Shimla: The Queen of Hills - A Mountain Holiday Destination

Discover the charm of Shimla, the Queen of Hills, a captivating mountain destination in Himachal Pradesh, India. Explore its colonial architecture, scenic landscapes, and thrilling adventure activities. From the open-air ice skating rink to the Jakhu Temple, Chadwick Waterfall, and Lakkar Bazaar, Shimla offers a unique blend of history, nature, and culture. Indulge in the local cuisine, including Channa Madra, Chicken Anardana, and Siddus, and experience the serenity of pine forests and the grandeur of the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. Immerse yourself in the rich history at the Army Museum and witness breathtaking sunsets at Scandal Point. Plan your Shimla holiday today and create unforgettable memories in this enchanting hill station.

Shimla, the Queen of Hills- Holiday destination in mountains
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The beautiful snow capped lofty hills of
Shimla will be an exotic holiday destination
for everyone. At the altitude more than
2000m this destination is notable among the
backpackers. Shimla was summer capital of
India during the era of British due to its
natural beauty. It is the natural beauty of this
hill station, which attracts each traveller
back to this place each time. The place is a
beautiful combination of colonial
architecture with Indian historic temples.
The toy train that runs from Shimla to Kalka
travelling through the beautiful landscapes
of hills and valleys can make anyone
spellbound. Shimla tour is like a route way
to enter the gorgeous ridges, valleys of
Himachal Pradesh.
How to Reach Shimla: For going to enjoy
your Shimla holidays you can reach there by
road, by train or by air.
By road: Shimla is around 350 km from
New Delhi and from Chandigarh is around
118km. From Chandigarh one can take
either Volvo buses or state buses run on
regular interval. Else, one can opt for private
car. From Delhi, one can take state bus or
private bus to go directly for Shimla tour, it
will take 10 hours to reach the destination at
affordable price.
By train: One prefers to travel Shimla by
taking the toy train connecting Kalka with
the hill station. One can reach Kalka by
taking bus or train as it is well connected to
most of the cities of
India.
By air: Jubbarhatti, the nearest airport to
reach Shimla. This airport is well planned by
giving shape to the mountainous ridges. It is
a “table-top” airport in India, where deep
gorges surrounding the entire runway to give
an enigmatic look.
Shimla places to visit: it is one of the well-
planned cities located in India. This place is
the gateway to reach other places like Kufri,
Narkanda, Naldehra, Dharamshala, Rotang
Pass and many more places to Parvati,
Kangra and Solang valley. Shimla travel
packages are one of the exciting destinations
to go. The exciting things, which one can
easily do in this Shimla travel packages, are:
 Open air ice skating rink: Ice is
artificially made by Garhwali as
learnt from the British to earn their
livelihood. The low temperature
during winter days and thick wood
forest prevent ice from melting
down. It is Asia’s only rink, which
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has this open-air ambience and
offering a lifetime experience to the
travellers. If you are fond of cold
winter days this ice skating
experience will be there in your
bucketlist
Timing : 8am-11am and 5pm-8pm;
(December-March)
Cost: Pocket friendly
Figure 1: Open air ice skating
 River rafting: One travels to Shimla,
Tattapani is the place to go for
adventure. As the name suggests it
means “hot water”. This hot water
spring is located on the banks of
Satluj. For the adventure lovers this
place is 50km away from Shimla.
Gorgeous river rafting experience
attracts the adventure lovers each
year. River rafting in this hot spring
is a wonderful idea for weekend
getaway. The deep gorges of this hot
spring give a push to adventurous
self from you.
Cost : INR 1500-2000 per person per
ride (varies with the number of
rapids)
Figure 2: Tattapani river rafting
 Chadwick waterfall: Chadwick
waterfall is located in between the
thick wood forests of Glen. It is
around 7km from the city centre. To
experience sunrise in front of
waterfall is an ideal plan to start the
day with. If you are fond of serenity
and solitude hours with own self, so
the sunrise in front of this waterfall
is a wonderful experience. The
enthralling walk down the thick
forests of Glen to this waterfall is the
moment of bliss for you. The deep
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Figure 3: Chadwick waterfall
 Jakhu Temple: If you are a regular
trekker, this small stretch of trekking
to Jakhu hills is an enjoyable
experience to your Shimla tour. This
historic temple of Hindu deity
Hanuman is located at the height of
2455m. This 2.5 km of trekking to
this temple is one of the most
popular Shimla places to visit. You
can take the ropeway of Jakhu
temple to look around the entire
landscape of Shimla. If you are
visiting the famous Hanuman temple
at the top, you have look around the
beauty of colonial-designed Rothney
Castle. This castle is located in the
steep of the hill. The dilapidated
castle of A.O Hume shows the sign
of flying down of migratory birds.
