Home to the Dhauladhar range, the Dalai Lama, and delectable momos, McLeodganj is your pick if you’re looking for a peaceful vacation

Whether you’re planning to visit as a vacation or for a longer staycation/ workcation, this guide will come in handy for both your needs!

1. 📝High level plan
2. 🚗Transport
3. 🏡Stay
4. 🗓️Detailed itinerary

📝High level plan

Like I mentioned earlier, McLeodganj is ideal for both short stays and long vacations. While we did a 4-day trip here, we would recommend doing at least 7 days if you want to experience the town to the fullest and soak the vibe in at leisurely pace

• Day 1: Gallu waterfall trek
• Day 2: Tushita meditation centre, McLeodganj (Dalai Lama Temple, St Johns, Naddi)
• Day 3: Triund Trek
• Day 4: Dharamshala cricket stadium, Bhagsu Nag waterfall

A 4-day trip costs around INR 20,000 per person (excluding flights)

🚗Transport

To McLeodganj

• Via Delhi: Flight from Bangalore to Delhi and then took a train from Delhi to Pathankot in Punjab and took a cab from there to Dharamkot – a town slightly ahead of McLeodganj. The drive lasts about 3 hours
  • You could also take an overnight bus from Delhi, however, sleeper buses are not allowed in the hilly regions so if you choose to travel by bus, you would need to be prepared for sitting for 10-12 hours
• Fly to Dharamshala: The other option is to take a flight from Delhi to Dharamshala (lasts about 1.5 hours). However, this is more pricey option since the flights cost about INR 18,000-20,000

Within McLeodganj

• We mostly travelled by 2-wheelers and by walk. The rentals cost about INR 600/ day for a scooter-type vehicle. If you want to go around by walk, be prepared for some steep roads which might get quite tiring after a point. The other option is to take autos or cabs – however, these could work out to be expensive

🏡Stay

• McLeodganj and Dharamshala are quite evolved in terms of tourism and hence you will find quite a few options for stay here. However, with that also comes the challenge of dealing with crowds – especially if you’re visiting during peak season
• Since we preferred staying away from the crowds, we decided to stay in Dharamkot (Upper Dharamkot) to be specific. Dharamkot is a tiny hamlet in the north of Dharamshala and is located at a distance of around 2 kms from McLeodganj
• This is not yet as commercial as McLeodganj and Dharamshala and this is the reason the stay options are limited. However, there are quite a few hostels and budget friendly places. We stayed at one of these – The Unmad. The place also has an in-house cafe which has some really good food. In terms of accessibility, one would have to climb about 100 stairs to reach the property, so do keep this in mind if you’re looking to book for family etc.

🗓️Detailed itinerary

Day 1: Explore Dharamkot

• We reached Dharamkot at around 9 am in the morning. Reached our stay and grabbed some breakfast at the cafe in the hostel and worked for sometime while we waited for our rooms to get ready
• Freshened up and had lunch at the 3 trees cafe Dharamkot – a hole in the wall cafe serving authentic South Indian food in the mountains. Then left for the Gallu waterfall trek
• Gallu is a small village north of Dharamkot and is home to the Gallu devi temple. The waterfall is actually a secret waterfall (if I might call it that)
• It is not very easily accessible and reaching the waterfall involves a trek for about a distance of 2-3kms (around 2 hours) and the trail is tricky, to say the least. It has narrow, rocky paths running along the mountain, so good hiking shoes is a must (since there have also been instances of accidents involving hikers in the past). The place is more popular among foreign tourists mainly because of the location and the inaccessibility.
• At the end of the trek, you will reach a waterfall with crystal clear blue water and several mini pools where one can take a dip. However, the water is freezing cold and dipping our feet was as close to it as we could get. We started our trek post lunch, one could also head here early in the day, reach the waterfall at around noon and then return at around 4 pm. The place is very relaxing to meditate or just read a book
• There are 2 cafes – one near the waterfall and one along the way – which is called the sunset cafe and rightly named so since it offers the best view of the sunset
• We returned from the trek at around 7 pm in the evening and decided to call it a day after a tiring trek. Headed for dinner at a nearby cafe – Buddha’s delight. Good food – however their portion sizes are quite huge – so be mindful while ordering

