Dalhousie

Dalhousie, at about 1,970 metres in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, is one of the most graceful and unhurried of India's colonial hill stations — a place of pine and deodar forest, Scottish-Baronial and Victorian architecture, and long quiet promenades with the snow line of the Dhauladhar range floating on the horizon.

• Founded in 1854 by the British and named after Lord Dalhousie, the then Governor-General, it was built as a summer retreat and sanatorium and spreads across five wooded hills — Kathlog, Potreyn, Tehra, Bakrota, and Bhangora.
• Its character is gentle and walkable: the Mall and Garam Sadak and Thandi Sadak promenades wind through forest between viewpoints; handsome colonial-era heritage buildings stand at Gandhi Chowk and Subhash Chowk; and the Bakrota Hills and Panchpula (where a memorial to the revolutionary Sardar Ajit Singh stands beside a stream) reward longer walks.
• But Dalhousie's most famous excursion lies 24 km away: Khajjiar, a glorious saucer-shaped meadow of green turf ringed by dense deodar forest and centred on a small lake, set at about 2,000 metres, which a visiting Swiss diplomat in 1992 declared a "Mini Switzerland" — one of a select group of places worldwide judged to resemble the Swiss landscape.
• The ancient Khajji Naga temple, dedicated to the serpent god, stands at its edge.
• Beyond lies the historic town of Chamba with its Lakshmi Narayan temple complex and the alpine meadows of the Kalatop sanctuary.
• For vegetarian travellers, this is Himachali country at its best: the traditional Pahari dham — a sit-down vegetarian feast of madra (chickpeas in yoghurt), rajmah, sepu vadi, kaale chane ka khatta, and rice, served on leaf plates — alongside siddu (steamed stuffed bread), Chamba-style chaa, and Tibetan momos and thukpa in the market.
• The best months are March to June and September to November; winter brings snow.