Shopping & Staying

Where to Stay

Shimla is full of Hotels and Restaurants and there are around 500 hotels in and around Shimla, which includes One Five star hotel (Cecil Hotel) and many three star hotels. There are many Govt. Guest Houses and private Guest Houses. So accommodation is no problem in Shimla but to be on safer side one should book accommodation in advance for stay in Shimla, especially during the peak seasons of summer and Christmas.

HPTDC Online Hotel Booking – Click Here

Eco Tourism Society of Himachal Pradesh – Click Here

GAD-Room Reservation System for Guests – Click Here

Where to Purchase

The best shopping area in Shimla are The Mall, Lower Bazaar , Tibetan Bazaar and Lakkar Bazaar. There is an enormous range of goods that Shimla has to offer. This includes handicrafts, Ready made Cloths wood, and metalwork, shawls, pullovers, local tweeds, Wooden articles and Toys, caps, Tibetan carpets and pickles, jams and squashes. The Lakkar Bazaar is famous for its Wooden Crafts and Articles can be purchased from this area. There are many Emporium’s and Showrooms on the Mall from where one can buy Himachali Shawls, Pahari Cap, Pullovers handicrafts and toys etc. The day today items can be purchased from the shops in the lower bazaar. The Tibetan Market is famous for imported goods mainly electronics goods and fancy items.

What to Eat

Mall has many good restaurants serving Punjabi,South Indian,Chinese and Continental Foods. One can find good Punjabi Dhabas and Vaishnav Dhabas near the mall and lower bazaar having reasonable rates. There are many Fast Food Centers on the Mall, where Burgers, Pizzas, Patties etc are available.

Speciality of the District

Shimla is famous for its Scenic Beauty , Apples & Wooden Craft . Among special dishes Sidku or Sidu is very famous in upper Shimla hills. It is a thick fermented Roti of wheat flour with paste of opium seeds ( afimdana) mixed with either gur or salt added to it which makes it very delicious. It is always taken with home made pure ghee. Patandey are made of very thin paste of wheat flour and are eaten with dal and ghee or kheer.(made of rice and milk).