Holidays in Himachal was our long due plan. We were starving to take a break from our chaotic busy life and wanted to go to a place which is off beat and unexplored away from the rush of people & lock some quality time with family. And then we made a choice to visit this beautiful place Via club Mahindra this year in April.
Imagine a place hugged by lush green undulating peaks and cotton clouds caressing them as they swim through lazily,Sounds mesmerizing? Who would want to miss such an ideal set up for vacationing.
We all deserve a break like this occasionally from our busy lives just to feel relaxed, if you are the one like us who is looking for such holiday spots, then choose this as your next destination.
Kandaghat is an antiquated hill station, completely lost from the havoc of travelers. It is in the Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India which is situated on the Kalka-Shimla National Highway No. 22.
Weather report: Kandaghat is a lovely holiday destination in any weather. Usually the weather is pleasant summers and wonderfully cold winters, we visited Kandaghat in April & experienced pleasant weather in day and extremely windy in night.
Summer: 19°C to 35°C, April to June
Monsoon: 10°C to 24°C, July to Sept.
Winter: -1°C to 10°C, Dec. to Feb.
Getting there:
Nearest Airport to Kandaghat: Shimla Airport & Chandigarh.
Take the road: We drew from Chandigarh to Kandaghat by Car. It took us almost good 4 hours to reach at the destination.
On track: (Railway station closest to Kandaghat): Chandigarh & Shimla. The historic toy train which runs between Kalka & Shimla halts at this station for few minutes.
On the Way: While driving from Chandigarh to Kandghat, the scenes around are jaw droppingly beautiful. Picturesque hills & green lust tress will take your heart away.
Just before starting out on the four-hour journey from Chandigarh to Kandaghat, we asked the driver where we should have lunch on the way. We needed advice as there we had seen dozens of dhabas on the way up and there was no way we could have identified a good one. The driver suggested Haveli restaurant near Dharampur and a good choice it proved to be.
Stay @ Kandaghat: We booked our stay at Club Mahindra, Kandaghat resort, and it was an amazing experience. One of the scenic property we have ever been too. The resort is spreaded across 14 acres and enjoys the luxury of lap of mountains surrounded by lush greenery, blooming garden, flora fountains and absolute privacy. At a mere 25 km from Shimla and 96 km from Chandigarh, Club Mahindra Kandaghat is easily accessible by train and road with excellent connectivity.
The resort with its various dining areas allows the guests to enjoy their meals in setting of their choice with a plethora of cuisines to choose from.
Evenings are even better when you can watch the sky change from orange to pink to golden yellow into a fiery sunset.
Resort offers many adventure activities like Zip lining, Archery, Paint ball and Burma Bridge etc. You can spend day entire doing multiple adventures at the resort.
For kids, there are multiple fun activities starting from play room to craft activities, Dance sessions to Trampoline jumps.
They arrange for Karaoke evenings usually for the guests and we enjoyed the fun. The guests can also enjoy cultural evenings which the resort organizes time and again. They had a special theme evening arrange in the resort during our stay where the local staff of the resort performed some fantastic dance performances. It was delightful to see some amazing talent of the locals.
This resort also has small herb garden allowing the guests to indulge in long leisurely walks, solitude for those who seek calm and revelry for the younger families.
This resort itself is an absolute delight for a luxury stay.
Discover Kandaghat: There's not much to do for you at Kandaghat itself if you are tourist who would like to travel conventionally. However, there are some staggering places close to Kandaghat which you can visit.
We visited a day exploring Shimla which is 25km from Kandaghat. You can also extend a day visiting Mashobra , surrounded by thick forests & trek down to picturesque Sipur.
Next day, we Enjoyed a regal experience and visited the former capital of the Patiala State, Chail. Chail is at almost same distance as Shimla from Kandaghat.
Mohan shakti Heritage park: The Mohan Shakti Heritage Park is an ultimate place to visit. It is a drive distance of 16km from Kandaghat. Mohan Shakti Heritage Park is North India's first ever ancient heritage park.
The picturesque park is supplemented with many unique fascinating marble sculptures. The park is home to beautifully carved statues of gods, sages and holy tress (using brass and different stones). Mohan shakti heritage park, Solan is not just the place for sightseeing, but it also enables you to steal a self-indulgent moment for yourself as well.
We missed visiting Kasauali as we didn't had much time to visit . Kasauli has one of the nicest sunset point to observe the beauty of sun bidding good bye.The road distance between Kasuali to Kandaghat is 44 km. You can probably block a day to visit this place.
At times, it is important for us to do nothing on our holiday except being with ourselves. If you are looking for a place which is an ideal for your to indulge yourself, then this is the place for you. Let the beauty of Kandaghat touch your soul.