Chail

A hill station 44 km from Shimla founded as a royal act of defiance by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala after he was banned from Shimla by the British. Chail Palace, built in 1891 across 75 acres of pine-forested hillside, now operates as a heritage hotel. The Maharaja also levelled a hilltop at 2,444 metres to create what remains the world's highest cricket ground, established in 1893 and still maintained by the Chail Military School. Together with the Kali Tibba temple and sweeping views of the Sutlej Valley, Chail has a compact but exceptional set of attractions for a day trip or overnight stay from Shimla.