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The red and gold front of Chokling Monastery in Bir
1 night · 2 daysFirst visitTemples & heritagebalanced

Two days in Bir — the colony, Baijnath Temple and the Ahju ruins

A two-day Bir plan for any month: the Tibetan Colony and Chokling Monastery on day one, then Baijnath Temple and the Ahju ruins. Free, copyable.
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Photo: Gannu03 · CC BY-SA 4.0

Two days: the Bir Tibetan Colony and Chokling Monastery on a slow first day, then Baijnath Temple and the ruins at Ahju. It leaves out Billing; the one-day plan covers it.

Photos: Gannu03 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Fredi Bach from Switzerland (CC BY 2.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.

Who this is for

Anyone with a night to spare in Bir, or visiting outside the flying season.

Day by day

Day 1

The Tibetan Colony

A slow day on foot at the landing end of the village.

  1. 09:30
    Chokling Monastery
    temple · 6 min from Bir · about 45 min there
    The Nyingma monastery with its large stupa, set up in 1966 by the third Neten Chokling.
  2. ↓ a short walk
    11:30
    Bir Tibetan Colony
    town · 6 min from Bir · about 1 h 30 min there
    The lanes between the monasteries, the handicraft centre and a tea stop.
Day 2

Baijnath and the ruins at Ahju

Two short drives from Bir; leave after breakfast.

  1. 09:30
    Baijnath Temple, Himachal Pradesh
    temple · 28 min from Bir · about 45 min there
    The stone Shiva temple 28 minutes from Bir; our Palampur guide has its own page.
  2. ↓ 16 min by road · 8 km
    13:30
    Ahju Fort Ruins
    viewpoint · 20 min from Bir · about 20 min there
    Ruins mapped on OpenStreetMap, 20 minutes from Bir. Little is published about them, so treat this as a short stop.

Getting there

Bir is about 29 km from Palampur, roughly 55 minutes by car or bus. See the hub guide for the full arrival table.

Where to stay

Stay in Bir both nights; both Baijnath and Ahju are short day trips.

Know before you go

  • Do the colony on foot, not by car; the lanes are the point.
  • Treat the Ahju ruins as a short stop, since little is published about them.

Places on this route

Baijnath Temple
Baijnath Temple
temple · 28 min from Bir
Bir Tibetan Colony
Bir Tibetan Colony
town · 6 min from Bir
Chokling Monastery, Bir
Chokling Monastery, Bir
temple · 6 min from Bir

Other ways to do it

All Bir itineraries →
One day in Bir — Billing, Chokling Monastery and the Tibetan Colony
Day plan · First visitClassic
One day in Bir — Billing, Chokling Monastery and the Tibetan Colony
A one-day Bir plan: the Billing launch meadow in the morning, then Chokling Monastery and the Tibetan Colony in the afternoon. Free, copyable.
Best Sep–Nov
See the plan →

Questions people ask

Is this plan good outside the flying season?

Yes. It uses no flying at all. The first day stays in the Tibetan Colony, and the second is two short drives, to Baijnath Temple 28 minutes away and the ruins at Ahju 20 minutes away, so it works whatever the wind or the weather is doing.

How far is Baijnath Temple from Bir?

About 14 km by road, roughly 28 minutes by car. It stands between Bir and Palampur, so it also works as a stop on the way if you are travelling on, and our Palampur guide has its own page with the history of the temple.

What is at Ahju?

Ruins that are mapped on OpenStreetMap, about 9 km and 20 minutes from Bir. Little is published about them, so we give no date or story, and the plan treats them as a short stop on the same morning as Baijnath, not a main attraction.