Ultimate Barog Travel Guide: Top Attractions, Road Trip Tips, Best Stays & More
Off late, I’ve seen myself covering weekend getaways on my blog quite a lot, places that can be reached in or around 6 hours from New Delhi. And this is because I’ve recently bought a motorbike. I am planning more and more road-trips.
The only problem is, however, every time I leave home for the next big adventure, I end up staying at a place not too far from New Delhi, on Day 1. My inexperienced rider ‘self’ doesn’t allow me to ride for more than 6 hours, or, say, 300 km in a day.
Where this is certainly annoying, it allows me to explore a place that can otherwise be an ideal weekend getaway destination from Delhi. For example, where most people would travel Delhi to Manali straight, I would break the journey and end up staying somewhere in the middle. This allowed me to explore Kalagarh during my previous Delhi to Munsiyari Road Trip.
On this trip, it happened to be Barog — another great weekend destination from Delhi.
Barog: A Weekend Getaway Destination From Delhi
Less than 6 hours drive, or a precise 290km away, from New Delhi, lies the foothills of the Himalayas and the unspoken and vaguely overlooked tourist destination of Barog.
Precisely, it is located on the Kalka Shimla Highway, around 60kms from Chandigarh. The Delhi to Barog drive is moreover a pleasant one (including most of the hours driving the Delhi-Chandigarh highway) with a short climb of Chandigarh-Shimla highway.
Barog is located almost halfway from Chandigarh to Shimla.
Speaking of its geographic location, Barog has nearly 2000m above sea level elevation, with the temperature ranging between 4 to 14-degree Celsius in winters and around 20-27 degrees in summers.
What To Do In Barog
To be honest, it isn’t a place for exploring tourist highlights or ticking some highpoints off a list. In fact, there isn’t much to do in town. But if you still want to do something when you’re there you can explore the Graveyard, Choor Chandni Peak and Dolanji Bon Monastery.
You cannot compare Barog with its neighbours like Chail and Shimla and Kufri, but given its easy location (that guarantees no traffic) it is a great place to spend a quiet and relaxing day and go back to Delhi.
During my one day stay in Barog, I just explored a few local villages and rode my motorcycle around. And since it isn’t a popular tourist destination I got to see a strong village culture, with unspoiled nature. I would find a cozy corner and just enjoy the freshness of the place.
Where To Stay In Barog
As always, I didn’t stay in the main town in Barog but around 4km away from it at a place called LivinsStoneStayz.
The place offered an apartment-like setting with a fully-functioning kitchen. I could cook in the kitchen myself or order something from the in-house helper. It had a living room, making it an ideal place to stay for groups who want to hire an entire property and enjoy. The only problem was, there were only 3 rooms in the property, keeping the total occupancy to a max of 6 (or 9 people with an extra bed).
Is It Worth Visiting?
As I said earlier, if you’re comparing it with the towns like Shimla or Manali or Mcleod Gunj – a town with a big market and enough tourist highlights to explore locally, you will be disappointed. Barog offers nothing beyond a simple hill-station, and its advantage lies only in its location. Where Delhi to Shimla takes around 9 hours because of traffic and Delhi to Manali takes 14 hours, Delhi to Barog is only 6 hours away.
If you’re one of those people for whom the idea of holidaying is driving not too far and finding a peaceful corner in the foothills of the Himalayas, Barog can be a great destination. It is a great place to spend a day or two with your friends/family.
But if you’re looking for a big town, with a lot of tourist highlights, then visit Shimla or Chail.
Here’s another great resource where I have discussed My Favorite Destinations In Himachal Pradesh.
And here’s the video of my Delhi to Barog ride…
How To Travel From Delhi
Since it makes no sense to travel on a flight, we are not going to discuss that.
Self Drive
Since Delhi to Barog is a short 5 hours drive the best way to travel, of course, is in a self-driven car. You can also book a taxi, like an ola-outstation if you want. Take National Highway 44 until you reach Ambala. From Ambala, take Ambala-Zirakpur road. From Zirakpur, Barog is only 60km.
A good thing about planning a trip to Barog is that unlike Shimla, there are fewer chances of getting stuck in traffic, hence a self-drive trip is no pain.
By Train
If you don’t mind a change of transportation during your journey, taking the train is also a great way to travel between the two destinations. Take Delhi to Kalka train. There are many options but I suggest you take the one that leaves around 7:30 from Delhi (there are a couple of options). These trains drop you in Kalka between 12 pm and 1 pm.
From Kalka, take the Kalka-Shimla train and get off at Barog station. This way, you also cover a highlight without actually doing any extra effort.
By Bus
If you’re travelling by bus you will be happy to know that there are hundreds of daily buses for this route – both during the day and in the night. Just catch any bus going to Shimla and get off at Barog. It has located around 50 km from Shimla.
Please note that there are two bus boarding points: Kashmere Gate and Majnu ka Tila. Kashmere Gate is for government Himachal Roadways buses. Majnu ka tile is for private buses. I suggest you take the government HRTC bus because they have very good connectivity and they always run on time. You can book a Himachal Roadway bus using this website.
