Shimla Hill Tour from Delhi – 3 Days / 2 Nights

The summer capital of British India

From 1864 the entire government of India moved up here every year — files, viceroy, army headquarters and all — because Delhi in June was unbearable. What they left behind is a town at 2,200 metres that looks like nowhere else in the country.

Day 1: the drive

Seven to eight hours from Delhi via Chandigarh, with the last two on switchbacks up from Kalka.

If your dates allow, the Kalka–Shimla toy train is worth considering instead — a UNESCO-listed narrow-gauge line of 103 tunnels and 864 bridges that takes five hours to cover 96 km.

Shimla

The Ridge and Mall Road are pedestrian-only and lined with colonial buildings. Christ Church, the second-oldest in north India, stands at the top with its stained glass.

Viceregal Lodge, now an institute of advanced study, is where the decision to partition India was taken in 1947 — the teak-panelled rooms and the table it happened at are open to visitors, and it is the most consequential room in the town.

Jakhoo Temple at the highest point, under a 33-metre Hanuman statue, up a steep walk through deodar forest. The monkeys take glasses; leave them in the car.

Day 2: Kufri and around

Kufri, sixteen kilometres out at 2,700 metres, for the snow views in winter and the Himalayan Nature Park.

Chail if the road is open — the highest cricket ground in the world, cut flat off a hilltop at 2,444 metres by a maharaja who had been banned from Shimla.

Day 3: back to Delhi

Three options

Three days and two nights at three price tiers, with private transport and hotels.

Practical

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

The roads are switchbacks — take something for motion sickness if you are prone.