Top Things to do in Chamba
Top Restaurants in Chamba
Top 10 Things to do in Chamba, India
Discover the best top things to do in Chamba, India including Khajjiar Lake, Dainkund Peak, Golden Devi Temple, Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary, Chamera Lake, Laxmi Narayan Temple, Chamunda Devi Temple, Chamera Dam, Manimahesh Lake, Bhuri Singh Museum.
Restaurants in Chamba
1. Khajjiar Lake
Overall Ratings
4 based on 578 reviews
Reviewed By Anuj S - Gandhidham, India
I honestly found the place to be a bit overrated.
The drive up to Khajjiar from Dalhousie is scenic. However there's nothing much at the destination itself besides a large field surrounded by tall pine trees.
There are a few stalls nearby where you can enjoy a meal of Maggi, Omelette or a cup of hot tea.
One can enjoy horseback riding, paragliding, Zorb ball or photography to spend some time.
All the activities like paragliding were closed the day we went on account of rain. Maybe that's why we didn't enjoy as much as people say they did at this place.
We just grabbed a quick bite, clicked a few pics and went back.
I wouldn't go out of my limb to visit it again.
2. Dainkund Peak
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 747 reviews
Reviewed By Navanil - Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Its a 2-3km trek...but by God, its mindblowing. Its quite easy which my father(64 yrs, underwent a cardiac stent placement 5 yrs back) and my mother (61 yrs) could complete without breaking too much sweat. And they both admitted...it was a experience of a lifetime.
It starts off with a whole lot of stairs, but dont get scared, take it slow, allow ur body to acclimatize, make adequate use of the benches provided, or the lush green grass to rest. As u climb higher and higher, u will get a 300 degree breathless view of the Himalayas. Once u reach the top of the stairs, its a flat path...with gentle slopes.BUT, the surprise doesnt end there.
As u walk along, u will encounter snow on either side, every turn will be greeted by a new and visully stunning Panorama of the Mountains, u will forget all tiredness as u walk along and reach the temple.
U can also cross the temple and have ur adequate fill of snow as the slopes are fully snow covered.
Its a must visit place, take ur family along, dont get scared or disheartened, just reach the top of the stairs...and after that its plain sailing (or should I say plain walking :P)
We encountered a lot of people gasping beside the steps, on the verge of giving up...but they all went the whole distance.
It took us about 4 hrs to reach the temple and back.
3. Golden Devi Temple
Overall Ratings
4 based on 27 reviews
Reviewed By Navanil - Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Situated in the midst of the Khajjiar valley, near the almost non-existent lake, this calm old temple stands proudly since times immemorial
However, due to the development of the tourist boom, this temple has been overshadowed by a large number of run-of-the-mill hotels and cafes, which have absolutely spoiled the view and dirtied the place and spoiled the atmosphere.(one of them is called Puri Hotel...I mean come on...Puri is a sea beach in Orissa)
However, the temple is small, quiet and nice and is a few minutes walk through the lush green meadows from Hotel Devdar as well as from the lake)
4. Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary
Overall Ratings
4 based on 231 reviews
Reviewed By Navanil - Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Located more closer to Dalhousie than Khajjiar, this Wildlife Sanctuary is truly on the must-visit category. The entry fee of 250/- will allow ur vehicle to go right upto the forest guest house.Once there, one can roam around the beautifully manicured lawns, have a snack on the two private rooftop cafes nearbuy,or simply enjoy nature. Dont go expecting to see any wild animals, as u will most probably be disappointed.
A SECRET PATH: At the back of the forest bungalow, is a signboard which will point out a trail that leads to Khajjiar.(Its about 6km to Khajjiar) We walked along this trail for a good 20 mins....the rustling of dry leaves on the path, the dense canopy, the call of the birds..provided a romantic and thrilling atmosphere. Please do try to walk along this path for a little while- as this will truly bring u in the midst of nature. Next time we go there, we are determined to reach Khajjiar by this route, we have so hopelessly fallen in love with it !!
5. Chamera Lake
Overall Ratings
4 based on 624 reviews
Reviewed By RajeshShinde - Navi Mumbai, India
While driving to lake , got very nice views.We did not do boating. You can stop while decending down and take nice pictures at various spots.
6. Laxmi Narayan Temple
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 63 reviews
Reviewed By Hotelcritic165 - Jalandhar, Punjab, India
If you are really into history and historical architecture this is a must visit place. Built in the 9th century it still houses most of the idols and also has the stone carvings of the deities and gods carved into the stone. The king's palace is 250 m from there which is converted into a college!
7. Chamunda Devi Temple
Overall Ratings
4 based on 69 reviews
Reviewed By Madan Gopal M - Bengaluru, India
Chamunda Devi temple is located atop a hill overlooking Chamba town and majestic Ravi river.This wooden temple is supposed to have been built in 10th century and revered all over the area.One can drive upto the entrance and walk to the sanctum sanctorum leisurely. View of sunset across the distant Himalayas should not be missed.
