Himachal Pradesh, India

Where the Himalayas
begin.

Pine ridgelines, cold-desert valleys, and hill towns strung along mountain roads — Himachal is the edge of the world's youngest peaks, still being written.

SHIMLA 2,206 M MANALI 2,050 M SPITI VALLEY 3,800 M DHARAMSHALA 1,775 M KASOL 1,640 M KINNAUR 2,960 M ROHTANG PASS 3,978 M SHIMLA 2,206 M MANALI 2,050 M SPITI VALLEY 3,800 M DHARAMSHALA 1,775 M KASOL 1,640 M KINNAUR 2,960 M ROHTANG PASS 3,978 M
01 — The state

Twelve districts,
one mountain range.

Himachal rises from the Punjab plains in a single afternoon's drive and doesn't stop climbing until Tibet. In between: deodar forests, apple terraces cut into hillsides, glacial rivers the colour of jade, and villages where prayer flags outnumber people.

Every district sits at a different altitude, and that altitude decides everything — what grows, what's worshipped, what the roof looks like. This is a place best understood by elevation.

02 — Six places to start

Destinations by elevation

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2,206 M · CAPITAL

Shimla

The old summer capital of British India. Mall Road, timber churches, and a toy train that climbs 100km through pine forest to reach it.

2,050 M

Manali

Apple orchards, riverside cafés, and the last town before the Rohtang Pass opens onto Lahaul.

3,800 M · COLD DESERT

Spiti Valley

Moonscape valleys and thousand-year-old monasteries above the tree line. No monsoon reaches this far.

03 — What to do

Ways to spend your days

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Trek the high passes

Hampta, Pin Parvati, and the trails around Kinner Kailash — routes that cross tree line into rock and snow.

Sit inside a monastery

Key, Tabo, and Dhankar monasteries in Spiti still run morning prayers you're welcome to sit in on.

Walk an apple orchard

September harvest around Kotgarh and Thanedar, where the fruit that changed Himachal's economy still grows.

Raft the Beas

White water out of Kullu, past riverside temples, ending where the valley widens near Manali.

"You don't visit Himachal so much as climb through it — every hour on the road trades one altitude, one language, one kind of roof, for another."
— A COMMON LINE AMONG HIMALAYAN GUIDES

Start with an altitude, not an itinerary.

Check the season that fits your dates, then let us build a route around it.