The
picturesque Hill stations are popular as resorts among
both Indian and foreign visitors, providing a relaxing and salubrious
retreat from the heat and dust of the plains. The snow clad peaks
and the cool hill stations on the foothills of these hills
provide respite from the hustle and bustle of the city. India
has seven principal mountain ranges and the most important amongst
them are the Himalayas followed by the Shivaliks, which have the
most popular hill resorts.
Much
of the sub-continent's landscape is dotted by hills and mountain
ranges and hill resorts on these ranges are popular getaways
with both locals and foreigners, their beautiful green surroundings,
solitude, salubrious weather and spectacular views makes them
ideal holiday spots. Most are well connected by rail and road
and offer some beautiful retreats to stay in.
The British must be given credit for developing most of India's
hill stations. They did so to escape the blistering heat of
the long Indian summer. And with seven principal mountain ranges
all over the country available to them they had the opportunity
to explore each one of them and create their retreat towns, many
of which are well maintained and retain their old-world charm.
In the North, the Himalayan ranges stretch 2500 kms across the
breadth of the subcontinent, and house some of India's oldest
and most charming hill stations.
The
most popular of these is Shimla
in Himachal Pradesh,
which was the erstwhile summer capital of British India. Also
popular are Kasauli - a cantonment
town also developed by the British, Nainital
- famous for its beautiful lake, and Mussoorie
popularly known as the queen of the hills. Towards the East in
the lower Himalayan ranges are hill stations which produce
the world's finest tea - the most famous of them being Darjeeling.
Also well known are Shillong, Kurseong
and Kalimpong.
A
little further south of the Himalayas are the one of the world's
oldest mountain ranges the Aravallis that stretch along the West
of the country from Delhi
to Gujarat. The
most popular hill resort in these ranges is Mount
Abu. In Central India the Vindhyas separate the wide Northern
plains from the South. Though the ranges aren't very high, a few
small hill stations dot them offering retreat from the
heat. The Satpura ranges, which run parallel along to the Vindhyas,
have quaint and charming hill resorts like Pachmarhi.
Along
the West coast the Sahyadris ranges have many pretty hill stations
- many of them near Mumbai like Mahabaleshwar
and Matheran. In the South
the Nilgiris have beautiful hill-towns such as Ootacamund commonly
known as Ooty. Further south are
the hill stations of Kodaikanal
in Tamil Nadu
and Munnar in Kerala.