Figure 4: Jakkhu Temple
 Lakkar Bazar: Shimla is the land of
producing beautiful wooden artefacts
with an ethnic touch. If you are
shopaholic, so this market is the hub
for you to get every artefacts at
affordable rates. It is 3km away from
the main city of Shimla. At the
dawn, this local market place gives
an enchanting feeling to the
travellers after whole day of
Shimla tour. The queen of hills is
famous for its wooden articles as
well as for woollen wear. Therefore,
if you are travelling to this beautiful
mountainous zone then you can
bring token of love for your near
ones. This narrow stretch joins the
Ridge, which gives an enthralling
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experience to the travellers. The
local shop of Lakkar bazaar has been
originated when a group of Sikh
carpenters have moved into the
valley and settled there after coming
from Hoshiapur. They show their
skills in the wood carpentry. The
wood decor have been chiselled from
walnut and deodar trees. You can go
to Sita Ram’s shop for the famous
chole bhature and aloo tikki after
tired of shopping. Usually foreign
tourists get attracted to this wooden
piece of art due to its immense sense
of beauty.
Figure 5: Lakkhar Bazaar
 Nature walk through pine forests:
the queen of hills has different
stretch of roads going around the
beautiful snow capped mountains.
This beautiful roads lead to different
places like Summer Hill, Glen,
Kamna devi temple and the Prospect
Hill. In your Shimla travel packages,
you can roam around the city by
taking a natural stroll around the pine
forests. During the dawn when you
are walking through the pine forests,
experience the sunset in the forest,
which will be a moment of fresh air
in your busy life. Those aimless
wandering will be the moment of
your solitude.
Figure 6: Pine forests
 Indian Institute of Advanced
Studies : This eminent architecture
was built in the British era, used by
the Indian President during the
summer days as an escape from
work. When Dr. S Radhakrishnan
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became the President of India, he
granted that architecture to use as a
research institute in the field of arts
and humanities. This place has
become a major tourist attraction for
the travellers going to Shimla. The
photographers have used this grand
architectural showpiece as the retreat
from the regular photography. If you
are visiting this beautiful campus,
you cannot miss the Viceregal Lodge
tour, where the former British
Viceroy of India stayed. This
building is the museum of the
ancient artefacts since the British era.
Timing : 8am-6pm
Figure 7: IIAS, Shimla
 Army Museum, Annandale: This
place is located 3.6 km downhill
from the main city of Shimla. If you
are nature lover, then this hustle free
road strolling lead you to this
beautiful well-maintained Indian
Army Museum. This place can be
reached either by taking Cart Road
or through the Kaithu village. This
lonely walk along the beautiful
mountains gives you serenity. While
coming back you can take bus of
state government, which is taking
Vidhan Sabha road. This museum is
under the strict surveillance of Indian
army, with Anti-aircraft placed in the
premise. The museum in this Shimla
tour will give you an experience of
time wrap of colonial era. If you
have ardent love for arms and
ammunitions, this place is the
ultimatum for you. This museum has
different forms of arms, dress of
different regiments, any order of
execution. The execution order of
Mangal Pandey is also displayed
here. The museum has the
documentation of the Indo-Pakistan
war of 1971. So this army museum
can give you a detailed historical
evidences of the colonial period. Not
only museum this place has the
greenhouse shows the growth of arid
plants like cactus. The British for
refreshments had used this
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playground. This place is still used
by army personnel for sport purposes
and celebrating festivals. Besides
this beautiful green stretch of land,
9-hole golf club is located. Affluent
people of Shimla go there to play
Anglo-Indian sport games, and this is
used for heliport for the personal
chopper.
