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Tall fir trees on Hatu Peak with a snow-covered ridge in the distance
ArticleVerified 2026-10-06

Day trips from Shimla — Kufri, Tara Devi, Chail and Narkanda

Day trips from Shimla by measured drive time: Kufri, Tara Devi, Chail and Narkanda, with what each gives you and which ones fit a single day.
Photo: Wittystef · CC BY-SA 4.0

How this list is built

Sorted by drive time from Shimla, using our own road routing. Two of the four, Chail and Narkanda, have guides of their own, so we link to them rather than repeat them. We quote no entry prices we cannot source, and the times are the least you should plan for.

Short trips

1. Kufri

About 29 minutes out, 15 km: a resort hill station on the Hindustan-Tibet road, at an average of about 2,720 m. Kufri.

2. Tara Devi Temple

About 39 minutes out, 18 km by our routing: a hilltop shrine to the goddess Tara Devi on its own ridge. Tara Devi Temple.

Full-day trips

3. Chail

About 89 minutes and 40 km: the former summer capital of the Maharaja of Patiala, with the palace, the cricket ground at 2,444 m, a hilltop Kali temple at Kali Tibba and the stream village of Sadhupul. See the Chail guide and its Kali Tibba page.

4. Narkanda

About 113 minutes and 59 km, on the road to Rampur: a small hill town at 2,708 m. Hatu Peak, at 3,400 m, is 18 minutes beyond it, and Kotgarh, where Satyanand Stokes began growing a new American apple strain in 1916, is 43 minutes from Narkanda. See the Narkanda guide.

What it adds up to

Kufri and Tara Devi fit into a half day each from Shimla. Chail and Narkanda each take a full day and lie in different directions, so choose one. See the Shimla guide for the one-day and two-day plans, things to do in Shimla and how to reach Shimla.

Plans that include this

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Questions people ask

What are the best day trips from Shimla?

Kufri, 29 minutes out, and the Tara Devi Temple, 39 minutes out, are the short ones. Chail, 89 minutes away, and Narkanda, 113 minutes away, are longer outings that suit a full day each. All times are our own road routing from Shimla, so leave a margin in the monsoon and winter.

Can you see Chail and Narkanda in one day?

Not comfortably. On our routing Chail is 89 minutes and Narkanda 113 minutes from Shimla, and they lie in different directions, so a day should be one or the other. Narkanda also has Hatu Peak, 18 minutes beyond it, and the apple belt at Kotgarh, 43 minutes from Narkanda.

Which day trip is best for a first visit?

Kufri or Tara Devi if you only have half a day. For a full day, Chail is the easier drive and has a palace and a hilltop temple, while Narkanda suits anyone who wants forest and a high viewpoint. We give no ticket prices or hours, since we have no verified figures for any of them.