Travel+Leisure. Nov 2026.

Like many Indians living in big cities, I often escaped the honking traffic and crowded streets for the quiet hill stations and fresh mountain air during school breaks and holidays. The peaceful hills of Himachal Pradesh were just a short road trip from home, yet they felt like another world. I would wake to the sounds of clever langurs playing outside my window, horse hooves clip-clopping on damp earth, distant temple bells, and wind moving through centuries-old deodar cedar trees.

Khajjiar is a small tourist destination tucked in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district. At an elevation of approximately 6,500 feet above sea level, it sits on a high-altitude plateau surrounded by dense forests and framed by the snow-capped Dhauladhar mountain range. 

Khajjiar remains one of northern India’s most underrated mountain escapes. Many international travelers have never heard of it and, surprisingly, plenty of Indians haven’t either. But those who make the journey soon understand why it earned the nickname “Mini Switzerland.”

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