Time : 10am-5pm (Monday Closed)
(Free Entry)
Figure 8: Army Museum
 Scandal Point: During your Shimla
tour, this place attracts the tourists
majorly. It is located 2.9km from the
mall road of Shimla. Experiencing
sunset from this place will be a
treasure of your life. The enchanting
view of snow-capped mountains
makes you spellbound. These
beautiful Shimla places to visit are a
spectral experience for the
photographers to capture the beauty
of sunset. The story, which revolves
around this place, is some scandalous
elopement of Bhupinder Singh, the
then maharaja of Patiala with British
Viceroy’s daughter. You can visit
Tudor Library before experiencing
sunset at Scandal point. There is a
church located near this point. If you
want to take photographs in ethnic
Garhwali dress, this is the place
where you can go.
Figure 9: Scandal point
Food of Shimla: This hill station has
showed a complete amalgamation of the
contemporary and old-fashioned culture.
The city has wide range of pubs and
restaurants located around the mall road of
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Shimla, as well as it have remarkable street
foods. In your Shimla tour you have to
explore the city for it delicious street food
collection. For Rs 30 you can taste excellent
fruit chaat from Bhihari Lal Sharma Stall
located at Takka Bench. In the cold weather,
a cup of tasty tea with bun gives you a
marvellous experience. Kewal ka Dhabba
gives you that taste of famous Garhwali
delicacies. This place is located in cold
streets of Chawda Maidan, where the
university students come forward to enjoy
the taste of cheap buns and tea. Navbhar
Chawk’s famous gol gappa stall with give
you a mouth-watering experience. That chat
stall provides varieties of kulchas, hotdogs,
gol gappa with specific Indian chutnis at
cheap rates. In the cold environment of
Shimla, you can experience supreme chilling
taste in Embassy Ice cream stall, which is
famous for it innovative flavoured ice cream
and wide varieties of bakery items. Not only
ice creams, but also you get varieties of
softies, squashes, shakes, sundaes in this
famous ice cream stall. Whenever you travel
to mountain, you have a wish to experience
authentic Tibetian foods, and you can
experience such foods in Shimla at cheaper
rates. Few steps from Sher-e-Punjab you can
get your destination for Tibetian delicacies
like momos, thukpa at pocket friendly price.
Apart from street food delicacies, you can
eat authentic Himachali cuisine like
 Channa Madra: Black or white
chickpeas served with yoghurt based
gravy. Usually rice or roti eat with
this channa.
 Chicken Anardana: spicy chicken
cooked with dry pomegranate seeds
is the ultimate taste of spices along
with tanginess. Usually it is eaten
with paranthas.
 Siddus: To escape from the cold
climate this dish is made out of flour
along with poppy seeds/. It is a kid
of Indian bread made in Garhwali
style. This bread is served with ghee.
It is an authentic Himachali food,
you should never miss this famous
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food.
 Sepu Badi Madra: this lentil
dumpling has been used as the starter
dish in festivals. This dish is made
up of Chan and Urad dal.
 Auriya Kadoo: this dish of pumpkin
is made up mustard seeds and other
spices like asofetida and mango
powder. This dish is served with rice.
Where to stay: If you are a tourist, the best
place to stay in Shimla is around Mall road
to get an elegant view of beautiful
mountains. You can also stay in places like
Kufri, Naldehra, and Charabra. If you want
to stay back in Shimla for longer day,
Sanjauli or Summerhill is the ideal place to
visit.
Best Place to visit: the travellers visit this
famous tourist destination mostly during
March to June. The temperature varies
between 15°C and 30°C. It is advisable not
to visit this place during monsoons, as the
hilly areas are prone to landslides. During
the summers, the temperature remains
pleasant, and it is the best time to experience
adventurous sports like rafting, trekking,
paragliding, and camping.
Nearby attraction: If you are an ardent
lover of mountains, then Himachal Pradesh
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gives you that exquisite experience. Even in
the chilled weathers during your
Shimla holidays, you want to enjoy the
natural beauty. The places you can visit after
taking Shimla travel packages. The distance
of the places from Shimla tour packages is
given below:
 Manali: 250Km via NH205 and NH3
 Kullu : 208Km via NH3, NH205 and
NH154
 Kangra: 217Km via NH205
 Chamba: 362km via Pathankot Road
 Dharamshala: 239km via NH 205
 Dalhousie: 325km via NH205
 Kasauli: 70Km via NH5
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himachaltourtravel.in Shimla Manali Tours,Manali Tours,Manali Honeymoon
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