Best of Dharamshala & Dalhousie with Amritsar

Upon arrival in Amritsar, our representatives will greet and help with transferring you to your hotel for check-in. Rest up and enjoy your first day at leisure before an overnight stay in Amritsar.

• After breakfast, we’re heading out today for a city tour of Punjab’s largest city well known as the centre of Sikhism, Amritsar. We start with the most important Sikh shrine, the Golden Temple. This gilded place of worship is a spiritual symbol of the Sikhs, the holiest gurudwara throughout the country that preserves the historical traditions of the Sikhs. You’ll spot the famous golden dome installed on top of the marble structure, which was built by using 400kg of gold leaf.
• From the stunning temple, we head to Jallianwala Bagh, a historical location that now serves as a reminder of the Amritsar massacre that took place in 1919. It saw between 379 to 1500 people shot death as they were trapped in the bagh while protesting against the Rowlatt Act, unarmed, by the order of a British general.
• Then to Maharaja Ranjit Singh Summer Palace Museum which was the summer palace of the first king of Sikh Empire. This well-preserved palace is a source of cultural and historical insights on the lifestyle of the royalties, along with knowledge on the 18th and 19th century Sikh architecture. There are artifacts related to the Sikh monarch Maharaja Ranjit Singh, such as his armors and weapons, as well as ancient coins, manuscripts and paintings that were kept here.
• We’ll then head to the Indo-Pak Border (Wagah Border) located within a village that also serves as a union council. It’s a popular destination that also serves as a goods transit terminal with a railway station that runs between Pakistan and India. The Flag Retreat Ceremony takes place in the evening, one that sees soldiers of both countries go through their routine to bring down their respective national flags before sunset.
• We’ll head back to our hotel after the ceremony in Amritsar and spend the night here.

• After breakfast at the hotel, we’ll check-out and prepare for our journey to Dalhousie, a hill station that’s located near Chamba at level 1,970m. The town was named after the British Governor, The Earl of Dalhousie, and now is a popular tourist destination as it was first intended as a summer retreat. While we’re here, we’ll guide through where the rock carvings of Buddhist deities can be found on the southern end of the city.
• The tropical humid climate paired with clear sky and fresh air from the greenery of Dalhousie makes this place so alluring for many. You’ll also find several Tibetan refugees who’ve made a home in Dalhousie and old historical buildings that still stand to this day, such as the churches of St. John and St. Francis that are respectively built in 1863 and 1894.
• Once we’ve arrived, we’ll transfer you to the hotel for check-in. You can rest and spend the rest of the evening at leisure, whether that’s to explore the popular Subhash Chowk and Gandhi Chowk or visit the old churches at the city. Return to the hotel for overnight stay in Dalhousie.

• After breakfast, prepare for an excursion to Khajjiar, the dubbed Switzerland of India. Located about 30km from Dalhousie, this hill station has one of the most scenic view of a vast, saucer-shaped plateau. Surrounded by pine trees and deodar forests, this is a green glade that’s hailed as the Switzerland of India as the meadows are covered in thick snow during winter and snow-capped mountains become a typical view from here.
• Since it was discovered by Indian cinema, this place has received a lot of tourists who can enjoy horse riding and zorbing here. This Himachal’s picturesque hill town also has the Khajji Nag Temple, near the famous Khajjiar Lake, a temple from the 12th century that was dedicated to Naga or Khajji Nag, the lord of serpents, and from which Khajjiar gets its name from. There are several snake idols and life-size wooden sculptures of five Pandav brothers. It is one of the oldest and holiest temples of Himachal Pradesh.
• We’ll continue driving for about 25km more to Chamba where we can explore one of the most stunning valleys of Himachal. This place is blessed with gorgeous streams, primeval lakes, green meadows and just an overall stunning mountainous scenery of nature. There are wondrous ancient, historically significant landmarks and gorgeous temples to visit.
• We head back from Chamba to Dalhousie after the trip for overnight stay in Dalhousie.

• Enjoy your breakfast at the hotel before we check-out and leave Dalhousie for our ride to Dharamshala. For the next three and a half hours, we’ll be on a scenic drive as we make our way to the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh. This town is a home of Dalai Lama and many Tibetans in exile and has become a famous tourist attraction where visitors can see many sutras and tantras on Buddhism. Dharamshala is a common Hindu word for shelter in spiritual pilgrims’ sense. The view is exquisite with lush forests and pine trees surrounding the mountain ranges. You wouldn’t want to leave the view and fresh air here after spending some time playing in this town.
• On arrival, we’ll help with check-in at the hotel before hopping on a sightseeing trip and visit the Tibetan Medical Centre, Men-Tsee-Khang. It’s famously where one can be treated by experts in rare Tibetan medicines, an endeavour to preserve the ancient art along with astronomy.
• Then we’ll visit the St. John Church that’s one of the oldest churches to be found in Dharamshala. It’s well-known for the gorgeous stained-glass windows of Belgian origin, ones that were donated by Lady Elgin herself. Out of the church, we can visit more beautiful, notable locations while in Dharamshala.
• The Kangra Art Museum houses many notable arts and crafts that were donated by and bought from the people. Some of the oldest artefacts date as far back as the 5th century and the paintings are certainly not to be missed, particularly the verdant greenery that utilizes various shades of green in naturalistic style. The Tea Garden and Kunal Pathri Temple are the combo that you can’t pull apart – the tea garden is a delight for tea lovers and it surrounds the temple that gives it a scenic look of the Dhauladhar Range.
• We’ll drive back you back to the hotel after the trip for overnight stay.

After breakfast, we check-out from the hotel for Amritsar. We’ll bid you goodbye after reaching the city and hope you have the best of memories here!