Where residents actually go, what to skip entirely, and why you should be back on the ridge road by noon.
Shimla in the afternoon is a queue with a view. Shimla at half past seven in the morning is one of the loveliest hill towns in the country, and the difference is entirely about the hour.
Leave at seven
Walk the ridge to Christ Church while the light is still low, coffee at the Indian Coffee House, then the lanes below the Mall before the shops fill. Be back in the car by eleven.
What to skip
The Kufri pony rides, the roadside 'view points' with tea stalls, and anything advertised as a fun park. None of them are why you came.
Forty minutes from the estate, less at that hour. We will send you with a flask and pick you up wherever you finish walking.
Snow, and when
Late January gives the best odds of fresh snow. The Shimla road clears quickly; it is the last eight kilometres to us that occasionally want the jeep. Ask for it when you book rather than on the morning.
Shimla, Chail, Narkanda and the walks in between — planned around when each is actually worth seeing.
Fourth generation on this slope. Left a Bengaluru software company in 2018 and has not been back.
1 comment
Seconding the seven o'clock start. The light on the ridge before eight is the only reason to bring a camera to Shimla.