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How I Rented a Bike to Escape Shimla for a Day? I Didn’t Expect Naldehra to Be the Best Part of the Trip?

Writer: Mohit Thakur
Mohit Thakur
Sep 8
5 min read

Okay so by day three in Shimla I was kind of over it. Don’t get me wrong, Mall Road is fun for exactly one evening — the crowd, the monkeys stealing chips out of people’s hands, the endless “maggi point” stalls. But three days of that and I was tired in a way that felt weirdly like being at a mall back home. Too many people, not enough mountain.I was complaining about this to the guy at our hotel’s front desk (he was also trying to sell me a Kufri package, bless him) and he just said, almost bored, “Naldehra jaiye na, bahut shaanti hai wahan.” Go to Naldehra, it’s peaceful there.I hadn’t even heard the name before that morning. Googled it for two minutes, saw a golf course photo, decided that was enough research, and went and rented a bike for ₹700 for the day from a shop near the bus stand.The Drive Was Honestly the Best Part, and I Almost Skipped ItEveryone talks about “things to do” in a place and completely undersells the getting-there part. The road to Naldehra winds through deodar forest almost the entire way, and there’s this one stretch about 15–20 minutes in where the valley just opens up on your left and you can see layers and layers of hills fading into blue-grey in the distance. I stopped there for probably ten minutes just standing next to the bike, not even taking photos, just looking.What should’ve been a 45-minute ride took me over an hour because I kept stopping. Worth it. Would do it again exactly the same way.Also — small thing, but the air genuinely gets colder as you climb. Naldehra sits around 2,200 metres, and I felt that shift in my ears before I even saw a signboard.The Golf Course (Yes, Even If You Hate Golf)First stop was Naldehra Golf Course, which apparently dates back to 1905 — built by a British viceroy who liked the spot enough to just… make a golf course there. I don’t golf. I’ve never held a golf club in my life. But you don’t really need to care about golf to get why this place works. It’s this absurdly flat, manicured green stretch sitting right in the lap of the Himalayas, like someone photoshopped a putting green onto a mountain range.We had carried a flask of chai from the hotel (genuinely one of my better decisions that trip) and just sat on the grass near the edge of the course for close to an hour. No plan, no itinerary, just tea and mountains. A few actual golfers were out playing, and honestly watching them felt like watching a completely different, calmer universe operate in front of me.I Rode a Horse for the First Time and Was Weirdly Nervous About ItThere’s a small setup near the golf course where local guides offer horse rides through the pine forest trail. I’ve never been on a horse. Ever. I stood there for a solid minute deciding whether to actually do it, and the guide — noticing my hesitation — just laughed and said “aaram se, ghabraiye mat,” which somehow made me feel both better and slightly called out.It turned out fine. More than fine, actually. Once we got maybe five minutes into the forest, the temperature dropped again, sunlight was coming through the pine branches in these thin strips, and it was just quiet — no phone signal, no traffic, just hooves on dirt and some birds I couldn’t identify. This ended up being the part of the whole trip I keep thinking back to, more than the golf course, more than anything in Shimla itself.(If horses aren’t your thing, the same trail apparently works for mountain biking too — saw a couple of guys doing that on the way back.)Siddu, and Why I Wish I’d Ordered TwoBy the time we were done with the horse ride, I was starving, and there’s a small local market near Naldehra with maybe six or seven shops. One of them was making something called Siddu — a steamed bread stuffed and served with a generous spoon of ghee on top. I’d genuinely never heard of it before that day. Cost something like ₹60 for one, and I regret not ordering a second immediately because by the time I decided I wanted more, the lady had already started cleaning up.If you’re the kind of person who plans meals around a trip, put this on the list. It’s not fancy, it’s not Instagram-plated, it’s just good, warm, filling food made by someone who’s clearly been making it for years.Mashobra on the Way Back, Kufri We SkippedHeading back toward Shimla we stopped in Mashobra for maybe twenty minutes — it’s basically apple orchard country, very quiet, very green. Kufri was technically on the route too but by that point we were both tired and slightly sunburnt and just wanted to get back and shower, so we skipped it. Next time, maybe.The Night We Stayed Back (And Terrorized My Friend Golu)We ended up not going back to Shimla that evening. On a whim we booked a night at a campsite called Himalayan Hanu Peak, right there near Naldehra — small setup, a handful of tents, dead quiet once the sun went down.My friend, we call him Golu, ended up in a tent by himself while the rest of us were in the one next to his. And obviously, the second it got properly dark and quiet, someone got the genius idea to start making random animal noises outside his tent and shaking it from the outside like something was trying to get in.I cannot even describe how scared he got. Like, actually scared. There’s something about being alone in a tent in the mountains, pitch dark, zero phone signal, and hearing weird growling noises right outside the flap that just short-circuits your brain completely. He would not come out. We were laughing so hard trying to keep quiet that we almost gave ourselves away twice.We told him the next morning, obviously, and he did not find it as funny as we did. Still brings it up every time Naldehra comes up in conversation, actually.Anyway — if you do stay overnight up there, the campsite itself is lovely, proper mountain silence, good for stargazing if the sky’s clear. Just maybe don’t camp alone if you’ve got friends like mine.So — Was It Worth It?Yeah. Completely. Naldehra isn’t really an “attraction” the way Shimla is — there’s no Mall Road equivalent, no big shopping stretch, nothing that screams tourist-must-visit. It’s more of a place you go to slow down for a few hours. Sit somewhere. Not check your phone. Eat something you’ve never had before.I went during monsoon and the whole valley was sitting in fog when we arrived — properly walking-through-clouds kind of fog, which I wasn’t expecting and loved. If you’re into golf, apparently March to June is the better window for actually playing. And a couple of locals told me winter turns the whole area white with snow, which I still haven’t seen and am half-tempted to go back just for that.If you’re doing a Shimla trip and have even one spare day, take it. Rent a bike, don’t rush the drive, and just let the day happen instead of planning it out minute by minute. That’s kind of the whole point of Naldehra, I think.


Christ Church, Shimla

Mountain View After Rain

Shimla in Snow


We rented our bike through RUDRA Bike and Scooty Rental in Shimla — they also do cars and can sort out stays if you need one. Nothing fancy, just easy and reliable, which is honestly all you need when you’re winging a day trip like we did.


 
 
 

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