It’s not only the travel and tourism gateway of Northern India. Shimla was once part of the Nepalese kingdom and called Shyamala. In 1864 Shimla became the summer capital of India. Following independence, Shimla was initially the capital of the Punjab, then became the capital of Himachal Pradesh in 1966. Today, Shimla is a pleasant, sprawling town, set among cool pine-clad hills with plenty of crumbling colonial charm. High season is mid-April to mid-July, mid-September to late October and mid-December to mid-January. The best time to visit is mid-September to late November.
Chandigarh is the best-planned city in India, with architecture which is world-renowned, and a quality of life, which is unparalleled. As the capital of the states of Punjab and Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh it is a prestigious city. The face of modern India, Chandigarh, is the manifestation of a dream that Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru envisaged and Le Corbusier executed.
The Indian State Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur on Monday flagged off a helicopter taxi service between Shimla and Chandigarh which reduces the travel time to just 20 minutes compared to a 4-6 hour bus ride The service is operated by Pawan Hans helicopter, will be available on Mondays and Fridays and the fare has been fixed at Rs 2,999.
The chopper took off from Shimla airport at Jubbarhatti at 8 am and reached Chandigarh at 8:20 am. It then made the return journey from Chandigarh airport at 9 am and reached Shimla at 9:20 am.
The government is planning to introduce more such flights in the future depending on the public response, the minister added. “Connectivity is key to tourism, in near future under Udaan-II, we plan to cover more such tourist spots, then even more by next five to six months,” Singh said.
It takes four hours to travel from Chandigarh to Shimla by road. The hill station, largely frequented by tourists on weekends, has been reeling under acute water shortage.
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