Kangra Fort

Kangra is a town in Himachal Pradesh.

Get in

By plane

• 1 Kangra Airport (DHM  ^IATA). At a distance of 8 km from the city centre by road on NH 154. Alliance Air and SpiceJet operate daily flights to Kangra from Chandigarh and Delhi. (updated Apr 2021)

By road

Kangra is around 460 km from New Delhi. There are direct buses. All buses from Delhi pass through Chandigarh, which is 223 km (6-7 hours) from Kangra. Roads in good condition and there is no risk of being robbed. Its a safe place to visit.

Frequent buses run the 20 km up to Dharamsala (₹30).

By train

• 2 Kangra Valley Railway (Kangra Toy Train). This narrow-gauge, British-built train crawls 128 km from Pathankot main station through stunning scenery to Jogindernagar (6 hr) via Palampur and Kangra (93 km, 4 hr, ₹20) (near Dharamsala). About six daily departures of slow, often packed second class trains make the trip. (The luxury Kangra Queen service are no more.) Some head only to the penultimate stop of Baijnath Paprola, though all serve the main towns of interest: Kangra Mandir and Palampur. Tickets cannot be booked in advance; they must be bought at Pathankot station on the day of travel. While Dalhousie Road station is on a road to Dalhousie, the station is not far out of Pathankot, making the train not worth bothering with if heading from Pathankot. However, the mountain views and isolated route make the line a pleasant, if slow, way to reach to Dharamsala. Direct buses and rickshaws run the 30 km to Dharamsala (₹30) from Kangra Mandir station (98 km, 4 hr, ₹20) (near Kangra). (updated Aug 2023)

Don't get off at the preceding stop Kangra, which is on the wrong side of the valley, but at Kangra Mandir. Follow the path, cross the footbridge, follow the path a little more to the cluster autorickshaw drivers. The drivers will ask ₹100 to get into town, although lower may be negotiated. Some buses also travel direct to Dharamsala.

See

• 1 Bajreshwari Devi Temple (Mata Bajreshware Devi). A popular pilgrimage. 
• Gupt Ganga Dham – 2 km from the bus stand and 500 m from Kotwali Bazar. There is a swimming pool, and one can stay for minimal cost.
• 2 Kangra Nagarkot Fort. 5 km from Kangra Bus Stand on Chandigarh Road. 

Do

• Kangra Valley Railway – Take a scenic and slow trip up from or to Pathankot

Sleep

• Sunrise Tourist Home – Nice, quiet and homely atmosphere with full view of the Dhauladhar range on one side and the mystique Kangra valley on the other. Call owner Atul Verma at 09816335360.

Go next

Kangra is a local transport hub with bus connections to various places.

• Dharamsala – Home of the Dalai Lama and a sizeable Tibetan community
• Joginda Nagar – The other end of the Kangra Valley line, one of the region's many hill stations
• Pathankot – Regional rail hub, which connects the Kangra Valley line to the rest of the Indian rail network