Khajjiar: Welcome to Mini Switzerland of India

IT WAS around 7 AM. In the month of June. When the entire North India is reeling under severe heat wave making life miserable, the hills are giving a welcome break all the suffering souls.
A team of six people has just landed at the hotel lobby at Banikhet. The first question the lady or around 45 asks: How far is Khajjiar from Banikhet?

The hotel where we stay is at Banikhet. This is the kind of craze Khajjiar has among the visitors. For the lady from Pune, Dalhousie is famous for Khajjiar. In fact she is spot on. The beautiful meadow of deodar and pine is a veritable paradise on earth. As if the cedar and pines have scripted a scenic location here. A big carpet of greenery will...
welcome you to this nature’s bounty. A slice of unspoiled beauty, Khajjiar is the perfect getaway for unwinding to any suffering soul.

The moment you arrive in this majestic meadow, you will be greeted by a vast landscape of green trees and nature’s sheer beauty. It has a sharp resemblance with Switzerland. Khajjiar is among the 160 locations in the world that have topographical resemblance with Switzerland.
And this is the reason why Khajjiar is often referred to as 'mini-Switzerland of India', Khajjiar is a small town near Dalhousie which provides tourists a unique combination of forests, lakes and pastures. Dense deodars, pines and lush green meadows mesmerize all tourists here who instantly fall in love with this paradise.

The spectacular beauty of Khajjiar has impressed generations after generations. Nestled at an altitude of 6,500 feet in the foothills of the Dhauladhar ranges of the Western Himalayas, the pristine beauty and incredible landscape will surely leave an everlasting impressing on everyone who visits this place.
The terrain here resembles that of Switzerland. It was on July 7, 1992, Willy T. Blazer, the then Vice Counsellor and Head of Chancery of Switzerland in India brought Khajjiar on the world tourism map by calling it "Mini Switzerland".

The counselor also took from Khajjiar a stone which will form part of a stone collage around the Swiss Parliament to remind the visitors of Khajjiar as a Mini Switzerland of India. He also put a sign board of a yellow Swiss hiking footpath showing Khajjiar's distance from the Swiss capital Berne-6194 km.
Wise expanse of verdant meadows, dense deodar forest, and the views of the snow-covered Kailash, Khajjiar is a nature lover’s heaven with some incredible tourist places in and around it.
The enchanting Chamba, Dalhousie, and Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary treks—all make Khajjiar a trekkers’ paradise.
Another major attraction in this tiny spot is the Khajji Nag Temple, built in the 12th century and is dedicated to a serpent god.
Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary is home to animals including deer and bears. Farther west, Dalhousie is a hill station with mountain views, dotted with temples and 19th-century British churches.
Khajjiar sits on a small plateau with a small stream-fed lake in the middle that has been covered over with weeds.
Khajjiar can be easily reached from Dalhousie, the nearest major town and hill station, by bus in an hour or so. It has a rare combination of three ecosystems: lake, pasture and forest.
So, welcome to Khajjiar!
How to reach 
By road
Khajjiar is well-connected by road to all the important towns of Himachal Pradesh.
By train
Nearest railway station is about 118 km away in Pathankot. Trains from Delhi, Bhatinda and Chandigarh are available till Pathankot. You may hire Taxis from there.
By air
Khajjiar does not have any airport. The nearest airport is in Dharamshala called the Gaggal airport (120 km). Taxis and buses are easily available from the airport to Khajjiar.
Jammu airport is 114 km from Khajjiar.