Kasauli Weekend Package: 3 Days with Dagshai and the Timber Trail

Kasauli was established as a cantonment in the 1840s. Its Central Research Institute, founded in 1905, produced vaccines, and the Lawrence School at nearby Sanawar is one of India's oldest boarding schools. The writer Khushwant Singh had a home here.

Dagshai is a cantonment founded in 1847 on land taken from the Maharaja of Patiala. Its jail, now a museum, has small cells built in a T-shape, and is known for holding Irish soldiers of the Connaught Rangers after a 1920 mutiny.

Couples and families from Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab who want a calm weekend in the hills without a long drive.

Kasauli's Mall has old bakeries, small cafés and clubs; the old hotels serve traditional meals. Many visitors also stop for Himachali food at the dhabas on the Kalka–Shimla road.

Kasauli is a walker's town. The Upper Mall and Lower Mall form a loop of about 3 km through the bazaar and past old churches and bungalows. The Gilbert trail, named after a nineteenth-century officer, runs along the edge of the ridge through pine and oak forest, with views over the plains. Early mornings are the best time for birdwatching, when barbets, laughing thrushes and woodpeckers are active.

Some viewpoints, including the Monkey Point hilltop with its Hanuman temple, lie inside Air Force areas with restricted access and timings. Carry ID, follow the signs and don't photograph military installations.

From Delhi, the morning Shatabdi to Kalka or Chandigarh fits perfectly with this package: we meet you at the station and you're in Kasauli by lunchtime. The return can be timed for the evening train back. Driving from Delhi is also possible and adds about 250 km each way.

Kasauli has heritage hotels, small family-run guesthouses and a few modern resorts on the approach road. On the standard tier we choose clean, central hotels within walking distance of the Mall; on the comfort tier, heritage properties and resorts with views of the plains.

Spring brings rhododendron blossom and clear mornings; summer is a cool escape from the plains, though weekends get busy; the monsoon wraps the ridge in mist and turns the forests bright green; and winter brings crisp blue days, cold nights and, now and then, a dusting of snow. Kasauli is pleasant in every season, which is why it works so well for short breaks. Book early for long weekends and the Christmas week, when the town's small hotels fill quickly.

The Kasauli Weekend trip covers about 170 km by road over 3 days, with overnight stops in Kasauli. The car is priced on the same basis as our private car tours: 750 billable km (the larger of the real distance and 250 km a day) at the vehicle's per-km rate, plus 2 nights of driver allowance, with fuel, tolls and parking included.

For two travellers on standard hotels, that comes to ₹8,000 for 2 hotel nights with breakfast and dinner, ₹18,050 for the car and driver and a ₹3,908 service fee: ₹29,957 in all, or ₹15,000 each. Larger groups share the car and pay less per person.