My Shimla Experience. Review on Shimla

I recently(a week back) visited Shimla with my family and thought of sharing my experiences with this group.

I.*Things to remember:

*- Preferably book your hotel accommodations prior to your arrival in the city, especial if you are visiting in peak season. Not only will you find it difficult to find good hotel later, it will also come at higher cost.

• If you know any locals in Shimla, book the hotel through them in advance. Usually locals get 20-30% discounts.

  
  




• If you are traveling to Shimla by bus or train and do not have reservation in any hotel, if possible, one of you search around for hotels while leaving around luggage and other people stationed at one place. It would be tiring to search for hotels carrying your luggage.

  
  




• Be careful with coolies(not that they misguide you) on bus stand and railway station. They would charge you meager amount to carry your luggage to hotel, but by virtue of them taking you to the hotel(that you haven't booked earlier) the hotel room will come to you at premium. All coolies have their commission with hotels, if they get them customers.

  
  

II. Travel to Shimla:

You can travel by road(bus or car/taxi), rail or air too.

My recommendation however would be to travel by your own car(if you are used to driving such long distances) to enjoy the good roads and have liberty to stop on the way, spend some time closure to nature and move on as you like. It's about 400 km from Delhi and takes you around 8-9 hrs. Optionally you can also halt at Chandigarh(en-route, approx. 250 km from Delhi) and take a day off there as well.

III. Places to Stay in Shimla:

• Mall road in Shimla would be a good choice of place. Mind you, the only problem is that the Mall road is not motorable. You have to park your vehicle little away and use govt lift to reach Mall road.

  
  




• In peak season, the hotels are damn costly, especially on Mall road. A reasonably good hotel would cost around 2000-2300 bucks per night. Do not expect it to be 2-3 star hotel because you are paying such handsome amount. To your surprise, it may not even be a rated one!

  
  




• From the internet and going through reviews at Mouthshut I decided on Hotel Bridge View.

  
  




• You will do good to contact the hotel directly(details available on https://hotelbridgeview.in) than running through an agent. My experience with the agent( http://www.fundoohotels.com) has been that they tend to mislead you with selection of rooms. They tend to sell the less preferred ones first on the pretext of other rooms not being available. However on contacting the hotels directly you have a chance of getting the room you are looking for.

  
  




• While searching for hotels on the internet, do not get carried away with pictures of hotel rooms. More often than not, it is work of good photographer to make an ordinary room appear like a luxury one!

  
  




• Hotel Combemere which is opposite to Bridge View also appeared a good hotel.

  
  




• Also, look for package deal like 2 nights 3 days. There might be some negotiations possible in a package deal.

  
  




• Most of the hotels insist on inclusion of meals in the packages. More than losing your flexibility to eat at other joints, it would also be a little expensive option for you to include it in your package.

  
  

IV. Hotel Bridge View:

• We booked 2 Super Deluxe rooms at 2500 bucks per night per room. The only negotiation we could manage(though we booked 1 month in advance) was to have front(Mall road) facing rooms.

  
  




• Hotel has an executive suite(9000 per night, with 2 separate bedrooms and bathrooms and all modern amenities), which seldom gets sold out. Hotel owner on the excuse that he has mistakenly given over our rooms to someone else, asked us to accommodate in the suite. We could make out it was a planned move by him to keep his suite occupied as well as sell our rooms on little higher cost to walk-in customers. Not that we complained about moving in the suite, since it was really nice(though I doubt it was worth 9000 per night).

  
  




• Hotel is located bang opposite to govt lift on the Mall road with most of the rooms located in the front facing Mall road.

  
  




• Hotel also serves good tasty food(though little costly than outside).

  
  




• Service wise too we did not have any complaints, probably because we were occupying the suite!

  
  

V. Main Attractions:

1. Mall road:

• Mall road is a good for small time shopping and getting a feel of hill station(steep climb and all).'No vehicles' makes it pollution free too! For people with kids, there are strollers available on hire on hourly basis. A welcome thing for all the parents visiting Shimla:. Do not forget to bargain here too. The Rs. 50/- per hour stroller is easily available at Rs. 20-25 per hour on bargain.

2. World Heritage Train:

• If you are traveling by train to Shimla then you are already covered. If not, you should not miss out on this "world heritage" train ride which plies between Kalka(near Chandigarh) and Shimla.

  
  




• Instead of full train ride(which is about 3.5 hrs till Kalka), you can travel 2-3 stations from Shimla(e.g. till Taradevi) and come back by road. It is some 20-25 mins journey by train and offers you the taste of train ride.

  
  




• It would be good to book ticket in I class(though much more costly than II class) to enjoy a comfortable ride.

  
  

3. Kufri:

• From the base of the Kufri, you will have to ride on the horseback to reach the top. This horse ride for 25-30 mins is adventure in itself.

  
  




• The first point is Mahasu Peak. Though they list many small attractions here, I did not find them much exciting, except that you can click some snaps on the Yak back and in traditionally Himachali dress at the backdrop of mountains.

  
  




• Though there are eating joints at this place, they offer limited snacks items only. Full meals will not be available. Plan your trip accordingly.

  
  




• Another 40-50 mins journey on horse and you reach to Desu Peak. Not many people prefer to travel to this point, may be because of the total traveling time involved on horseback! But I'd recommend this journey for those who can take it for its scenic view and an adventurous experience. The Desu peak is 11, 500 ft high and has Durga temple at its top. The view from the top is breathtaking and on any clear day, you can watch the snow laden peaks at a distance.

  
  




• Desu peak can be really windy at times and you would do better to carry warm clothing.

  
  




• If you do not intend to travel to Desu peak, then I would recommend you to skip Kufri.

  
  




• While traveling back from Kufri to Shimla you can visit the Helipad and stop at the Green Valley.

  
  

4. Other Places:

There are other places as well in Shimla to visit like Viceroy's Lodge, Jakhu temple etc.

I'd summarise by saying, that one should have realistic expectation while visiting Shimla. Though it is good, cool place, and we enjoyed our break away from heat, value for money per se, I may not rate it very high especially if you are visiting from far distances in summer.