Travel style · Himachal
Food and tea in Himachal
Wazwan, momos, thukpa and first flush
Food trips through the Himalaya: Kashmiri wazwan, Ladakhi skyu, Himachali dham, Garhwali mandua, Newari feasts, Darjeeling tea tastings and Bhutan's ema datshi. Cheap, filling and the fastest way into a culture.
Photo: Fredi Bach from Switzerland · CC BY 2.0 · CommonsMountain food is built on what grows high and keeps through winter: barley, buckwheat, millet, potatoes, dried cheese and meat, apricots and walnuts.
Himachal is the easiest big mountain trip from Delhi: an overnight HRTC Volvo puts you in Shimla, Manali or Dharamshala for ₹900–1,900. Come March to June or late September to November. Budget ₹1,800–3,000 a day on hostels and buses, or far more for Oberoi rooms above Shimla.
Trips
Food and tea trips in Himachal
Photo: Ms Sarah Welch · CC0 · Commons
Comfort
Chamba, McLeodganj and Bir by private car
Private car with driver
5 places
Where to go
Photo: Fredi Bach from Switzerland · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Bir and Billing
Paragliding over tea gardens and Tibetan monasteries in Kangra
Photo: Carlos Adampol Galindo from DF, México · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Kalpa
Apple orchards facing the Kinnaur Kailash peak at dawn
Photo: Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kasol and the Parvati Valley
Pine forest, hot springs and walking villages along the Parvati
Photo: Rignam Wangkhang · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
McLeodganj (Dharamshala)
Tibetan temples and the Dhauladhar wall above Dharamshala
Photo: Ashish Gupta from Noida, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Sangla and Chitkul
The Baspa valley, from Kamru's fort-temple to the last village
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Fredi Bach from Switzerland · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Tandem paragliding from Billing to Bir
Drive up to the Billing take-off at about 2,400 m, run a few steps with your pilot and fly for 15–30 minutes over pine …
Photo: Gannu03 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Monastery walk in Bir's Tibetan colony
A gentle walk through Bir's Tibetan colony at Chowgan, visiting monasteries, prayer wheels and stupas, then out through…
Photo: Rakeshkdogra · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Kangra tea gardens and Baijnath temple
Walk through Bir's small tea estates, buy Kangra green or black tea, then drive 15 km to the stone Baijnath temple, bui…
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Sunrise over the Kinnaur Kailash range
Wake before dawn and watch first light reach the Kinnaur Kailash range across the Sutlej, its summit around 6,050 m. Fi…
Photo: Amitabha Gupta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Walk the cliff road to Roghi village
An easy 3 km walk from Kalpa along a road blasted into the cliff, with sheer drops to the Sutlej and the Kinnaur Kailas…
Photo: UnpetitproleX · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Apple harvest in a Kinnauri orchard home
Spend a morning with a Kinnauri orchard family at harvest time: picking, sorting and packing apples, then a lunch of lo…
Photo: TheSlumPanda · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Manikaran hot springs and langar
Walk or ride 4 km from Kasol to Manikaran, where boiling springs steam beside the Parvati. Visit the gurdwara and the R…
Photo: Photos Worldwide · CC0 · Commons
Trek to Kheerganga's hot spring meadow
Walk about 12 km from Barshaini through Nakthan village, pine forest and waterfalls to Kheerganga, a meadow at around 2…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Fredi Bach from Switzerland · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Budget
Zostel Bir
A Zostel hostel in Bir, close to the paragliding landing fields and the Tibetan colony, with dorms, private rooms …
Photo: Carlos Adampol Galindo from DF, México · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Budget
HPTDC Hotel Kinner Kailash, Kalpa
The state tourism corporation's hotel in Kalpa, with rooms and cottages facing the Kinnaur Kailash range, a restau…
Photo: Wonderlane · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Chonor House
A small Tibetan-style hotel on Temple Road in McLeodganj, built and run by the Norbulingka Institute, with rooms d…
Photo: Ashish Gupta from Noida, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Mid
Banjara Camp and Retreat, Sangla
A riverside lodge in the Sangla valley, set in an apple orchard by the Baspa, with rooms in a stone-and-timber bui…