Getty Images/Flickr RF

Himachal Pradesh

With spectacular snowy peaks and plunging river valleys, beautiful Himachal is India’s outdoor adventure playground. From trekking and climbing to rafting, paragliding and skiing, if it can be done in the mountains, it can be done here. A convoluted topography of interlocking mountain chains also makes Himachal a spectacular place simply to explore, by bus, car, motorbike, jeep or foot. Every pass crossing into a new valley brings you into a different culture, with its own deities and language. Villages perched on staggering slopes enchant with fairy-tale architecture and residents' easygoing warmth. Hill stations appeal with a holiday atmosphere, while backpacker magnets lure with chilled-out vibes and mountain beauty. In the Dalai Lama's home-away-from-home, McLeod Ganj, or in remote Lahaul and Spiti with their centuries-old Buddhist cultures, you might wonder whether you've inadvertently stumbled into Tibet.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Himachal Pradesh.

See
Tabo Gompa
Founded in AD 996, and retaining five sub-temples dating back over 900 years, Tabo Gompa is reckoned to be the oldest continuously functioning Buddhist monastery in India. Don't expect the towering, colourful structures of Ladakh: the temples here are low-rise structures whose uncoloured mud exteriors are faintly reminiscent of ancient Malian mosques. Without artificial light, the half-dark intensifies the mystique of the interiors, albeit making it hard to see the detail of many masterpieces of mural and sculpture. No photography inside.
See
Chandratal
This gloriously calm glacial lake presents mirror-perfect reflections of the surrounding white-top peaks and geological colour-swirls. At 4270m, the 20-minute walk from the car park gets most visitors breathless enough that they stop at the nearest (southern) end. But it's well worth the 90-minute stroll to go right around the lake's edge, escaping the crowds and appreciating the reflections from ever new angles.
See
Tsuglagkhang Complex
McLeod's main focus for visiting pilgrims, monks and most tourists is the Tsuglagkhang complex, a custard-coloured concrete monastic village that's home to the Dalai Lama (behind a guarded gateway) along with two colourful temple rooms and the excellent Tibet Museum, whose entrance you'll pass en route.
See
Dhankar Gompa
Like a series of whitewashed limpets, the 1200-year-old Dhankar Gompa clings precariously to an eroded cliff-edge rock pinnacle, high above the beautiful Spiti Valley. The result is one of Himachal's most spectacular sights, especially seen from a distance. Climbing within the main building, stairs emerge beneath a stuffed goat as you reach the top-floor courtyard, off which lie a meditation cave, a room containing ceremonial masks, and the colourful quarters in which the Dalai Lama sleeps when visiting.
See
Kunzum La
Forming the watershed between Lahaul and Spiti, this 4551m pass, accessed by multiple switchbacks, is topped by a grassy area where stupas are strewn with fluttering prayer flags. Local drivers (and even the buses) briefly divert from the road to perform a respectful circuit around them.
See
Chehni Kothi
Unspoilt Chehni village is one of the most magical villages imaginable. Surveying a wide sweep of valley and ridgetops from 2110m, its antique core features the astounding 350-year-old Chehni Kothi fort-towers, between six and 11 storeys high, depending how you count them, and with a distinct Pisa-like lean. There's a shorter tower across the yard and a third, medieval tower-house in front. A tiny cafe serves Maggi and tea when the owner isn't driving the ox-plough in his nearby field.
See
Bhimakali Temple
What makes Sarahan so instantly distinctive are the 'twin towers' of its fabulous Bhimakali Temple, best photographed from behind with a backdrop of distant soaring peaks. Like the three surrounding courtyard buildings, the constructions are of layered stone and timber (to absorb the force of earthquakes), topped with a storey or two of intricately carved wood panelling and heavy slate roofing.
See
Norbulingka Institute
Soothingly set amid bamboo, trees and flowing water, the delightful Norbulingka Institute, 6km southeast of Dharamsala, was established in 1988 to teach and preserve traditional Tibetan art forms. It's a beautiful and fascinating place to visit, and (except Sundays) you can watch artisans at work on woodcarving, metal statue–making, thangka painting and embroidery.
See
Baijnath Temple
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. Though small, the 1204 stone structure retains superb carvings of sensual figures reminiscent of those on the Khajuraho temples. It's still very much active and the setting is a further bonus: in a grassy area high above the Binwa River with a lovely backdrop of mountains.