Palampur - a town and hill station in the Kangra Valley in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh

Palampur is a town in the Himalayan foothills in Himachal Pradesh. It is famous for its mountain scenery and tea gardens. It is also known as Green Valley of Himachal Pradesh because it is famous for plantations

Get in

You can reach Palampur by bus or by train uptil Maranda. The town is well connected by bus routes to neighbouring states. A narrow gauge train is also available and it is a fun travel from Pathankot to Maranda (1 km from main town). Palampur is 5 km from Maranda.

Get around

By bus

There is an excellent bus service available from major cities like Delhi (510 km) and Chandigarh (250 km). Himachal Roadways also runs a daily air-conditioned bus service from Delhi to Palampur. HRTC is the best bus to travel from Delhi to Palampur or Vice-versa.

By train

The nearest broad gauge rail-head is Pathankot (112 km) from where a narrow gauge toy train runs. It is a wonderful experience for those who have ample time (it takes around 7 hr from Pathankot to Palampur (Maranda)). Chakki Bank is a station just outside Pathankot that handles a lot of long distance trains arriving from the south and east, as well as Jammu. From here it is possible to take an Auto to Pathankot bus station, and then complete a beautiful 4-hour ride to Palampur on a HRTC bus.

By plane

3 flights run daily from Indira Gandhi Airport (IGI) to Kangra Airport. These include two Spice Jet flights and one Air India flight. The price is reasonable.

See

The whole area is plush with scenic beauty and tea gardens.

• Bharkudi. A tourist place worth seeing: it is filled with fountains and caves and there is a temple of Lord Shiva. It is 25 km from Palampur on Andretta Road.

• Baijnath Temple, 32.05071°, 76.64620°. About 16 km from here. It is a historic temple of Lord Shiva and it is there from the reign of pandavas, one will find it amazing. It has beautiful monuments which are worth seeing. It is said that Ravana built this temple to worship Lord Shiva. There is a Yagaya Kund where it is believed that Ravana performed Yagaya to please Lord Shiva.

• Brijeshwari Temple (Mata Brijeshwari Devi), 32.10193°, 76.26991°. Another famous temple which is about 35 km from Palampur. It is situated in the heart of Kangra city.

• Bundla Mata Mandir, 32.13565°, 76.53824°. A temple 4 km from the town on the Nuegal Cafe Road. It is a worthseeing place full of nature's blessings. Aima (Tikka Aima) is one of the central place with majority of Posh Palampurian's living over there. Aima is accomplished by beautiful tea gardens.

• Chamunda Devi Temple, 32.14826°, 76.41889°. About 17 km from Palampur and is very popular destination for Indian tourists. It is believed that it is a place where Devi Chamuda killed two evils named Chand and Mund. The temple is very beautiful and it is along a river side which adds to its beauty. From the top of a hill it is an awesome view.

• Jakhni Mata Temple chandpur, 32.1348°, 76.5663°. A temple at nature's paradise 5 km from the Bundla Mata temple and also 5 km from palampur via chandpur village.

• Naam Art Gallery, 32.18875°, 76.35739°. At Sidhbari Dharamsala, which is about 32 km from Palampur .A German painter, Elisabeth Buschmann, who has made the Dharamsala area her home, has now opened an art gallery--NAAM-- at Sidhbari village on Dharamsala-Chamunda road to display her paintings.The abstract paintings of Elisabeth displayed in a portion of the gallery illustrate various shades of spirituality that crossed her mind while meditating. A section of the gallery displays paintings of Alfred W. Hallet.

• Sobha Singh Art Gallery, Andreta, 32.03884°, 76.57050°. A great place for art lovers. It is 12 km away from Palampur and well connected by bus or by train. Sardar Sobha Singh Ji was a world-famous painter. His paintings like Kangari Dulhan, Gaddan, are great.

• Virni Mata temple. At the height of 2000-2500 m above sea level, where one can find unsurpassed creation of God.

Buy

Buy the local Kangra tea from tea shops which are present at various locations around the town. It smells very nice and has a very good flavour.

Eat

There are some restaurants, few best ones are Lounge, Joy, Taj and Golden Dragon. You can also go to Neugal Cafe which is the best sightseeing in Palampur. It is a nice place and has a very beautiful view of Dhauladhar range.

Drink

• Kangra Tea
• Jhol (Drink made of preserved rice water)
• soda (old bus stand palampur)

Sleep

• Rupayan Homestay, 32.0887°, 76.5197°, +91 9805353030, soodmail@gmail.com. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 11AM. US$20 2017-10-13
• The Solitude Camp, Lolani (near Om Power Project), +91 8626826204, thesolitudecamp@gmail.com. A peaceful place in the foothills of the Dhauladhar Mountains. 2020-11-14

Go next

Dharamshala is another beautiful town about 36 km from Palampur. It is the home of the Dalai Lama and of many Tibetan refugees. The upper part of town where most Tibetans live is called McLeodGanj.

Andretta is about 14 km from Palampur. It is the home of an exceptional artist: Mr. Shobha Singh. His famous work is preserved in an equally beautiful art gallery in this town. It is a place worth visiting for any art-loving person, but is extremely difficult to get to.

Bir is about 25 km from Palampur and is famous for paragliding and hangliding activities. Paragliding lovers from around the world come here for their sport and to participate in the Paragliding World Cup.

McLeod Ganj is another beautiful town about 42 km from Palampur.