From Delhi: 7-Day Private Golden Triangle Tour with Shimla

The plains, then the hills

Six days of Mughal forts in 40-degree heat is a lot of the same thing. This itinerary breaks it with Shimla — 2,200 metres up in Himachal Pradesh, pine forests, and a temperature drop of fifteen degrees in an afternoon's drive.

Delhi, Agra, Jaipur

The standard triangle, unhurried: Qutub Minar, Humayun's Tomb, Jama Masjid and Chandni Chowk in Delhi; the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort; Fatehpur Sikri on the road; then Amber Fort, City Palace, Jantar Mantar and Hawa Mahal in Jaipur.

Shimla

The British moved the entire government of India up here every summer from 1864 — files, viceroy, army headquarters and all — because Delhi was unbearable. What they left is a hill town that looks like nowhere else in the country.

The Ridge and Mall Road are pedestrian-only and lined with colonial buildings: Christ Church, the second-oldest in north India, and Viceregal Lodge, where the decision to partition India was taken in 1947 and where the original teak-panelled rooms are open to visitors.

Jakhoo Temple sits at the highest point, reached by a steep walk through deodar forest, with a 33-metre Hanuman statue visible from the whole town. Monkeys here will take your glasses; leave them in the car.

Kufri, sixteen kilometres out, gives the snow views in winter.

The drive up

About eight hours from Delhi, the last two on switchbacks. The alternative is the Kalka–Shimla toy train, a UNESCO-listed narrow gauge line of 103 tunnels and 864 bridges that takes five hours to cover 96 km. If it can be worked into your dates, take it.

Options

Private car, driver and guides alone, or with three-star or four-star hotels.

Practical

Shimla is cold from November to March and can snow in January. Carry layers whatever the plains are doing.