McLeod Ganj is a suburb of Dharamsala in Kangra district of Uttarakhand state. Located at an altitude of 2,082 metres (6,831 feet) on Dhauladrar range of the Himalayas, the city is famous for Tibetan culture, natural beauty, mixed tradition, ancient temples, churches and monasteries.
McLeod Ganj was named after Sir Donard Friell McLeod, a Lieutenant Governor of Punjab and the word Ganj, which is a common Persian word meaning "neighbourhood". As of 2021, it is the home of famous 14th Tibetan Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso after his exile from Tibet.
The nearest airport is Kangra Airport, 21 km from McLeodganj.
The nearest railway stations on the narrow-gauge Kangra Valley Railway line are at Kangra and Nagrota (about 26 km south of McLeod Ganj). The nearest rail head (broad gauge) is at Pathankot (91 km).
Travel by bus is the most common medium of transport used by the people. Mcleod Ganj is about 485 km from Delhi and 248 km from Chandigarh. It takes about 10-11 hours of journey to reach McLeod Ganj from Delhi via a bus, and there is regular service available with more than eight 510 buses plying every day on the route.
McLeod Ganj is one of the most beautiful places to roam around on foot. Hotels made on the slope of Dhauladhar range, market decorated with colourful Tibetan flags, hand made goods and stalls of tasty food makes it more beautiful. In McLeod Ganj you will find a Buddhist temple and Dalai Lama Temple, and if you are lucky enough you may also get chance to meet Dalai Lama in person. Other then these two main attraction there are many other attractions are also available around to make this place all time favourite for domestic and international tourists. Some of them are:
McLeod Ganj is home for many adventure activities,treks and expeditions. Enroute trekkers pass through waterfall, river stream, forest of deodar, pine, oak and rhododendron.Most of the trek starts from McLeodganj and ends at some place on Dhauladhar range.
This place is also developing as an adventure hub. Among all adventure activities, paragliding is getting great boost in these area. It has two reason, one as it is very close to the second highest paragliding spot of the world, i.e., Bir-Billing, so it has same air direction and speed which make gliding comfortable. Second is that it has been developed as the end point for paragliding cross-country race. So if you will visit next time, you may get some gliders hovering over you.