Dharamsala
About as far as you can drive into Dharamsala's rugged mountain backdrop, the tiny temple of Gallu Devi is a good destination for a short but satisfying walk from Dharamkot or as the starting point for a longer walk to Triund upland meadow.
From Gallu Devi, a footpath off the main returning track leads to 'sacred' Dal Lake, which is touted as a tourist attraction but, while pretty enough, is just an over-sized pond with pine-tree backing.
1.49 MILES
McLeod's main focus for visiting pilgrims, monks and most tourists is the Tsuglagkhang complex, a custard-coloured concrete monastic village that's home…
4.37 MILES
Soothingly set amid bamboo, trees and flowing water, the delightful Norbulingka Institute, 6km southeast of Dharamsala, was established in 1988 to teach…
23.4 MILES
Between Palampur and Bir, don't miss a stop in Baijnath, whose uninteresting main-street buildings hide one of Himachal's most exquisite ancient temples…
Lakshmi Narayan Temple Complex
23.99 MILES
Far and away Chamba's top historical attraction, this temple compound crowning Dogra Bazaar contains a line of six beautifully sculpted stone sikharas …
26.17 MILES
Meaning 'honoured flame', Jawal-Ji is Jawalmukhi's main temple and raison d'être, enshrining natural eternal flames that are said to mark the legendary…
16.69 MILES
Rare for North India, Masrur's elaborate if severely eroded sandstone sikharas were hewn from living rock between the 8th and 10th centuries. With a…
1.51 MILES
This must-see, two-storey museum sets out to remind visitors of Tibet's history as an independent nation, mourning the Chinese occupation (since 1949) and…
25.45 MILES
The upland area of Dhainkund (2745m) is the most uplifting of many beauty spots around Dalhousie, with a 360-degree panorama encompassing the Pir Pinjal…
0.75 MILES
Small but awesomely kitsch: inside Vashnu Mata Temple you climb into the very claustrophobic inner grotto through a concrete lion's mouth and emerge…
0.85 MILES
Bhagsu's small, 16th-century Shiva temple would be forgettable but for the cold, clean, spring-fed pool out front. This has been enlarged into an open-air…
0.9 MILES
From Bhagsu's Shiva temple pools, a well-paved 1km path leads up the streamside to Bhagsu waterfall, most impressive during the monsoon.
0.94 MILES
Amid tall cedars 1.5km west of McLeod, this brooding Gothic church dates from 1852, and though rebuilt after the 1905 earthquake which destroyed its tower…
0.99 MILES
Just a short hop from the underwhelming Dal Lake, 3km northwest of McLeod, the Tibetan Children’s Village provides free education for nearly 2000 refugee…
1.01 MILES
This flourishing arts school keeps traditional Tibetan dance, music and colourful folk opera (lhamo) very much alive among the exile community. Irregular…
1.12 MILES
Ringed by colourful prayer wheels, this recently built temple between Temple and Jogiwara Rds is generally known as the Chorten (Tibetan for stupa), since…
1.17 MILES
At the base of a long flight of steps off of Nowrojee Rd, this peaceful gompa was built in 1987 to replace the original Dip Tse Chokling Gompa in Tibet,…