Shimla

Shimla, the capital of Himachal Pradesh at 2,206 m elevation on a Himalayan ridge, is India's most celebrated colonial hill station — the British Summer Capital from 1864, where the Viceroy and the entire Government of India relocated each year to escape the Punjab plains heat. The legacy is visible in every corner of the compact town: the Viceregal Lodge (now the Indian Institute of Advanced Studies), a magnificent Jacobethan-style manor with terraced gardens and a sweeping view of the pine-covered ridge; a neo-Gothic colonial-era landmark of 1857 on the highest point of the Ridge; the Gaiety Theatre (a working Gothic arts venue since 1887, still staging classical performances); and the Scandal Point junction where the Ridge meets the Mall Road, named for the apocryphal Victorian-era love story between a Maharaja and a British woman. The UNESCO World Heritage Kalka-Shimla Narrow Gauge Railway (opened in 1903, 96 km, 102 tunnels, 864 bridges, a 5-hour climb from the Punjab plains at 656 m to Shimla at 2,076 m) is the most scenic approach and an essential heritage experience — the small-gauge blue train winds through emerald forests, stone viaducts, and small station towns that feel frozen in time. The pedestrian-only Mall Road is the social spine of the city: lined with colonial-era buildings housing bakeries, bookshops, and restaurants, it rewards an hour-long stroll from the Scandal Point past the Gaiety Theatre to the Ridge Monument. Day trips from Shimla: Kufri (16 km east, a small ski resort with Himalayan view and yak rides), Fagu apple orchards in blossom season (April), Chail (45 km east, the world's highest cricket ground at 2,444 m, built in 1893 by the Maharaja of Patiala), and the Tara Devi Temple. For vegetarian travellers, Shimla excels: Himachali cuisine (siddu — steamed stuffed wheat bread with ghee; madra — chickpea in yogurt-and-spice gravy; tudkiya bhath — spiced rice-and-lentil pilaf; aktori buckwheat pancakes; babru kachori) is served alongside North Indian staples. Baljee's restaurant on The Mall is a long-standing Shimla institution for veg breakfasts — open parathas, rajma-chawal, and filter coffee overlooking the ridge. Indian Coffee House, inside a Victorian building on the Mall, has served the same menu of masala dosa and filter coffee to writers and intellectuals since the 1950s. March-June is the comfortable summer window; October-January offers snow and the famous Christmas market; avoid July-August monsoon on mountain roads.