Shimla is the Hill station in Himachal Pradesh which is also the capital of this state in India. A city on the hills, yes it's a city for the people of Himachal Pradesh where they comes to shop. Moreover Shimla is a place of scenic beauty, where the hills and people will amaze you with Nature's wonders. As it's summer, there will be no snow fall during the months from June to October.
So here's how to Explore Shimla during summer seasons where no snow could block your way.
How to reach:
Air : You could take a flight from Delhi to Shimla airport. For alternative there are helicopter service from Chandigarh to Shimla.
Rail : To travel by train you will have to board the train from Delhi - Chandigarh, then you could board the HRTC bus to Shimla. Or board the train from Kalka, The Kalka - Shimla train route is famous for its toy train.
Road : HRTC buses has service from Delhi to Shimla frequently.
So what to do when you reach at Shimla and where to go first, thats a question everyone has on their mind wherever you go. So the first destination is the Kufri Valley
Kufri valley is famous for its adventure activities like zipline, rock climbing etc. Moreover the apple gardens, step farming and local shopping are the main attractions here.
How to reach:
Kufri is 15km away from Shimla and it would take 35 minutes to reach by road. There are bus services from Shimla. As it's the first destination try to reach by morning 9am in Kufri.
Things to do :
There are ticket counters on sides of the road. A full package including adventure activities, horse ride and vehicle, it will cost 1500rs per head.
A four wheel drive to the horse halting spot from the counters, it will take just 20 minutes to reach. From their now comes the interesting part, Have you ever been on a horse and climbed a hill? If not, now it's the time, yah a horse ride to the top of the Kufri hills. It takes nearly one hour to reach on to the top, which means that one hour you will be riding the horse through the roughest path to the Kufri hills.
Once you reach the top, the first thing that you will spot is the 'Yak'. Yak!! Yah a giant yak will be waiting for you to climb up on it and to take photos. It cost 100rs per head to sit on a yak and take photos with it. Don't be afraid it won't do anything unless you do stupid things!!
Just after your photoshoot, here's comes the next thing "the gun fire". If you love shooting you can spend time in this session. A loaded air gun with six bullets, aim and shoot the bottles. It cost 50rs per head.
After all these things a walk along the markets of kufri valley where you could shop the local items such as blankets, jackets, and other special items . So what's special in kufri valley? wondering all these here comes the next part, the telescope view point where you could see China border while looking through the telescope. It cost 200rs per head for this activity.
Kufri is the only place in Himachal where an amusement park exist on the hills, on such an altitude you can find the Kufri Fun World. Contains a Giant wheel, Horror theater and the famous India's highest Go kart track. You will have to pay extra money to experience all these activities. Other adventure activities include zipline, rope hanging, rock climbing etc. The most interesting is the zipline because it's between the valleys.
Wait!! these are all things that we could experience anywhere in the world, giant wheels, carts and more , what's so natural in Kufri?
Have you ever seen an apple garden? If no, now its the time to fill your eyes with red colour and your tongue with saliva. The beautiful apple gardens of Kufri valley. You can visit the garden and take your photos with apple trees. Beware! plucking of apple from the trees are punishable and it will be fined up to 500rs. You can buy apple from the garden keeper and you can have it from the garden itself.
So what's next?
Well lets have a look around the step farming of kufri valley. A walk along the path will lead you to the step farming regions of kufri. The agricultural pattern of terrace farming is well flourished in here. Just along the valley sides, vegetables are grown in these hill slopes.
That's all in Kufri.
Managing the time to visit these areas are to be checked. If you reach Kufri by 9am, you could spend till 2am at those hills. The journey back to the base is also a horse ride, through the same path we climbed up. while you return on the back of the horse remember to lean backwards, because as its a hilly area and while going down to the hills you will have a great chance to fall down from the horse if you don't lean backwards.
After the trip to Kufri, return back to your hotel have refresh and have your lunch. By 3pm head to the next spot in Shimla, to the main shopping center "The Mall Road".
The Mall road is the main shopping street in Shimla, "a city on the hills hiding in the mist". The most beautiful town in Shimla.
After your lunch head to the mall road and reach by 4pm. The distance depends from the hotels you choose to stay. Vehicles are not allowed to the mall road, so you will have to park at the parking station which is situated down the hills near the town. To reach the mall road you will have to approach a lift which cost 10rs per head. That's the wonder, you have to go through the lift up on the hills to reach mall road.
The Mall Road is most popular tourist attractions in Shimla that enfolds hotels, bars, restaurants, police station, clubs, banks, shops etc. As you reach the top you can spot several shops, malls, theatre and all. Now it's the time for shopping, just walk along the road and see how well the street is maintained and constructed on the hills. All branded items such as garments, shoes and more are available here. You can spend rest of the time shopping and to have variety of delicious Himachal foods from restaurants nearby. This street is more beautiful during the night time with lights and fogs.
Just above the mall road situates the ridge. A long walk way on the tip of the hills. You can get here from the mall road by taking a diversion to the right to the top. There are direction board kept in all over the mall road. Don't think it's far away, it's just a 4 minute walk from the streets.
The view from the hill top is wonderful in the evening where all the areas will be covered by fog. The chirst church is one of the famous attraction in here, along with it locates a flag stand of India which is around 120 feet hight. And the Dutch museum is another spot in here where you could spend time in knowing the history.
By evening the fog will cover the whole area with a shivering cold. You could see and experience the movement of fog cover as you notice your surroundings, that most of the nearest things will disappear in the fog. You could have a cup of coffee from here and relax by sitting near the view point and watching the hills covered with fog, It's a scenic beauty.
The Jakhu temple which situates up on the hills is another beautiful spot where you can visit while in Shimla. It's near the mall road and the ridge. You can spot the 120 feet long statue of Hanuman from the Ridge, as you look up on the hills. To reach there you can approach a rope way near the mall road or there are four wheel cars which will carry you to the top of Jakhu hills, this will cost 400rs for one jeep.
The main attraction here is the temple and the statue of Hanuman Swami which is 120 feet tall. The Jakhu hills gives you a scenic beauty of the mall road , the ridge and the hills of Shimla from the top.
Returning from the Jakhu hills to the mall road, you can view the night Life of Shimla where the hills are shining by the lights. As you reach down at the mall road you can have your dinner from any restaurant with delicious north Indian foods and in return to your vehicle you will have to approach the lift again to get down to the hills.
If you reach the mall road by 4pm in the evening you could spend time till 9pm on these hills, visiting all these mentioned spots. The mall road closes at 9pm everyday. So managing your time wisely will help you to get to all these places according to the time schedule.
Back to the hotel, you could sleep with lots of memories and for tomorrow you can plan to explore new destinations. This is how you could spend one day at Shimla without missing any places.
EXPLORE AND GET WONDERED!!