SHIMLA
16km/~1hr from Shimla by taxi-union car (~₹1,800-2,500 round trip). Best snow access near Shimla in January-February, with good Himalayan views on a clear day, but every activity - pony rides, yak photos, telescope views - is separately and aggressively priced. Treat it as a roughly two-hour stop, pick one thing (Mahasu Peak or the Nature Park), and settle every price before you commit.
Kufri, whose name derives from the local word 'Kufr' meaning lake, came under British control after the 1815 Sugauli Treaty ceded the region from Nepal, and the British established it as a retreat from around 1819. It remained a minor hamlet for over a century, gaining prominence as a tourist and winter-sports destination only after ski slopes were developed by the Shimla Winter Sports Club in the early 1980s. It now hosts Himachal Pradesh's annual winter sports festival each February.
