Like so many places in India, Dharamshala’s fortunes have ebbed and flowed with those of successive powers. Muslim Mughals, Sikh chieftains, Hindu Rajputs, colonial British — each held sway here at one time or another, though some left more traces than others.

Today, the overwhelming flavor is Tibetan Buddhist. After China annexed Tibet in 1959, the 14th Dalai Lama fled here with his followers and was granted the right to establish a government-in-exile at the former British hillstation of McLeod Ganj. It wasn’t long before the region was known as a center of spirituality, attracting not just Tibetan refugees but hippies and other countercultural seekers – including, at one point, the Beatles – to its idyllic mountainside temples and ashrams.

Of course, time marches on, and while the Dalai Lama is still in residence, Dharamshala has changed – and is changing – apace. Cool mountain temperatures, the growth of domestic tourism and the opening of a cricket stadium in 2003 have all driven visitor numbers, and numerous hotels and travel agencies have sprung up to cater to these new crowds. A new cablecar, opened in 2022, also now links lower Dharamshala with McLeod Ganj, higher in the hills.

What hasn’t changed is the setting, which is just magnificent. This is the lower reaches of the Himalayas, where the land begins to climb from pine-forested ridges into high, rocky peaks, with snow visible year-round on the towering slopes above. Hiking is the best way to experience it, with routes ranging from sedate woodland walks to nearby villages, to more challenging treks into the mountains, taking you all the way to remote Hindu temple towns across the 4,350-meter Indrahar Pass.

Though Dharamshala is a lovely, laid-back place to soak up Tibetan culture, it’s the landscape that’ll likely stay with you longer than anything else.