Shimla • Rohtang • Dharmasala • Palampur • Manali

Shimla, 370 kilometers from Delhi continues to be one of India’s major hill stations. Kasauli, 35 kilometers from the railhead at Kalka, has dainty English cottages set in flower gardens. Manali, 40 kilometers beyond Kullu, 258 kilometers from Chandigarh, allows a view of snowcapped peaks and dense forests with the Beas river rushing alongside. Between the Shivalik hills and the mighty Dhuladhar range is Dharamala, 90 kilometers from the railhead at Pathankot. It is the hill station of Kangra, 37 kilometers away. 

Just after  independence  Shimla  was    the capital of Punjab, till the creation of Chandigarh. When Punjab was broken into Punjab and Haryana, Shimla became the capital of Himachal Pradesh. Before independence, Shimla was a very important British hill station. In the hot season it became he ‘summer capital’ of the country. British discovered Shimla first in 1819. But till 1822 no permanent house was erected there.

In  those  British days the Shimla hill station resembled the Great Bath of London. As the plains became very hot men and women made their way to the cool mountains of Shimla. The highflown social life was legendary, similar to that of the Great Bath - balls, bridge, parties, parades, absence of husbands, romance, intrigue, gossip and rumors. Shimla is at an altitude of 2130 meters from the sea - level. The Mall is in the suburbs of Shimla, which is clinging to slopes. Today Mall is a busy place crowded by holidaymakers. Houses with a touch of English grandeur line-up in the streets. The English influence is conspicuous by Christ Church (1857), former Viceregal lodge,  now the Rashtrapathi Niwas, that dates back to 1888 and the Gorton Castle. Lajpat Rai Chowk is known as Kipling’s ‘Scandal corner’.