Day 2: Mcleodganj and Dharamshala

• This morning, we decided to visit the Tushita Meditation Centre in Dharamkot. The centre is located in a very peaceful location outside the city providing a conducive environment for anyone willing to practice meditation. It offers short term and long term courses and also has free guided meditation courses from 9 am to 10 am everyday for anyone interested. We tried this for a couple of days when we were here and would highly recommend anyone visiting to also try it
• After the meditation, we headed to Trek and Dine for breakfast. This is again one of the oldest and most popular cafes in the town – great food
• Headed to Mcleodganj town to the Namgyal Monastery. While the monastery in itself is not very beautiful, it holds significance since it is the seat of the Dalai Lama. Then explored the markets around the temple and headed to the Tibet Kitchen. Their Thukpa and Momos were as authentic as it could get and we would highly recommend having at least one meal when you’re here
• We then headed to Church of St. John in the Wilderness – a church located amidst woods – truly one of a kind and something we had never seen in India before. We reached here at around 5 in the evening by when the church was closed, however, the gates to the surrounding garden was open. So ideal time to reach here would be around 4 pm or in the morning. After this, we then headed to the Naddi Sunset point, a 15-20 min ride from the church. One word of caution here – since it is popular for sunsets, this place can get very crowded and you might even be left without getting a proper view of the sunset. So we would recommend doing the church in the morning and then heading to Naddi at around 4 pm so that you manage to get a good spot to witness the sunset
• Headed back to the town for some shopping and dinner and had our dinner at Kalimpong restaurant – another hole in the wall restaurant offering authentic Tibetian food. This also tops our list of must-visit restaurants in Mcleodganj

Day 3: Triund Trek

• Woke up early in the morning – and started at around 6 am for the trek. Reached the base by 6.30 am and grabbed some breakfast at a tiny shop nearby. You can also rent trekking sticks here. Started the trek at around 7 am
• The initial part of the trek is pretty easy and passes through forests with shade and is not as tiring. One would reach the Magic view cafe at the midpoint at around 8 – 8.30 am where you can get a second round of breakfast and refill their water bottles (be mindful and carry your own water bottles to the extent possible to avoid generating waste). The challenging part of the trek starts from here. The terrain starts to get steeper and since there are not much trees, once it gets sunny, it drains you out as well
• After about another hour of hike, you can find another small tea shop where you can rest for a while and then continue the rest of the journey. The last leg of the trek is the most demanding and challenging and just when you would think you cannot go anymore, the mountain on the left opens up to a panoramic view of the mighty Dhauladhar range. Witnessing this would make one forget all the pain and make the effort totally worth it
• Spent around a couple of hours at the top and then started our descent since it started raining. Generally, people prefer to camp at the top – there are also some shops who will offer tents to stay – they charge around INR 500 for a 2 person tent for a night. However, since we had booked our stay and had to head to Pathankot the next day, we had to head back. However, we would recommend staying on top since both ascent and descent on the same day would be quite exhausting
• The descent also took us around 4 hours and we headed back and had a humble meal at our stay and retired early for the night

Day 4: Dharamshala cricket stadium and Bhagsu Nag

• Headed to Bhagsu Nag waterfall. Since it was summer, the waterfall was relatively dry. There is a 5100 years old Bhagsu Nag temple and a hot spring at the entrance of the waterfalls. One can hike till Shiva cafe to get a good view of the waterfall and you will also find many small natural pools along the way to take a dip. The number of tourists decreases as you go higher, so some people go beyond the Shiva cafe to access the natural pools just for themselves
  • Don’t miss out on trying out the famous Bhagsu cake at the German bakery near the Bhagsu waterfall parking area!
• We then had lunch at a Japanese restaurant Lung Ta – located in the Mcleodganj town. They serve some authentic dishes and the Japanese couple who run this place are quite warm and friendly. Would recommend you to try their daily set meal and lemon curd dessert
• We then headed to the Dharamshala cricket ground. Purchased the entry ticket at the gate (its a nominal charge of INR 30) and got to experience one of the most beautiful cricket stadiums in the world – with a backdrop of the mighty Dhauladhar range. One can sit in the stadium and soak in the views as long as they want till it closes at 5 pm
• There is also a ropeway from Mcleodganj to Dharamshala – a 2 way ride costs around INR 600. So if you want to get an aerial view of the city of Dharamshala and the stadium, you could also choose to do this
• We then began our return journey to Pathankot by cab to catch our return train to Delhi in the night