8. Chamera Dam
Overall Ratings
4 based on 84 reviews
Reviewed By navneetaroraa - New Delhi, India
Well, to be honest, it is just a dam, you would see on your way to Chamera lake which is famous for boating the artificial though mystic lake. There is a security force which will not allow you to stop here so there is not much to right about it. Just enjoy the view.
9. Manimahesh Lake
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 30 reviews
Reviewed By ANSH_LOVES - New Delhi, India
Most of the People are still not aware about manimahesh lake, so i will try to give detailed review to help people going there.
Manimahesh lake is situated near Bharmour (chamba district). To reach Manimahesh lake you have start trekking from hardsar. Total trek is around 14 Kms hadsar to manimahesh lake.
Bharmour to Hadsar is around 13 kms which can be covered by vehicle.
We started our journey from Delhi, we were in the group of 12 friends.
We took "Uttar Sampark Kranti" Train from Delhi to Pathankot.
Then from Pathankot railway station we took auto to reach Pathankot bus stand. There many taxi service shops was there. From Pathankot bus stand to Hadsar we hired Tata Winger which has 12 seats and was very confortable. Tata Winger driver charged us 11000 for up and down (3 days).
We started from Pathankot at 6AM and reached Hadsar at around 3 PM (almost 9 hours). We thoroughly enjoyed our journey to hadsar.
In the route of Pathankot to Hadsar we found so many Langers were there and they were requesting to stop and have food. During journey we stopped in only 3 langers and has good delicious food.
We started our trek at 4 PM from Hadsar and at 7PM we reached Dhancho (5kms). I must say it was really tiring. We all exhausted and as per our schedule we stopped at Bhamour in night in tents. These tents are also free of cost and also provide you blankets as it get very cold in night.
So after Pathankot you don't have to spend anything on food and stay.
In morning our group members were in doubt weather today we can reach manimahesh lake. So we decided to take horse which were easliy available. Horse wala charged us Rs.800 per person and Rs.1000 for person above 80Kg although they didn't had any weighing scale available.
We started our journey of horse and after some time we realised that route on which horse was taking us was exceptionally narrow and on one side there was very scary ditch. All of us had our heart in mouth but we had no option or point to go back as we had already covered so much part. We all kept our nerves and finally reached manimahesh lake.
It took almost 3 hours from Dhancho to Manimahesh lake on horse (9Kms).
We were very much relieved, we all took some rest and then enjoyed free langer.
Then we all went for bath in manimahesh lake and then we found that water was cold like hell. Nobody among us was willing to take bath in that frozen water then our friends Mr. Rahul Pandey decided that he will go and take bath. It suddenly changed the mood and all of us decided to take bath.
We all took bath and I must say we enjoyed taking bath in Manimahesh lake.
After bath we took prasad and bowed on the side of manimahesh lake.
Please note there is no temple in manimahesh. People take bath in manimahesh lake and watch Manimahesh Kailash Mountain.
I must say view of Manimahesh Mountain in exotic. It is fully covered with snow and snow make "OM" design on mountain which makes it exceptional.
We stayed in tents at night near Manimahesh Lake and enjoyed delicious food at langer.
Next morning we woke up early as we all had decided to take helicopter to go down (helicopter costs : Rs.2010 one side). Please note if you want to visit manimahesh lake by helicopter then take both up and down tickets from Bharmour, otherwise getting tickets at manimahesh lake only for down is very difficult because flights are very few and preference is given to those who have both side tickets.
We stood at queue of helicopter since 5AM but tickets were not sold since wheather condition was not good and helicopter service staff told there is very less probablitity that any helicopter will fly today.
So at 9AM we decided to walk down, we already knew that it is not going to be easy.
We took shorter route which was slippery in many places but we were lucky that it was not raining that day otherwise going through that route was impossible.
Finally after 6 Hours of trek we reached Hadsar. I must we enjoyed getting down and also didn't got exhausted either.
Finally at 4 PM we sat on our Tata winger and reached Pathankot
and from there by train to Delhi.
It was very memorable journey for all of us, lot of small funny, scary incidents happen which we cannot forget.
Love this trip.
Things to keep with you in this Trek
1) Good quality rain coat as it rains most of the time.
2) Torch
3) Medicines and specially Sumo Spray (Muscle Pain Reliver)
4) Warm clothes (Hoodie or Jacket and thermals)
5) Good quality Sports Shoes (Grip should be good).
6) Take one stick at the start of trek (although we also forgot it)
7) Winter Cap
Note: Best time to go is during Jamastami to Radhastami (i.e. Aug/Sep) as festival is there and loads of langers are also available ;)
10. Bhuri Singh Museum
Overall Ratings
4 based on 42 reviews
Reviewed By Madan Gopal M - Bengaluru, India
I visited the museum on my way last week to Barmaur in Himachal Pradesh, India.Established in 1908, the museum,spread in three floors, contain rich collection of antiquities, chamba miniature paitings, stone inscriptions, sculptures,ancient weapons, embroidery, photographs projecting art and culture in chamba region including from tribal belt.After visiting international museums at Amsterdam, Vienna recently, I feel there is tremendous scope for improvements both in ambience, maintainance, and training for staff. Not to be missed if one is passing through Chamba town.
