Himachal

The story

About Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh covers more ground than its hill-station reputation suggests. Shimla and Manali are the easy introduction — heritage towns and adventure bases reachable in a long weekend. Further in, Kinnaur’s orchard villages and Spiti’s high-altitude cold desert make for a slower, more remote kind of trip, often only possible once the summer roads open. Kasol and the Parvati valley draw a younger, backpacker crowd, while Chamba and Dalhousie hold onto a quieter colonial-era charm. A single trip rarely covers all of it — most travelers pick either the classic hill circuit or the high-altitude one, not both.

• Drive-it-yourself mountain roads link hill towns, apple orchards and high-altitude passes in one trip
• The widest range of stay types of any region here — from Old Manali hostels to Spiti homestays
• A genuine choice between an easy hill-station weekend and a slower Kinnaur-Spiti high-altitude circuit