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Himachal Pradesh has always been one of my favorite states to visit in India. The extreme beauty and nature of Himachal Pradesh has not only ruled the heart of Indians, but it is also loved by a lot of people from foreign nations. Specially when we talk about Manali and Shimla, they are known to be among the most visited hill stations of North India. However, there are many more beautiful places to visit in Himachal Pradesh and Dalhousie is one of them. A Hill Station in Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh, Dalhousie is a bit underrated Hill Station of Himachal Pradesh but I would say that it is a place worth visiting ! Some of the popular tourist attractions in and nearby Dalhousie & Khajjiar will make you feel really to the nature.
Today, I will tell you about my 4 Day road trip to Dalhousie and Khajjiar. Hope you could relate to the trip somehow and feel like visiting the place.
An Exciting Trip to Dalhousie & Khajjiar
From my college days I have been fond of visiting popular tourist places by road, the difference being just the mode of transport. In college days travelling to distant places with your friends on bike was the best feeling. However, since the time I got married I plan my trips mostly with my wife in my small car. This time we planned a trip to Dalhousie & Khajjiar.
Plan & Execution
Planning is what I never used to do when I was single. But it is a good thing to plan a trip beforehand specially when you with your soulmate and so did I. After having researched a lot over the internet and through some of my friends I came to know that a 2 day hault at Dalhousie would be enough to experience it at the best. It was our Marriage Anniversary on 2nd of May’2016 so I booked a hotel at Dalhousie for 2 days from 02/05/2016 to 04/04/2016.
As I am now turning into a full time travel blogger I usually stay at my house in Meerut and sometimes at my Agra house. While we planned to move to Dalhousie, we were in Agra.
Day 1 : Road Route & Haults
Agra to Delhi : We started our Journey on 1st of May’2016 from Agra through National Highway-2(NH-2) at about 7:30 am and reached Delhi at 11:00 am. A lot of road construction work is going on these days due to the Delhi – Agra Highway Project, so it took us an extra half an hour or so to reach Delhi.
Delhi to Muthal : The best thing I liked about the Road Route was that I didn’t really had to turn anywhere as it was straight road from Sarai Kale Khan towards Sonipat. We reached at Sonipat at 12:15 pm. At Sonipat I took refueled my WagonR Green with CNG and Petrol. For the vehicles having CNG installed, I would like to tell that at Sonipat you will get 3-4 CNG Gas Stations in a line. Also, these are the last gas stations you will see on the road from Delhi to Dalhousie.
Just after 15 minutes from Sonipat at 12:30 pm we took a hault at Muthal at one of the Dhaba. We freshened up at this Dhaba and collected some eatables.
I tell you what, you would not see better Dhabas anywhere in India than on this road, specially in Murthal and nearby areas. They are so neat and clean better than even some good restaurants in Delhi.
Murthal to Ludhiana: At about 12:45 pm we continued our journey towards Ludhiana and at an average speed of about 80 km/hr we reached Ludhiana at 4:15 pm. We took a hault for lunch on a Dhaba located on the outskirts of Ludhiana City.
The food was good at this Dhaba. Before we even started our Journey, I planned to stay at a place as near to Dalhousie as possible. We took about 40-45 minutes to finish our Lunch at this Dhaba and without wasting any more time continued with our Journey towards Jalandhar at 5 pm.
Ludhiana to Pathankot: It took about 1 hour to reach Jalandhar from Ludhiana. So we reached Jalandhar at about 6 pm. When we started from Agra, we planned to stay overnight at Jalandhar or Pathankot. It was still not dark and so I wanted to continue ahead towards Pathankot. My wife was half asleep so I didn’t even bother to ask her.
Do remember that there is a right turn under a bridge to take the Pathankot route. I got a bit confused there but finally got the right route by asking one of the locals. Within half an hour or so (At about 6:30 pm) it started getting dark and this highway is a bit narrow. Also there are a lot of small towns in between which doesn’t let you pick up with the speed. Anyways, we reached Pathankot at 8 pm. We took a Hotel inside the Pathankot City with all basic amenities and a working air conditioner at Rs.1400 which was not bad at all.
Pathankot to Dalhousie : On the Day 2, we got ready and moved towards Dalhousie at 10 am. We took a tea break at one small dhaba on the hills.
We reached Dalhousie Cantt at about 12:15 pm where we took an unexpected hault. Traffic Police of Dalhousie welcomed us here with Rs.200 Challan of not wearing seat belt. Anyways, after finishing off with traffic police of Dalhousie, it took us another half an hour to finally reach the Hotel. So, at about 12:45 pm we finally reached Dalhousie.
