Himalayan destinations.

One guide per valley town, with itineraries you can copy, the places worth the drive, and when to go. More hubs as we write them.

Arunachal Pradesh

The white and yellow buildings of Tawang Monastery spread along a ridge above the town under a blue sky with clouds

2 itineraries · 4 places · 5 guides

Assam

The tall dark beehive-shaped dome of Kamakhya Temple above smaller red domes and a trident among trees

2 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

A young one-horned rhinoceros with mud on its grey armoured hide walking through short grass, in Kaziranga

2 itineraries · 2 places · 3 guides

Himachal Pradesh

The Tirthan river running green between boulders and forest

16 itineraries · 18 places · 11 guides

The green Uhl valley at Barot with the reservoir, fields and forested slopes under a blue sky

1 itineraries · 1 places · 4 guides

The stone tower of the Narasimha temple at Bharmour with a green mountain behind it under a blue sky

2 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

Stone temple spires of old Bilaspur standing out of the low water of Gobind Sagar

3 itineraries · 2 places · 3 guides

Bir from the air, with terraced fields, the village and a paraglider over the valley

4 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The Chail Palace behind a wide lawn and tall deodar trees

3 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

Chamba town on the bank of the Ravi, seen from the hillside above

4 itineraries · 5 places · 5 guides

Dalhousie hill station across its five hills

4 itineraries · 5 places · 4 guides

Namgyal Monastery, the Dalai Lama's temple complex in McLeod Ganj

7 itineraries · 15 places · 8 guides

The golden-domed Jwalamukhi temple with a chequered courtyard under a blue sky

4 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

The wooden houses of Kalpa village with snow peaks of the Kinnaur Kailash range behind

3 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

Kasauli hill station

3 itineraries · 4 places · 4 guides

The Parvati river running through pine forest at Kasol under a blue sky

15 itineraries · 15 places · 10 guides

Key (Ki) Monastery above the Spiti River

4 itineraries · 10 places · 8 guides

Shashur Monastery above Keylong

3 itineraries · 7 places · 4 guides

Kullu town on the bank of the Beas with wooded hills behind it

6 itineraries · 11 places · 9 guides

The Manalsu tumbling through deodars below Old Manali

40 itineraries · 29 places · 34 guides

Trilokinath Temple in Mandi seen in full

3 itineraries · 7 places · 3 guides

Rani Tal, the pond at the centre of Nahan, the Town of Ponds

2 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

Tall fir trees on Hatu Peak with a snow-covered ridge in the distance

3 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

Terraced tea rows at Palampur with the Dhauladhar range behind

3 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

Gurdwara Paonta Sahib lit up at night

3 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The wide flat meadow at Shangarh with forest behind it and a few people walking

2 itineraries · 7 places · 4 guides

The Baspa valley at Sangla

4 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The twin towers of the Bhimakali Temple at Sarahan, with carved timber upper storeys and slate roofs under a blue sky

4 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

Rooftops of Shimla climbing the hillside

7 itineraries · 12 places · 6 guides

Tabo village in the Spiti valley seen from above, with the monastery buildings on the right and bare mountains behind

3 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

Jammu and Kashmir

Visitors walking across the snowy Kongdoori bowl beneath a ridge on a bright winter day

3 itineraries · 5 places · 4 guides

The white buildings of the Vaishno Devi Bhawan on a steep slope of the Trikuta hills, with brown ridges and a blue sky behind

3 itineraries · 3 places · 5 guides

A green forested valley with a stream winding through meadows below snow-capped peaks and white clouds near Pahalgam

3 itineraries · 6 places · 3 guides

A rocky mountain stream running through a green valley beneath snow-covered peaks at Sonamarg

2 itineraries · 2 places · 3 guides

Two shikara boats on calm Dal Lake with snow-covered mountains rising behind the far shore

4 itineraries · 12 places · 4 guides

Ladakh

The tall stepped walls of Leh Palace on its rocky ridge under a blue sky with bare brown mountains behind

5 itineraries · 13 places · 6 guides

Meghalaya

A deep, steep-sided green valley filled with low grey cloud seen from the Mawkdok Dympep viewpoint near Cherrapunji

4 itineraries · 3 places · 4 guides

A wide view over the houses of Shillong spread across forested hills under a sky of towering white clouds

4 itineraries · 7 places · 4 guides

Nagaland

Wooden houses with red tin roofs on a green slope in Kohima Village, with the city and blue hills behind under white clouds

3 itineraries · 3 places · 5 guides

Sikkim

Pastel-coloured buildings of Gangtok climbing a steep, forested hillside, seen from a viewpoint across the valley

5 itineraries · 11 places · 5 guides

The huge copper-coloured seated statue of Guru Padmasambhava on its painted base on Samdruptse hill under a grey sky

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

A long snow-covered Kanchenjunga ridge in blue morning light above dark forested hills with a few wisps of cloud

3 itineraries · 8 places · 4 guides

The seated golden and dark-blue Buddha statue on a stepped, richly painted base against a forested hillside and a cloudy sky

1 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

Uttarakhand

The town of Almora spread across a terraced ridge under a blue sky with clouds

4 itineraries · 5 places · 3 guides

The painted stone façade of the Badrinath Temple with its gilt cupola, under green slopes and a blue sky

4 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

A grassy mountain meadow among rocky outcrops and forest at Chopta, with snow peaks hazy in the distance

3 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

The long red-brick Forest Research Institute with white columns and two domed towers across a wide lawn

2 itineraries · 5 places · 3 guides

The pale granite summits of the Bhagirathi peaks rising above a green valley with banks of white cloud below

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The ghats of Har Ki Pauri on the Ganga, with the clock tower, small red-roofed shrines and bathers on the steps

3 itineraries · 5 places · 3 guides

Joshimath's houses spread down a steep mountain slope above a deep valley, with high ridges and blue sky beyond

2 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

A long line of snow-capped Himalayan peaks rising above layered blue ridges and green hills seen from Kausani

2 itineraries · 2 places · 3 guides

The grey stone Kedarnath Temple with its tall tower and a yellow roof, below green slopes and snow-covered peaks

2 itineraries · 4 places · 4 guides

Bhulla Tal, a small green lake with a wooden footbridge, pine trees and cottages on the slope behind in evening light

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

Rocky crags of Chauli Ki Jali in the foreground with ridge after ridge of blue hills fading into haze beyond

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The snow-covered Panchachuli peaks along the horizon above banks of cloud and dark foothills seen from a meadow near Munsiyari

1 itineraries · 2 places · 3 guides

Mussoorie's houses and hotels stacked along a green ridge, with hazy hills behind

4 itineraries · 5 places · 3 guides

Rows of boats with red cushioned seats moored on Nainital Lake, with forested hills across the water

4 itineraries · 5 places · 3 guides

A wide grassy river valley in Jim Corbett National Park under a pale sky, with forested ridges and blue hills beyond

2 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

A wide panorama of forested ridges below a long line of snow-capped Himalayan peaks seen from Ranikhet

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

The green Ganges flowing between forested hills at Rishikesh, with buildings on the left bank

3 itineraries · 4 places · 4 guides

The green waters of the Tehri reservoir winding between forested hills, with the dam's grey wall on the right

2 itineraries · 3 places · 3 guides

West Bengal

Roofs and hotels of Darjeeling spreading down a steep ridge under distant blue mountain ranges and soft cloud

9 itineraries · 13 places · 5 guides

The three-tiered white and red front of Zang Dhok Palri Phodang monastery with gold roof edges under a blue sky with clouds

2 itineraries · 4 places · 3 guides

Photographs by Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA), resized; each picture is credited on its own page.