If you’re planning a trip to Shimla, there’s one piece of advice I would give you before anything else:
Bring comfortable shoes.
Seriously. 😂
Shimla is beautiful, but this isn’t the kind of hill station where you can park your car everywhere, walk ten steps and reach the next attraction.
If you want to properly experience Shimla, you’re going to walk.
A lot.
And honestly, that’s part of the experience.
Every hill station has its own personality.
Shimla isn’t really like Manali.
It isn’t Mussoorie.
It isn’t Nainital.
And it isn’t Dalhousie.
Shimla is a mountain city where people actually live, work, study and run businesses.
That’s one of the reasons I think Shimla works particularly well for people who want to stay in the mountains for a few days, weeks or even longer.
You don’t necessarily have to wake up every morning and go sightseeing.
You can simply live here for a few days.
Walk around.
Find a café.
Visit a temple.
Sit somewhere with a view.
Go for a drive.
Or do absolutely nothing.
But there’s one condition:
Your knees should be in working condition. 😂
Shimla’s geography is one of the things that makes it interesting.
The city is built across steep mountain slopes rather than on a flat piece of land.
That means roads, stairs, shortcuts and walking paths constantly go up and down.
Sometimes, going somewhere by car can actually take longer than walking.
You might sit in traffic while someone walking beside you reaches the destination before you.
That’s not an exaggeration.
There are plenty of situations where walking is simply the smarter option.
So if you’re visiting Shimla, don’t plan your entire trip around your car.
Park it somewhere convenient and walk whenever it makes sense.
Personally, I prefer a two-wheeler when I need to move around Shimla.
It can save a lot of time compared with taking a car through busy roads.
But there’s another option that I often recommend even more:
Your feet. 😂
If you are comfortable walking, Shimla becomes much easier to explore.
You can avoid some traffic, discover smaller streets and experience the city differently.
Of course, this isn’t suitable for everyone.
If you have mobility issues or aren’t comfortable walking uphill, you’ll need to plan your sightseeing and transportation differently.
Let’s be honest.
Shimla has a traffic problem.
But there’s an important distinction.
For many locals, the problem isn’t tourists themselves.
Tourism is an important part of the local economy, and many people depend directly or indirectly on visitors.
The bigger problem is the sheer number of vehicles trying to use roads that were never designed for today’s traffic volume.
And the good news is that traffic isn’t equally bad every day.
It becomes particularly difficult during peak tourist periods such as:
🎄 New Year
☀️ May and June
🏖️ Long weekends
🎉 Major holidays
Outside these periods, the experience can be much more manageable.
Still, when you visit Shimla, keep some extra travel time in your plans.
If Google Maps says a journey will take 30 minutes, I wouldn’t build an itinerary that depends on arriving exactly 30 minutes later.
Give yourself a buffer.
You’ll thank me later.
This is probably one of the biggest mistakes first-time visitors make.
They think:
Mall Road + Ridge = Shimla.
Not really.
Think of Mall Road and Ridge as the heart of Shimla, not the entire city.
Once you start exploring beyond the central area, you discover a much larger mountain city.
There’s Jakhoo.
Mashobra.
Naldehra.
Kufri.
Chail.
Narkanda.
Annandale.
Tara Devi.
And many other areas around the city.
Each one has a different atmosphere.
Some are better for sightseeing.
Some for staying.
Some for adventure.
Some for peaceful mountain views.
And some are simply better places to slow down.
One of my favourite things about central Shimla isn’t necessarily visiting a particular attraction.
It’s simply walking around Mall Road and Ridge.
You can sit on the old stairs.
Watch people.
Have an ice cream.
Eat some corn.
Stop at a café.
Walk again.
And continue doing absolutely nothing.
That’s actually one of the things I like about Shimla.
You don’t always need an attraction.
Sometimes the city itself is the experience.
Jakhoo is one of the places I’d recommend including in your Shimla itinerary.
The temple is dedicated to Lord Hanuman and the area is famous for its 108-foot Hanuman statue.
You can reach the area by road, walk up or use the ropeway from central Shimla.
And the views from Jakhoo can be particularly beautiful around sunset.
If you enjoy walking, you can make the journey itself part of the experience.
If you don’t want to walk uphill, the ropeway is a much easier option.
The Indian Institute of Advanced Study, popularly known as Advance Study, is another place I personally enjoy.
The historic building is impressive, but I actually like spending time in the surrounding gardens.
This isn’t somewhere I’d recommend rushing through in 20 minutes just to tick it off your list.
Walk around.
Sit down.
Enjoy the surroundings.
Take photographs if you want.
Or simply spend some quiet time there.
Another reason I like Shimla as a travel destination is that the surrounding region gives you many more options.
You can explore:
🌲 Mashobra
⛳ Naldehra
🏔️ Kufri
🌲 Chail
❄️ Narkanda
🌊 Tattapani
And if you have more time, you can go much further into the surrounding mountains.
Some of these places deserve an entire day.
Others deserve an overnight stay.
That’s why I don’t recommend trying to “complete” Shimla in one day.
Don’t come here with an itinerary that looks like this:
8:00 AM — Place 1
9:15 AM — Place 2
10:30 AM — Place 3
12:00 PM — Place 4
1:30 PM — Lunch
2:00 PM — Place 5
3:00 PM — Place 6That’s not how I’d recommend experiencing Shimla.
Instead:
Wake up.
Have breakfast.
Choose one or two places.
Walk.
Sit.
Eat.
Talk to someone local.
Look at the mountains.
And leave some empty space in your day.
Because the mountains aren’t going anywhere.
Absolutely.
But you need to understand what you’re coming for.
Shimla isn’t just a place where you arrive, photograph the Ridge, visit Mall Road and leave.
It’s a mountain city.
It has traffic.
It has crowds.
It has steep roads.
It has stairs.
It has busy tourist seasons.
But it also has quiet corners, beautiful views, old neighbourhoods, mountain walks, cafés, temples, forests and countless opportunities to simply slow down.
And if you have good knees…
Shimla becomes much easier to love. 😂🏔️
Book your Manali travel package with us and experience the best of the Himalayas—whether you crave thrilling snow sports, scenic treks, or relaxing stays under the stars.
Click Here to visit Our Offer Page to know latest deals
tap here to connect on whatsapp
