List of hill stations in India

The hill stations are high-altitude towns for recreation, enjoyment and used as a place of refuge to escape the blistering heat in India during summertime. As India is a vast peninsular country with limited amounts of the coastal area most of its towns and districts face continental type of climate with summer being very hot so hill stations (as situated on high altitude due to which it faces low temperature) becomes an excellent spot to escape such hot and humid conditions as well as a place of enjoyment to spent quality time with your family and partner during summer break.

The Indian subcontinent has seven principal mountain ranges and the largest of all is the Himalayas that lies in the northern part of India. The famous peaks and ranges include the Kangchenjunga range in the Eastern Himalayas which frames the hill stations of Darjeeling and Gangtok as well as the Nanda Devi in Uttarakhand. The Shivalik range that also lies within the same region also has some famous hill stations that include Mussoorie, Drass, Dalhousie, Kullu, Shimla, Nainital and many more.^[1]

Most of the hill stations in India were developed by the British around a central mall to get respite from the oppressive summer heat. Many have picturesque lakes as their focal point, making them excellent places for boating activities.

Most of the hill stations in India are located in Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya in the Himalayas and in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Kerala, and Tamilnadu in Western ghats.^[2] Some are located in Eastern ghat Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal. Some of the hill stations in India are listed below by state.

Since a number of these hill stations attract large numbers of tourists in summer as well as other times of the year, they are well connected by rail, road, and air services to major Indian cities.

The Most Popular Hills In India are: 1.Shivalik Hills 2.Anamalai Hills 3.Ashambu Hills 4.Cardamom Hills 5.Biligiriranga Hills 6.Palani Hills 7.Nilgiri Hills 8.Nallamala Hills 9.Lushai Hills 10.Garo-Khasi-Jainitia Hills

History[]

Hill stations in India were established for a variety of reasons. After the revolt of 1857 the "British sought further distance from what they saw as a "disease-ridden" land by escape to the Himalayas in the north and Nilgiri Hills in the south", a pattern which started even before 1857. Other factors included anxieties about the dangers of life in India, among them "fear of degeneration brought on by too long residence in a debilitating land." The hill stations were meant to reproduce the home country, illustrated in Lord Lytton's statement about Ootacamund, in the 1870s, "such beautiful English rain, such delicious English mud."^[3] Shimla was officially made the "summer capital of India" in the 1860s and hill stations "served as vital centers of political and military power, especially after the 1857 revolt."^[4]: 2

Dane Kennedy, following Monika Bührlein, identifies three stages in the evolution of hill stations in India: high refuge to hill station, and hill station to town. The first settlements started in the 1820s, primarily as sanitoria. In the 1840s and 1850s, there was a wave of new hill stations, with the main impetus being "places to rest and recuperate from the arduous life on the plains". In the second half of the 19th century, there was a period of consolidation with few new hill stations. In the final phase, "hill stations reached their zenith in the late nineteenth century. The political importance of the official stations was underscored by the inauguration of large and costly public-building projects."^[4]: 14

Andhra Pradesh[]

Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh

Arunachal Pradesh[]

Assam[]

Bihar[]

Chhattisgarh[]

Goa[]

Gujarat[]

Haryana[]

Himachal Pradesh[]

Khajjiar, Himachal Pradesh, also known as mini Switzerland of India

Skiing in Manali, Himachal Pradesh

Mt Kailash (5,658 m or 18,564 ft), Chamba, Himachal Pradesh

Triund Campsite is a base camp and acclimatisation point for trekkers climbing the Inderahara point of Mt. Dhauladhar.

Jammu and Kashmir[]

Pahalgam Valley

Gulmarg

Jharkhand[]

Karnataka[]

Shola Grasslands in Kudremukh, Karnataka

Sunset at viewpoint in Kemmangundi

Raja's Seat, one of the major tourist attractions in Madikeri

Kerala[]

Munnar, Idukki district, Kerala

Nelliampathi in Palakkad district, Kerala

Banasura Hill, Wayanad district, Kerala

Ponmudi, Truvandrum district, Kerala

Thekkady, Kerala

Rolling meadows of Vagamon, Kerala

Ambanad Hills in Kollam district

Kodikuthimala, Malappuram district, Kerala

Ranipuram, Kasaragod district, Kerala

Ladakh[]

Kargil Town

Madhya Pradesh[]

Pandav Caves Pachmarhi

Maharashtra[]

Lonavla, Maharashtra

Toranmal

|-Nandurbar

| |-Nandurbar

Manipur[]

Ukhrul Hill Station

Meghalaya[]

Nohkalikai Falls, Cherrapunjee, Meghalaya

Mizoram[]

Nagaland[]

Odisha[]

Rajasthan[]

Sikkim[]

Tamil Nadu[]

Emerald Lake, Ooty

Kodaikanal

Meghamalai

Telangana[]

Tripura[]

Uttarakhand[]

Place	District	Image
Almora	Almora	Almora
Auli	Chamoli	Auli
Bedini Bugyal	Chamoli	Bedini Bugyal
Berinag	Pithoragarh	Himalayas from Berinag
Bhimtal	Nainital	Bhimtal
Binsar	Almora	Binsar
Chakrata	Dehradun	Chakrata
Chamba	Tehri Garhwal	Chamba
Chaukori	Pithoragarh	Chaukori
Chopta	Rudraprayag	Chopta
Dayara Bugyal	Uttarkashi	Dayara Bugyal
Dhanaulti	Tehri Garhwal	Dhanaulti
Gidara Bugyal	Uttarkashi	Gidara Bugyal
Harsil	Uttarkashi	Harsil
Joshimath	Chamoli	Joshimath
Kanatal	Tehri	Kanatal
Kausani	Bageshwar	Trisul from Kausani
Khirsu	Pauri Garhwal	Khirsu
Khurpatal	Nainital	Khurpatal
Landour	Dehradun	Landour
Lansdowne	Pauri Garhwal	Lansdowne
Lohaghat	Champawat	Lohaghat
Mukteshwar	Nainital	Mukteshwar
Munsiyari	Pithoragarh	Munsiyari
Mussoorie	Dehradun	Mussoorie
Nainital	Nainital	Nainital
Naukuchiatal	Nainital	Naukuchiatal
New Tehri	Tehri Garhwal	Tehri
Pangot	Nainital	Pangot
Pauri	Pauri Garhwal	Pauri
Ramgarh	Nainital	Ramgarh
Ranikhet	Almora	Golf Grounds at Ranikhet
Sankri	Uttarkashi	Snowfall in Sankri

West Bengal[]

The 'Toy Train' in Darjeeling, West Bengal

See also[]

• List of Indian states and union territories by highest point

References[]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Hill stations in India.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hill stations in India.