Check out the various places of tourist interest near Solan. These places can be visited on a day trip from Solan. Include these excursions in your tour itinerary and make your visit to Solan more memorable.
Arki Fort: Tucked away on the quieter side of a valley town, the Arki fort also houses a palace. It was built by Rana Prithvi Singh in the years 1695-1700. Till 1650 Arki was the capital of Baghal, a princely state. An invading Gurkha army in 1806 captured the fort and turned it into a garrison. It was at the conclusion of Gurkha Wars in 1815-16 that this fort palace was liberated by the British forces.
The palaces interiors are decorated with some very good paintings of the Kangra miniature style that depict incidents from mythology, religion, history and rural everyday life.
Some of the older murals have lived the test of time and look as good as new on the walls and ceilings, turning them into fine galleries of an art form of an bygone age. Arki is 53 km from Solan and can be reached easily by road.
Chail Sanctuary: The sanctuary around the hill station of Chail has a lot of wildlife. Animals and birds that can be sighted around include the Sambar, Goral, Barking Deer, and Cheer Pheasants. There is a Cheer pheasant breeding centre at Chail.
The pheasants bred in captivity are then released back into the wild to replenish depleting populations of the threatened bird. Trekking from Chail to Gaura or Chail to Jhaja is recommended for travellers for better sightings of wildlife in the region.
Kasauli: A road that bifurcates at Dharampur on the Shimla-Kalka highway leads to the quaint little town of Kasauli that seems to exist in a time warp of the 19th century. Its colonial ambience still retains cobbled paths, quaint shops, gabled houses with charming facades and scores of neat little gardens and orchards.
Kasauli is surrounded by a mixed forest of pine, Himalayan oak and huge horse-chestnuts. Monkey Point, 4 km from the Kasauli bus stand, is a vantage point from where you can gaze the sprawling tricity of Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali to the south and Shimla in the north.
Kasauli is 77 Km from Shimla and 35 Km from Kalka. From Solan, it is only 27 Kms and can be reached easily by road.
Majathal Sanctuary: Heaped with an undulating steep and rugged terrain, this wildlife enthusiast’s and backpacker’s paradise is along the Shimla-Bilaspur-Highway that can be reached by hiking from Kashlog, near Darlaghat.
This sanctuary has a high population of Goral deer and a large population of the endangered Cheer pheasant. Though the sanctuary can be visited any time of the year, May to October is the best time for camping out in tents.
Kuthar Fort: At a short driving distance from Solan, near the Shimla airport at Jubbarhatti, is Kuthar Fort. The oldest sections of this fort date back to 800 years. Spread over a large area, the fort even has fresh-water springs flow within its confines. Other forts in the vicinity of Solan are Kunihar and the Gurkha fort of Subathu which can be easily reached from the city.
Nalagarh Palace: Strategically placed at the Himalayan foothills, Nalagarh with the construction of a fort was founded in 1421 AD. Within the fort is a palace of the erstwhile royal family. Nalagarh was the capital of a princely state and saw some fierce fighting during the 1805-15 Gurkha occupation.
Spread over considerable acreage, the fort and the palace of Nalagarh have a series of structures that are mostly built in the Mughal style of architecture. These have been exhaustively renovated and are now part of an excellent heritage resort.
Arki Fort: Tucked away on the quieter side of a valley town, the Arki fort also houses a palace. It was built by Rana Prithvi Singh in the years 1695-1700. Till 1650 Arki was the capital of Baghal, a princely state. An invading Gurkha army in 1806 captured the fort and turned it into a garrison. It was at the conclusion of Gurkha Wars in 1815-16 that this fort palace was liberated by the British forces.
The palaces interiors are decorated with some very good paintings of the Kangra miniature style that depict incidents from mythology, religion, history and rural everyday life.
Some of the older murals have lived the test of time and look as good as new on the walls and ceilings, turning them into fine galleries of an art form of an bygone age. Arki is 53 km from Solan and can be reached easily by road.
Chail Sanctuary: The sanctuary around the hill station of Chail has a lot of wildlife. Animals and birds that can be sighted around include the Sambar, Goral, Barking Deer, and Cheer Pheasants. There is a Cheer pheasant breeding centre at Chail.
The pheasants bred in captivity are then released back into the wild to replenish depleting populations of the threatened bird. Trekking from Chail to Gaura or Chail to Jhaja is recommended for travellers for better sightings of wildlife in the region.
Kasauli: A road that bifurcates at Dharampur on the Shimla-Kalka highway leads to the quaint little town of Kasauli that seems to exist in a time warp of the 19th century. Its colonial ambience still retains cobbled paths, quaint shops, gabled houses with charming facades and scores of neat little gardens and orchards.
Kasauli is surrounded by a mixed forest of pine, Himalayan oak and huge horse-chestnuts. Monkey Point, 4 km from the Kasauli bus stand, is a vantage point from where you can gaze the sprawling tricity of Chandigarh-Panchkula-Mohali to the south and Shimla in the north.
Kasauli is 77 Km from Shimla and 35 Km from Kalka. From Solan, it is only 27 Kms and can be reached easily by road.
Majathal Sanctuary: Heaped with an undulating steep and rugged terrain, this wildlife enthusiast’s and backpacker’s paradise is along the Shimla-Bilaspur-Highway that can be reached by hiking from Kashlog, near Darlaghat.
This sanctuary has a high population of Goral deer and a large population of the endangered Cheer pheasant. Though the sanctuary can be visited any time of the year, May to October is the best time for camping out in tents.
Kuthar Fort: At a short driving distance from Solan, near the Shimla airport at Jubbarhatti, is Kuthar Fort. The oldest sections of this fort date back to 800 years. Spread over a large area, the fort even has fresh-water springs flow within its confines. Other forts in the vicinity of Solan are Kunihar and the Gurkha fort of Subathu which can be easily reached from the city.
Nalagarh Palace: Strategically placed at the Himalayan foothills, Nalagarh with the construction of a fort was founded in 1421 AD. Within the fort is a palace of the erstwhile royal family. Nalagarh was the capital of a princely state and saw some fierce fighting during the 1805-15 Gurkha occupation.
Spread over considerable acreage, the fort and the palace of Nalagarh have a series of structures that are mostly built in the Mughal style of architecture. These have been exhaustively renovated and are now part of an excellent heritage resort.
