The former summer capital of the British in India, and the present capital of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla(named after the goddess Shyamala devi) has been blessed with all the natural beauties which one can think of. Shimla is ideally located, and though there is an air service to the town, it is best reached by road that takes you through Himalayan where you can see old and ancient bungalows and beautiful gardens.
I went there when I was in my schools. We boarded train from Borivali and got down at New Delhi. From there we caught the bus and reached Shimla. It was morning time when we started our journey by bus. Shimla can be visited throughout the year, as each season has its charm. It was the month of December during Christmas vacation when we left. Winter are cold and chilly winds from the upper Himalayas makes the place really cold. Around Christmas or last week of December Shimla gets snowfall. The best time to visit Shimla is April to August & December to January
As soon as we got into the borders of Shimla, the sights were worth seeing. We reached Shimla around 10 pm with 2-3 sightseeing stops in between. We had already book our rooms in a 3 star Hotel named Holiday Inn. Shimla is full of Hotels and Restaurants and there are around 500 hotels in and around Shimla, which includes One Five star hotel(Cecil Hotel) and many three star hotels. There are many Govt. Guest Houses and private Guest Houses. So accommodation is no problem in Shimla but to be on safer side one should book accommodation in advance for stay in Shimla, especially during the peak seasons of summer and Christmas.
Shimla is also famous for its handicrafts, wood and metalwork, shawls, pullovers, local tweeds, Wooden articles and Toys. There are many markets and all are worth visiting. The best shopping area in Shimla are Lower Bazaar, Tibetan Bazaar and Lakkar Bazaar.
There are many Dhabas and Restaurants that serve delicious food that excites your mood and your taste bud forces you to have more and more food. We went to one dhaba named Vaishanv dhaba with ultra-delicious taste and very affordable price.
Being Hill station the weather is almost cool at Shimla. Warm clothes are required throughout the year. The summers have rainfalls. The nights of summer are cool and warm are must during this season. In winter you need to cover entire body with warm clothes. You need to have shoes with nice grip so that walking on Snow becomes easy.
We visited many Religious Places like Christ Church & St. Michael’s Cathedral, Jakhu Temple, Sankat Mochan, Tara Devi, Kali Bari. All this places are very ancient and have something in them that makes it unique from others.
We visited many prime attraction places like Himachal State Museum & library, the Ridge, the Prospect Hill, the Summer Hill, the Potter hill. Rohru River located around 110kms from Shimla is the place where fishing takes place. Brown and Rainbow Trout are found in the Upstreams of Pabbar river.
There are many places in Shimla for Trekking, Skiing and Ice Skating but we just got a chance to see other peoples trek as we were just 16 yrs old?.
Altogether to sum up in few words, Shimla is best place to hang out with your friends and your loved once. It was my first visit then and now I’m eagerly waiting for another chance. Loved this place like anything. It was an trip to heaven.