Travel style · Himachal
Homestays and villages in Himachal
Sleep in the hive itself
Homestays are the Himalaya's best value and its best way in: Ladakhi kitchens, Spiti mud houses, Kumaoni stone homes, Lepcha villages in Dzongu, Apatani homes in Ziro. Simple rooms, home food, money that stays in the valley.
Photo: Fredi Bach from Switzerland · CC BY 2.0 · CommonsA homestay is a room in a family home, with meals from the family kitchen. Expect clean, simple rooms, often a shared or outside bathroom in the high valleys, and food made from what the village grows.
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
Homestays and villages trips in Himachal
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Commons
Comfort
Tirthan, Naggar and Manali by private car
Private car with driver
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Kinnaur by HRTC bus: Sangla, Chitkul, Kalpa
HRTC buses and local shared taxis
Photo: Neerajsinghazm · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Manali, Naggar and Kasol on a budget
HRTC local buses and short shared taxis
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Shimla and Kinnaur with Oberoi stays
Private SUV with driver and guide; toy train from Kalka
6 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: Akshat Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Naggar
The old Kullu capital, with a timber castle and Roerich's home
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
Photo: Unknown author · Public domain · Commons
Tirthan Valley and GHNP
Trout river, timber villages and a UNESCO national park
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: Pratishkhedekar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
HPTDC Hotel Castle, Naggar
Stay inside the kath-kuni castle of the old Kullu rajas, traditionally dated to about 1460 and now run by HPTDC. S…
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…
Homestays and villages elsewhere