Introduction :

Himachal Pradesh is located in North West in India in the lap of the Great Himalayas . It is bordered by Jammu and Kashmir in the North , Punjab in the West , Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the South and Tibet in the East. This beautiful state is divided into two parts Southern and Northern Himachal. The southern Himachal also known as lower Himachal is as hot as plain areas ,where as upper is Northern Himachal less hot in Summer and extreme cold and heavy snow in Winter.

Himachal Pradesh - the land of eternal snow peaks - takes in the transition zone from the plains to the high Himalaya and in the trans-Himalayan region of Lahaul and Spiti, actually crosses that mighty barrier to the Tibetan plateau. The Kullu valley, with its developed and tourist-oriented economy, can be considered the backbone of the state. Off the east is thew Parbati valley, popular with long stay visitors. In the Chamba and Kangra regions can be found typical British hill stations and small but beautiful temple complexes.

Geography :

Himachal Pradesh is dominated by mountains and their associated rivers and valleys. Himachal Pradesh can be easily segregated by its valleys. Lahaul consists of the Chandra and Bhaga valleys. Further east, the Spiti river joins the Sutlej river in Kinnaur and flows all the way to the Punjab. In the west, the beautiful Kangra valley stretches from Mandi to Shahpur, near Pathankot.

Shopping :

Kotwali Bazaar and Mcleod Ganj are major shopping areas. Mcleod bazaar has numerous shops selling Tibetan handicrafts including woollen carpets, metalware, jewellery, jackets, handknitted cardigans, gloves etc.



The best time to visit :

The summer temperature varies from the maximum of 38º celsius to minimum 22º celsius and the winter temperature varies from maximum 15º celsius to minimum 0º celsius. The annual rainfall is 2909-3800 mm. Most of the adventure sports are conducted during June to September period. The months from September to March are best suited for a great trip to Himachal Pradesh.

By Bus :

Almost each and every part of the state is linked by roads. The Himachal Road Transport Corporation is running its buses covering the whole state. There is huge network of HRTC to cater the needs of the people. In addition to HRTC the private bus operators are also running their buses within the state. From every district headquater there are buses to the other states mainly -- Delhi, Haryana, Punjab. HRTC is also running deluxe and semi-delux buses on many routes in the state as well as to other states also. From Mcleodganj / Dharamshala to Kullu, Manali, Delhi, Shimla, Chandigarh, Dalhousie and vice-versa you can have tourist buses by Himachal government.

By Air :

In the state there are three airports. These are :

- Kangra airport at Gaggal (15 kms from Dharamshala and 25 kms from Mcleodganj)
- Shimla airport at Jubbar Hatti (23 kms from Shimla)
- Kullu airport at Bhuntar (10 kms from Kullu and 50 kms from Manali)

Other nearest airports having regular service : - Jammu (210 kms from Dharamshala)
- Amritsar (205 kms from Dharamshala)
- Chandigarh (260 kms from Dharamshala, 116 kms from Shimla and 312 kms from Manali)

By Rail :

Main railway stations connecting Himachal :

Pathankot :

All trains going to Jammu passes through Pathankot station. From Pathankot you can have direct trains to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Baranas, Chennai, Banglore, Gujarat, Rajasthan and other parts of India.

Kalka :

From Kalka you can have direct trains to Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and other parts of India. In the state there are two narrow gauge lines connecting :-

 - Kalka to Shimla. This railway track is about 96 kms.
 - Pathankot to Joginder Nagar. This railway line covers 113 kms.

In himachal You can visit

Shimla Kullu Manali Kinnaur Chamba Valley Kangra valley Lahaul & Spiti Dalhousie Chamba Khajjiar

Kangra Jwalamukhi Temple Chamunda Devi Palampur Baijnath Rohtang Pass Manikaran Kasauli Chail Dharamsala