Chail is a beautiful, peaceful and lovely small hill station nestled in valleys of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated around 40 kms from Shimla, 110 kms from Chandigarh and 360 kms from Delhi. One of the intersting facts about Chail is that it is situated at an altitude of 2250 meters, even higher than Shimla.
We visited Chail during holidays of June,2014.
Day1 : We started our journey from Zirakpur at 10 am in the morning and reached Chail at around 3:00 pm. It was all because of bad condition of the road from Kandaghat till Chail that we reached later than expected. Another problem was hotel booking which we hadn’t done in advance and I would recommend fellow Ghumakkars to book hotel in advance if you are visiting Chail during summer holidays. Being the peak season, all hotels were booked. However we got to stay at Rashi Resorts, Chail. It is a nice resort and we got to stay at one of their individual huts.
Sunset in Chail
Resort Hut
Rashi Resort
Day 2: After breakfast we proceeded to Chail Palace Hotel, once owned by Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala. Well known for its architecture, the palace has now been converted to a heritage hotel. Many films have been shot here. You can also enjoy delicious food at their restaurant. Do try their cold coffee..it was yum!!! There is also a drinks bar for those who love to booze. We came back to the town after spending some time at this beautiful place and proceeded to Kali Ka Tibba temple. Kali Ka Tibba is a must visit place in Chail. Being located at a hill top it , you can enjoy mesmerized view of Chail valley and breathe cool and fresh air. The road leading to the place is very narrow and poor in condition making it quite an adventurous experience. It was around mid of the day and our next destination was Chail Cricket Ground. It is being used as a play ground of the Military school in Chail. We were disappointed with the place as entry to the playground is restricted to everyone except school staff and students. We came back to our resort after strolling for some time and buying wooden souvenirs from Chail Mall Road. Compared to Shimla’s crowded long Mall Road, Chail Mall Road only has a few shops and eating joints. There was nothing much to purchase in Chail but you know it is a custom in our homes that if any family member goes on a trip, they have to bring gifting specialties of that place.
Kali ka Tibba
Himachali Dress
Cricket Ground
Chail Palace
View From Kali Ka Tibba
Day 3: We started our journey back early in the morning and decided to have breakfast at a happening place Sadhupul on our way back to Chandigarh. Sadhupul is located 13 kms before Kandaghat. It is the most amazing place I have ever been. A perfect place to hang out with your friends. Sadhupul is a small village based around a small bridge constructed over the river Ashwini. A restaurant is being run on the river Ashwini. You can sit on chairs laid on the running river water under huts. Don’t worry water level is not so high if it is not monsoon season. In fact some of the sitting area was reserved that day by army personnel for some celebration. It was just an amazing experience. My two and half years old daughter was not willing to sit on chairs at any cost, she kept standing and playing in running water.
Sadhupul Restaurant
River restuarant Sadhupul
We enjoyed hot aaloo parathas and tea while sitting in cold river water and then returned back to Chandigarh with sweet memories of a lovely hill station Chail.
Chail, never heard of it. But looks like cool and calm place to breath in away from busy city life. Sadhupal Restaurant…crazy idea….where customers put off their shoes? Good story… :)
Thanks Shefali
Thanks Anupam. Chail is a small but beautiful and peaceful hill station. Perfect for a family weekend trip if you want to spend some quality time with nature far away from metro cities traffic and busy life.
Very nice narration of the Hill Station Chail. One can also enjoy Camping and other adventure activities in the lap of the nature. Sadhupul Water Restaurant view in the pics attracts the readers.
Thank you sharing your lovely experiences.
Thanks for the appreciation Munesh.
The article revived fond childhood memories of my school in Chail. The cricket ground of the school is the highest cricket ground in the world. There are some other places in the vicinity which are worth visiting. Small treks are also possible from Chail.
Thanks for the article
Thanks Anil. Will surely try to visit those places next time we plan a trip again to Chail. Details from your side will surely help.
Perfect post with picture perfect locations………. and of course all the credit goes to Shefali Ji.
Thanks for sharing.
Arun
Thanks Arun…much appreciated :)
how was the temperature in Chail during your visit in june 14 …….I’ve heard, it was very hot even in Shimla this year ????
Hi Ashish
The temp in Chail during June is far much better than we have here in plains, esp Delhi….We had to sleep with blankets during night. Shimla is becoming hot due to being polluted and over crowded but scenario in Chail is very different…If you are a nature lover and want to spend some peaceful time with your friends and family, then Chail is the perfect destination.
Breath fresh and cool air , no pollution and closed to nature.
Nice place chail
Shefali,
Extremely sorry for getting delayed in commenting. The write up as well as snaps both were very interesting. Now after going through your post I am feeling that instead of wasting our time money and energy in visiting Kufri, we should have visited Chail. Well, no issues I’m keeping it for next time.
Picture of baby in Himachali dress is awesome, The two canopies in background are looking like the antennas on the head of baby…..Soooooo Cute.
In the last picture at river restaurent, baby is looking very sweet.
Thanks for sharing such a beautiful post.
Mukesh Ji…no need to say sorry… a comment from you is a compliment for me :)
ha ha after you told me about canopies, only now I can notice them…really they are looking like antennas lol…
Yes sure, make a plan for Chail trip next time…
Thanks.
Hi Sefali,
I heard about the place but never been there, your story & pics are beautiful, I wish to visit their when Will get time :)
Thanks Pamela.
Yeah… do make some plan to visit Chail whenever you get a chance.
Rashi resorts, oh, your log brings back memories from past. We stayed there during 2003, a bunch of friends and had a great time. We went there again and liked it.
Chail is a lovely place to just hang-around and do nothing. Sadhupul seems to have grown into a mini-city :-). When we visited, there were very few places there. Thank you Shefali for sharing your log.
well defined visit but in short……..nice clicks.Thanks a lot Shefali for sharing your visit