It took us a total of 15 hrs 15 mins to reach Dalhousie from Agra (Distance : 774 km). If you calculate from Delhi to Dalhousie, then we covered this distance in 11 hrs 45 mins (Distance : 575 km).
Day 2 : Dalhousie Tour
The name of the Hotel where we booked our stay was ‘Mongas Hotel & Resort’ which is a 3-Star Property. On the very first look the Hotel appeared quite nice.
I preferred this Hotel because of 3 reasons (i) the rooms were quite nice with all basic amenities and free wifi (ii) the hotel had a car parking space & (iii) its a 3-star property located on Khajjiar Road, as my prime motto to visit Dalhousie was for Khajjair. There is a lot more to tell about the Hotel, so I have written a review of Hotel Mongas.
Also Read : Mongas Hotel & Resort, Dalhousie – An Honest Review
Anyways, after taking a bit of rest we went to Panchpula, which is a good place to visit in Dalhousie. If you like boating you can spend some time here.
Otherwise, there is a 10-15 minutes of trek to Satdhara Waterfall. You just need to be a bit careful while trekking as the place has a lot of rocks where you might hurt yourself.
The Satdhara Waterfall is a good place to be in. I would not say really good, but if you want a bit of peace you can visit this place.
We had maggie and cold drinks at the Shiva Cafe which serves snacks near the Waterfalls. It also has loud music on which creates a wonderful atmosphere.
After spending some quality time at the waterfalls, we headed back down the hill where we saw people doing some adventure activities like Burma Bridge and River Crossing. If you are adventure freak, you could definitely have a try at these activities.
After spending some time at this place, we headed back to the hotel and took a nap. In the evening at 7 pm we walked to the Gandhi Chowk and did a bit of shopping from the adjoining Mall Road.
After a bit of shopping, we returned to the Hotel where the Dinner Buffer was ready. I would say if you want to visit Dalhousie, you must book your stay at Mongas Hotel if not for anything else then just for its food, which is absolutely amazing !
Also Read : 10 Best Places to Visit in Dalhousie
Day 3 : Khajjiar Tour
On Day 3, just after the Breakfast Buffet at the Hotel Mongas we left for Khajjiar. Better known as ‘Mini Switzerland of Himachal Pradesh’ or ‘Mini Switzerland of India’, Khajjiar is one of the most beautiful place in Himachal Pradesh. The road route from Dalhousie to Khajjiar is not is a very good condition.
Someone very rightly said that ” Difficult Roads often leads to beautiful Destinations “.
We reached Khajjiar at 2 pm and was mesmerized by the place on its first look. It really looks as close to nature as is Switzerland.
The lush green ground, the pleasant atmosphere, the nature everything is just perfect at Khajjiar. You can also opt to try horse riding at Khajjiar with your loved ones or alone.
If you are an adventure lover, you can try Zorbing at Khajjiar. In this adventure activity, the person is enclosed in this zorbing ball and another person pushes the ball. You roll over the ground wherever the ball goes.
If you love being in the sky, you can also try Paragliding at Khajjiar. You can get different packages for Paragliding depending upon the height you want to do.
After having enjoyed and taking a lot of snaps on the Khajjiar ground, we had lunch at Quality Restaurant located at the centre of Khajjiar ground.
If you love taking pictures, Khajjiar is one of the best places in India for taking pictures.
We loved this place so much that we didn’t even wanted to go to Dainkund peak, which is yet another tourist attraction above the hill from Khajjiar. Finally, we planned to move back to Dalhousie at 5 pm and had our final dinner buffet at Hotel Mongas at 8:30 pm.
Also Read : 7 Best Places to Visit in Khajjiar
Day 4 : Return Journey
Finally on 4th of May, soon after the breakfast buffet at Hotel Mongas, we packed our bags and started our journey back home. This time we headed back to Meerut at 12 pm. While returning to Meerut we had to follow the same route till from Dalhousie to Karnal. From Karnal we had to take a left turn towards Shamli, Budhana and finally to Meerut. The distance from Dalhousie to Meerut is about 550 km. With only 2 haults, one for a meal and refreshment at Mcdonald’s near Ludhiana and another one at Karnal for refueling the Car, It took us about 10 hours and 30 minutes to reach Meerut from Dalhousie.
Hope you liked to read our exciting road trip to Dalhousie & Khajjiar. Book your stay now to enjoy the wonderful nature of Himachal Pradesh !
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