Kamru Fort
Kamru Fort, a seven-storey stone-and-wood tower above Sangla in Kinnaur, was the ancient capital of the Bushahr principality at the foot of Kinner Kailash.
Himachal Pradesh⛰ 2,650 m2 itineraries
Sangla and the Baspa valley
Sangla at 2,650 m: the Baspa valley's main town, Kamru Fort, Chitkul — the valley's last village — and copyable itineraries for one to three days.
Itineraries you can copy
All 2 →
Day plan · First visitClassic
One day around Sangla — Kamru Fort and Batseri
A single-day Sangla loop: Kamru Fort, the ancient Bushahr capital, and the quieter village of Batseri along the Baspa river. Free, copyable itinerary.
Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Oct
See the plan →
1 night · 2 days · First visitClassic
Two days in Sangla — Kamru Fort and Chitkul
A two-day Sangla plan: Kamru Fort and Batseri on day one, then Chitkul, the Baspa valley's last village, on day two. Free, copyable plan on HimLocal.
Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Oct
See the plan →Sangla is the main town of the Baspa valley in Kinnaur, close to the Tibet border, on the right bank of the Baspa river. Local legend traces the valley's own origin to a contest between two deities, Narayan and the Nag Devta, over the right to hold the land. The Nag won, in the form of a rat, by draining a lake that once submerged the whole valley.
A short walk from town, Kamru Fort — a seven-storey tower, two floors of stone and five of wood — was the ancient capital of the Bushahr principality, at the foot of Kinner Kailash, the peak worshipped as Shiva's own house. Further up the valley, past the village of Rakcham, Chitkul is the last village of the Baspa valley and of the old Hindustan-Tibet trade route — the last point in India reachable without a permit. Batseri, a quieter stop between Sangla and Chitkul, rounds out the valley's villages worth the drive.
A day covers Kamru Fort and Batseri close to town; a second reaches Chitkul itself, with Rakcham along the way. See the one-day plan and the two-day plan for both, and things to do in Sangla for the same three stops laid out with costs and timing.
Photos: Rahulraees (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Sapna Sony (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Harpreetsinghmohali (CC0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Places worth the drive
Chitkul
Chitkul, at 3,450 m, is the last inhabited village of the Baspa valley and of the old Hindustan-Tibet trade route, with Kath Kuni temples and no permit needed.
Batseri
Batseri, a quiet Baspa valley village between Sangla and Chitkul, known for its village devta temple and traditional Kinnauri hill architecture.
On the map
Open the Sangla map →The places a Sangla day reaches, with the road time from town. Each opens on the map with its plans and pages beside it.
Before you go
All articles →Things to do in Sangla — 3 worth the drive, and what each costs
Three things to do in Sangla and the Baspa valley sorted by distance from town, with measured drive times, what each one costs, and the best time to go.
How to reach Sangla — the Kinnaur road from Shimla
Getting to Sangla via NH5 from Shimla in about six hours, by air via Bhuntar, or by HRTC bus — and what the long Kinnaur road actually involves along the way.
The best time to visit Sangla and the Baspa valley
Sangla and the Baspa valley by season: when the road to Chitkul is reliably open, when apple harvest hits, and how cold winter here actually gets.
Questions people ask
Do I need a permit to visit Sangla or Chitkul?
No — the whole Baspa valley, up to and including Chitkul, needs no permit at all. Chitkul is in fact the last point on this route reachable without one; travel beyond it towards the border needs permission most visitors never seek.
How many days do you need in Sangla?
One day covers Kamru Fort and Batseri close to town. A second day reaches Chitkul, further up the valley — most visitors combine both into a single overnight trip from Shimla or the wider Kinnaur circuit around this whole part of the valley.
Is Sangla cut off in winter?
Not entirely — the town itself stays reachable, though winter lows fall to -15°C and snow can close stretches of the road above Sangla towards Rakcham and Chitkul for periods at a time each year, sometimes for days on end.
Photographs by Wikimedia Commons contributors (CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA), resized; each picture is credited on its own page.