Travel style · Himachal
Photography in Himachal
Light, height and the right hour
Trips built around light: first sun on Khangchendzonga from Pelling, star skies over Chandratal and Hanle, prayer halls at dawn, apricot blossom in April. With notes on where photography is not allowed.
Photo: Ms Sarah Welch · CC0 · CommonsMountain light changes fast. The best of it is the first and last hour, which means early starts and evenings without a long drive.
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
Photography trips in Himachal
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Kinnaur by HRTC bus: Sangla, Chitkul, Kalpa
HRTC buses and local 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
7 places
Where to go
Photo: Ms Sarah Welch · CC0 · Commons
Chamba
A thousand-year-old hill capital of stone temples and fine embroidery
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: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Shimla
The old summer capital, reached by a 1903 mountain railway
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: Harvinder Chandigarh · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Stone temples and the Chaugan at dawn
A morning walk from the Chaugan meadow to the Lakshmi Narayan group of stone temples, then through the old lanes to sma…
Photo: Artist/maker unknown, India – Artist/Maker (In… · Public domain · Commons
Chamba rumal embroidery and the museum
See historic Chamba rumals and Pahari paintings at the Bhuri Singh Museum, then visit an embroidery workshop where wome…
Photo: Varun Shiv Kapur from New Delhi, India · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Day trip to Bharmour's Chaurasi temples
Drive 65 km up the Ravi and Budhil valleys to Bharmour at about 2,200 m, the old capital of Chamba and home of the Gadd…
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: 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…
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
Wildflower Hall, An Oberoi Resort, Shimla
An Oberoi resort at Chharabra, about 13 km beyond Shimla at roughly 2,500 m, on the site of Lord Kitchener's forme…
Photo: Navneet Sharma · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Oberoi Cecil, Shimla
A restored late-19th-century hotel on Shimla's Mall at Chaura Maidan, with colonial interiors, valley-view rooms a…