Places Near Tikkar Taal — What Else Is Worth the Detour

The drive up to Tikkar Taal passes through country with more to see than most people stop for. If you are making the trip from the Tricity, a little planning turns one destination into a good day.

Here is what lies along the way and nearby, roughly in the order you would meet it coming from Chandigarh.

On the way up

Panchkula and around

The last proper town before the hills. Fuel, food and anything you forgot. Worth treating as your last reliable stop rather than as a place to visit.

Pinjore

Pinjore is best known for its historic terraced gardens, which are a considerable detour in scale and a short one in distance. It sits on the road towards Kalka and is easy to fit in on the way back rather than on the way up, when you want to reach the lakes early.

The area also has a well known temple complex. Check current timings and any entry arrangements before you plan around them.

Kalka

A town on the highway towards Shimla, and the starting point of the narrow gauge hill railway to Shimla. Worth a stop if trains interest you or if you are heading further into Himachal afterwards.

In Morni itself

Morni village

The market, shops and ordinary hill life below the lakes. Better for food than the lakes, and the most reliable place to ask directions from someone who knows.

The fort

There is an old fort at Morni that visitors go to. Ask locally about current access before making a plan around it.

The hills beyond the lakes

Roads continue past the lakes into quieter country — Mandana, Bhoj Jabial, Thandog, Baldwala and other settlements. There is nothing organised out there, which is the appeal. Drive slowly and ask before turning onto anything that looks like a track.

Two routes for a day

The first plan works better for a single day because the lakes are best early. The second only works if you are not driving down in the dark.

Practical planning notes

• Confirm timings and entry arrangements for anything ticketed before you build a day around it.
• Fuel before the climb, and again before heading further into Himachal if that is the plan.
• Allow more time on the hill sections than a map application suggests.
• Weekends in season are busier everywhere on this route.
• Start back with daylight to spare.

If you are exploring with property in mind

People who come up for a day frequently end up asking about land, and the drive is a useful way to see how the district changes.

• The belt below the climb — Pinjore, Kalka, Barwala, Raipur Rani — is level, cheaper to build on and closer to services.
• Morni village and around has water lines, shops and a school.
• The lake belt is busiest and dearest.
• Beyond the lakes it becomes quiet, cheaper and further from everything.

Seeing all four in one day is genuinely possible and it is the best way to work out which one you actually want.

Roughly how far apart things are

Distances in the hills are misleading on a map. Twenty kilometres on the climb takes longer than fifty on the plains, so plan by time rather than by kilometres.

If you have two days rather than one

1. Day one morning: drive up, lakes early, walk between them.
2. Day one afternoon: Morni village, then a walk or a drive into the quieter settlements.
3. Day one evening: stay locally. This is when Morni is at its best.
4. Day two morning: early walk or birdwatching before anyone else is about.
5. Day two afternoon: descend, stopping at Pinjore on the way back.

Two days turns a long drive into a proper trip, and it costs less than most people assume because accommodation here is simple rather than expensive.

What people actually ask us

• Can I do Pinjore and Tikkar Taal in one day? Yes, comfortably, if you leave early.
• Is it worth going beyond the lakes? For quiet, yes. There is nothing organised out there.
• Where do I eat? Morni village more reliably than at the lakes.
• Can I continue into Himachal? From Kalka, yes, but that is a separate trip.

We will plan the route with you

If you are coming to look at property, tell us what you want and we will lay out a route that shows you three genuinely different areas in a day rather than five similar plots in one.

Call or WhatsApp +91 83073 77270, or use the enquiry form. Current listings are on the properties page. See also what there is to do and the belt below the climb.

For photographs along the route or of a property, Sandeep Photography covers Chandigarh, Panchkula, Pinjore and Morni.