the Kangra valley to McLeodganj for three nights, the Tibetan town and the Triund trek. And the forest drive to Dalhousie for two, the colonial town, the Khajjiar meadow and Chamba. It is the version for travellers who would rather see the state once, completely, than come back for the corners.

Shimla

Arrive in Shimla

The usual way in is a drive from Chandigarh airport, about four hours, climbing through pine forest past Kasauli and Solan. The last stretch can be swapped for the narrow-gauge toy train from Kalka, which takes longer but is the better story. You reach Shimla in the afternoon. The evening is for the Ridge and the Mall, the traffic-free promenade where the town comes out to walk, with Christ Church lit at one end.

Shimla

Shimla — the Colonial Town and Kufri

A full day around the old summer capital. A morning heritage walk covers the Mall, the Ridge, the Gaiety Theatre and the Lower Bazaar. Then the Viceregal Lodge on Observatory Hill, the heavy stone mansion where the British ran India in the summer, with its gardens and its independence-era history. The afternoon is Jakhu Temple, on the highest hill, with its giant Hanuman and its monkeys, and a run out to Kufri for the meadow walks and the Himalayan Nature Park.

White cloud sits below a pine-covered Kasauli ridgeline in the western Himalayan foothills.

Shimla

A Day in Kasauli

A quiet day trip, about an hour and a half each way, to the small cantonment town of Kasauli. The pleasures are simple: the short colonial Mall, the 1853 Christ Church, and the Upper and Lower Mall walking loops under Himalayan oak. Monkey Point, the highest spot, looks out over the Punjab plains, and Sunset Point catches the evening. Asia's oldest brewery, from the 1820s, still runs in the town. It is a half-day of walking and quiet, with lunch at an old bakery.

A river runs through a steep pine-forested gorge in Himachal Pradesh.

Shimla → Manali

Shimla to Manali — Down the Sutlej, Up the Beas

A long driving day, about eight hours over two hundred and fifty kilometres, and one of the more scenic in the state. The road drops to the Sutlej at Bilaspur, past the Gobind Sagar reservoir, then climbs the Beas gorge through Mandi and into the Kullu valley, which turns to apple orchards as you go. There are stops for lunch at Mandi and for the Kullu shawl workshops. You reach Manali by evening. An early start makes the difference on this leg.

Manali

Manali — Hadimba, the Old Town and the Hot Springs

A gentle day in and around the town. The Hadimba temple first, a carved wooden tower of 1553 in a grove of huge deodar cedars, cool and quiet above the town. Then Old Manali across the river, with its slate-roofed houses, the Manu temple, and the cafes along the lane. Vashisht, up the hill, has hot sulphur springs and an old stone temple. The afternoon is loose: the Mall, the Tibetan monasteries, or the club-house gardens by the river.

Manali

Manali — Solang Valley and the Atal Tunnel

A day toward the high country. Solang Valley, about thirteen kilometres up, is the adventure ground: a tandem paraglide off the slopes, the ropeway to a viewpoint, and, in winter, snow. Beyond it the Atal Tunnel, opened in 2020, runs nine kilometres through the mountain to Sissu in the Lahaul valley, a bare, dramatic landscape that used to be cut off for months. In summer, before the tunnel, the Rohtang Pass itself can be added with a permit. It is a day of snow and big views.

A wooded hillside above the Kullu valley with layered ridges and mountains behind.

Manali

Manali — Naggar Castle and the Roerich Estate

A half-day south down the valley to Naggar, the old capital of the Kullu kingdom. The castle, from about 1460, is built of stone and deodar beams on a shelf above the Beas, with the whole valley laid out below. Up the hill is the estate of Nicholas Roerich, the Russian painter who settled here, kept as a gallery of his Himalayan canvases. The drive back can take in a roadside trout farm and the Jana waterfall. It is a quiet, art-and-history counterpoint to the Solang day.

Green tea-country fields dotted with trees under a blue sky near Palampur, Himachal Pradesh.

Manali → Dharamshala

Manali to Dharamshala — Across the Kangra Valley

A drive of about seven hours, back down the Beas to Mandi, then west along the Kangra valley. The country opens up: terraced rice, the tea gardens around Palampur, and the Dhauladhar range running along the north the whole way, growing as you approach Dharamshala. There are stops at Mandi's old temples and at a Palampur tea estate. You reach McLeodganj, the upper town, by evening, with the snow wall close above.

Dharamshala

Dharamshala — the Dalai Lama's Temple and Little Lhasa

A day in the Tibetan town. The Tsuglagkhang complex first, the main temple across from the Dalai Lama's residence, with the Namgyal Monastery and the Tibet Museum, and the kora path around the hill hung with prayer flags. Then McLeodganj itself: the market, the cafes, and the Norbulingka Institute down the hill, where Tibetan thangka painting and metalwork are taught. The Bhagsu waterfall, a short walk from the village, is an easy afternoon. It is a day about a culture rebuilt in exile.

The open grassy ridgeline of Triund with brown-green slopes and higher mountains beyond.

Dharamshala

Dharamshala — the Triund Trek

The classic day walk of the Kangra hills. From the Galu Devi trailhead above McLeodganj, the path climbs about a thousand metres over nine kilometres, through oak and rhododendron forest, to the open grassy ridge of Triund at two thousand eight hundred metres. The Dhauladhar range stands straight above it, a wall of rock and snow, and the Kangra valley falls away behind. Four to five hours up, three down, with a guide and a packed lunch. It needs fitness but no skill, and it is the highlight of the region for walkers.

A car drives along a hill road with forested ridges and mountains in the background.

Dharamshala → Dalhousie

Dharamshala to Dalhousie

A drive of about six hours, north-west out of the Kangra valley over forested ridges into the Chamba district. The road climbs and drops through pine and deodar, with the Pir Panjal snows coming into view. There is a stop at the Kangra Fort, one of the oldest and largest in India, on a spur above the Banganga river. You reach Dalhousie, spread over its five hills, by mid-afternoon, with time for one of the walking circuits before dark.

The green meadow of Khajjiar with its small lake ringed by deodar forest and mountains.

Dalhousie

Dalhousie — Khajjiar and the Chamba Valley

A day out from the town. Khajjiar first, half an hour through the Kalatop forest: a round green meadow with a lake in the middle and a golden-domed temple at the edge, ringed by deodar cedars, long sold as a little Switzerland. Go early, before the horse rides and the crowds. The road can carry on to Chamba town, an old capital in the valley, with a cluster of stone temples from the tenth century and a small palace museum. The deodar forest itself is the real reason to make the drive.

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luxury · 11 Nights