+91 9816551555 Free cancellation up to 14 days before arrival. Best-rate guarantee when you book direct. New · the 21-night Habit Reset is now open. Usshmaa Wellness Retreat · near Kufri, Shimla
The valley filling with cloud below the deodars
Explore Himachal · within two hours

Everything worth the drive, and nothing that isn't.

Our hosts will happily talk you out of half of these. What remains is genuinely worth a morning away from the estate.

9 places · all within two hours
Shimla Mall & the Ridge
19 km

Shimla Mall & the Ridge

Colonial ridge-top promenade, Christ Church, and the bookshops behind Scandal Point that most visitors never find.

45 min driveWeekday mornings
Our take · Go early, park at Lift, and skip the toy-train-souvenir end entirely.
Kufri
6 km

Kufri

The nearest village, a small nature park, and the ski slope that runs for about six weeks a year.

15 min driveDec–Feb for snow
Our take · Pleasant in snow, avoidable in summer. Ask us before you commit an afternoon.
Mashobra
14 km

Mashobra

Orchards, the old Presidential retreat at Chharabra, and a forest road that is the best drive in the district.

30 min driveApr–Nov
Our take · Our favourite half-day. Take the Craignano detour and eat at the reservoir.
Chail
44 km

Chail

The world's highest cricket ground, a palace hotel and a wildlife sanctuary of deodar and ghoral.

1 hr 40 minMar–Jun
Our take · Worth the drive only if you leave by eight and take lunch with you.
Narkanda
63 km

Narkanda

Hatu Peak at 3,400 metres, the temple at the top, and apple country that makes ours look like a garden.

2 hrsOct–Mar
Our take · The single best view within two hours. Go for sunrise, come back for lunch.
Tara Devi Temple
27 km

Tara Devi Temple

An eighteenth-century shrine on a wooded summit, reached by a short climb through deodar.

55 min driveAll year
Our take · Quiet on weekday mornings, chaotic on Sundays. Go on a Tuesday.
Jakhoo Temple
21 km

Jakhoo Temple

Shimla's highest point, a very large Hanuman statue and a great many extremely confident monkeys.

50 min driveAll year
Our take · Leave sunglasses, food and phones in the car. We are entirely serious.
Village Experiences
2 km

Village Experiences

Sanjauli Khurd — slate roofs, a working gharat mill, and families who have farmed alongside ours for generations.

WalkApr–Nov
Our take · The closest thing on this list and the one guests write to us about afterwards.
Shimla Water Catchment
18 km

Shimla Water Catchment

A protected reserve of old-growth oak, closed to traffic. Barking deer, leopard sign, and total silence.

40 min driveMar–Jun
Our take · Permit needed and we arrange it. Take the forest guard; he sees what you won't.
Day plans

Three days out, already worked out

Car, driver and a packed lunch from the kitchen. Ask a host the night before.

Half day · 4 hrs

The Ridge Road

The drive we send people on when they only have one morning. Mostly forest, barely any traffic.

  1. Leave the estate 08:00
  2. Mashobra & Craignano 08:40
  3. Reservoir walk 10:00
  4. Back for lunch 12:00
car & driver₹4,800
Full day · 9 hrs

Hatu Peak Sunrise

Early, cold and completely worth it. Breakfast is packed by the kitchen the night before.

  1. Leave the estate 04:30
  2. Hatu Peak summit 06:40
  3. Narkanda orchards 09:00
  4. Back by mid-afternoon 13:30
car & driver₹9,600
Half day · 5 hrs

Shimla, Properly

The town as residents use it — bookshops, the Gaiety, and coffee where the ridge crowds don't go.

  1. Leave the estate 09:00
  2. The Ridge & Christ Church 09:45
  3. Lower Bazaar & bookshops 11:00
  4. Back for tea 14:00
car & driver₹5,400
Getting around

Everything on this page is inside two hours.

We keep three mountain-spec cars and two drivers who have done these roads their whole lives. Hire is by the half day.

Estate car, half day ₹4,800 · with driver
Estate car, full day ₹9,600 · with driver
Chandigarh airport transfer ₹11,000 · 3 hrs
Shimla station pickup ₹2,600 · 55 min