Himachal Pradesh

Shimla runs along a forested ridge at around 2,200 metres and is the grande dame of Indian hill stations as well as the state capital. Its centre is the pedestrianised Mall and the open Ridge above it, where the whole town promenades in the evening beneath a neo-Gothic church and a run of mock-Tudor and timbered buildings left from its century as the summer capital of British India. Jakhoo Hill, topped by a temple and a very large Hanuman statue, has the best view over the receding ridgelines, and a well-organised population of monkeys who will take anything not held firmly. The approach is half of it: the narrow-gauge Kalka-Shimla line, a UNESCO World Heritage railway, climbs from the plains through more than a hundred tunnels and across high viaducts at a pace that makes the ascent legible. Around the town, the deodar forest at Mashobra and the orchards near Kufri fill easy days, and Shimla is where the long road east into Kinnaur begins — which is also the year-round route toward Spiti.

North of Shimla the Beas river runs through the Kullu valley, apple country whose autumn Dussehra festival brings village deities down from the surrounding hills in procession. At its head sits Manali, at around 2,000 metres, the state's adventure hub and the base for everything above it: old stone temples and hot springs at Vashisht and in Old Manali, riverside cafés, rafting on the Beas, paragliding, and snow at Solang through the winter. Above the town the Rohtang Pass and, since it opened, the all-weather Atal Tunnel lead into Lahaul — a stark, glaciated high valley of Buddhist villages that feels like a different country from the pine forests an hour behind you, and which is the gateway onward to Spiti and to Ladakh. In the side valleys south of Kullu, the Great Himalayan National Park protects alpine meadow, forest and wildlife as a UNESCO site, entered on foot for multi-day treks with local guides and no road access at all, which is the point of it.

On the forested slopes under the Dhauladhar's abrupt wall, Dharamshala and the upper town of McLeod Ganj have been the centre of Tibetan life in India since the community established itself here, and the Dalai Lama's residence is here. The Tsuglagkhang complex, with its temple and museum, is the focus; around it are monasteries, meditation and yoga programmes, Tibetan handicraft workshops and a food culture of momos and thukpa that is genuinely Tibetan rather than adapted. The setting does much of the work: prayer flags along the Bhagsu and Dharamkot paths, waterfalls in the pine, and the Dhauladhar rising several thousand metres straight up behind the town. The Triund ridge is the classic day walk, steep but manageable, with a night at the top for those who want the dawn, and the Indrahar Pass trek continues beyond it for the properly equipped. Below, the Kangra valley holds tea gardens around Palampur, the ancient Kangra fort, and a narrow-gauge railway of its own.

Spiti sits between 3,000 and 4,000 metres on the rain-shadow side of the Himalaya, and it is unlike anywhere else in India: a cold Buddhist desert of ochre and grey cliffs, meltwater rivers, and whitewashed villages farming impossible-looking terraces. Its monasteries are among the oldest in the Himalaya — Key stacked on its cliff above the valley, Tabo with murals a thousand years old, protected under a roof rather than a sky, and Dhankar built into a spur of eroded rock. Beyond them, Komic and Langza sit among the highest permanently inhabited villages anywhere, and the lake at Chandratal is the image everyone brings home. Access is the constraint and it is not negotiable: the road over Kunzum Pass from Manali is generally open only from around June into October, while the longer Kinnaur route from Shimla stays passable for more of the year but is itself weather-dependent and slow. Allow days rather than hours, acclimatise deliberately on the way up, and travel by hired vehicle or organised trip, since public transport is sparse and the distances between villages are large.

Between the hill stations and the high country runs a belt of places that draw people for one specific thing. The Parvati valley, reached from Bhuntar, holds Kasol, Tosh and the villages above them — riverside guesthouses, pine forest, hot springs at Manikaran that are sacred to both Sikhs and Hindus, and a long-standing backpacker scene. Kheerganga, at the top of a stiff half-day walk, has hot pools with a mountain view. Bir Billing, in the Kangra valley, is among the best paragliding sites in the world, with a take-off at Billing and a landing at Bir that gives long, reliable flights through the season and hosts international competitions. Across the state, the trekking runs from ridge walks anyone can do to serious high routes needing guides, permits and acclimatisation, and the rivers give white water through the summer melt. One caution worth stating plainly for the Parvati valley in particular: cannabis grows wild here and features in its reputation, but Indian narcotics law applies in full and is enforced, and every year visitors discover that the reputation is not a defence.

Two things go wrong in Himachal, and both are avoidable. The first is time: mountain roads here are winding, single-carriageway for long stretches, and subject to landslides in the monsoon, so a distance that looks like two hours on a map can take five, and building an itinerary on map distances is the standard error. Plan fewer valleys, allow slack days, and treat any high-pass crossing as a full day. The second is altitude: Spiti's villages sit between 3,000 and 4,000 metres and the passes go higher, which is high enough for altitude sickness to be a real risk rather than a theoretical one, particularly for anyone flying into Delhi and driving up fast. Gain height gradually, spend a night at intermediate altitude before going higher, drink far more water than feels necessary, and treat headache, breathlessness at rest or nausea as a signal to descend rather than push on. On seasons: March to June suits the front valleys, September and October bring clear post-monsoon air and the apple harvest, the high roads open roughly June to October, and winter closes passes while bringing snow to the hill stations. General India health and safety is covered in the India health and safety guide.