How to reach Dharamkot from Delhi by bus, train or flight

This is one part of our Dharamkot guide. If you already know you're coming, the homes and rooms are on the Dharamkot homestays page.

TL;DR summary

• Delhi by bus: 12 to 13 h. Overnight, about 475 to 490 km to Dharamshala. AC Volvo ₹1,250 to ₹1,550.
• McLeod Ganj to Dharamkot: 2 km. About 10 minutes by taxi or auto on a damaged road. Above the road head it is all footpaths.
• Nearest airport: Gaggal. About 15 km from McLeod Ganj. Flights to Delhi, Shimla and Chandigarh. Taxi ₹1,100 to ₹1,400.
• Nearest main station: Pathankot Cantt. 91 km from McLeod Ganj. A taxi from there is ₹2,200 to ₹2,800.
• Skyway ropeway: 1.8 km. Dharamshala bus stand to McLeod Ganj in about 5 minutes, 10 am to 8 pm. It does not reach Dharamkot.
• Monsoon 2026: 30 Jun to 3 Oct. Heaviest rain falls in July and August, when landslides cut the roads in.

Ways to reach Dharamkot by bus, train, flight and taxi: time and cost

Dharamkot has no local bus, no station and no airport, so how to reach Dharamkot is really two journeys: one to Dharamshala or McLeod Ganj, and a short steep one from there. Most people take the overnight bus from Delhi, 12 to 13 hours, and finish with a taxi or auto of about 10 minutes up a road that has been damaged since about 2024.

The top of the village, by the Gallu Devi temple, is at about 2,100 m. The lower lanes are nearer 1,900 m and McLeod Ganj sits at about 1,750 m, so the last 2 km needs more thought than the 480 km before it. Homes and rooms in the village, by the week or the month, are on the Dharamkot homes page.

Reaching Dharamkot: the short answer for most travellers

• From Delhi: the overnight bus to Dharamshala, 12 to 13 hours. We’d take it over the train, because the train stops 91 km short at Pathankot and still needs a taxi.
• From Chandigarh: the afternoon flight to Gaggal on the days it runs, otherwise a bus of 8 to 9 hours.
• By air: Gaggal airport, about 15 km from McLeod Ganj, with flights to Delhi, Shimla and Chandigarh, then a taxi for ₹1,100 to ₹1,400.
• With heavy bags: take a taxi to the road head and ask your host where it can stop, because above the road head everything is on foot.

Delhi to Dharamkot by bus: the overnight coach, fares and the drop

The bus and taxi stand at McLeod Ganj in March 2018. Photo: Sitikantha kheti, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

From Delhi the bus is the plain answer: one coach, no change on the way. Delhi to Dharamshala is about 475 to 490 km and the coach needs 12 to 13 hours. HRTC’s state coaches leave from ISBT Kashmere Gate, and private coaches also board at Majnu ka Tilla, RK Ashram Marg and Dhaula Kuan. Most overnight departures are in the evening, between about 6:30 and 10 pm, so you arrive the next morning.

An AC Volvo costs roughly ₹1,250 to ₹1,550, and private coaches run from about ₹1,000 to ₹1,800 depending on the seat. Ordinary and deluxe state buses cost less. Check the fare when you book. HRTC sells seats on its own site, hrtchp.com, and the private coaches are on the usual bus apps.

Look at where the coach drops you before you pay. Some end at Dharamshala bus stand, about 10 km below McLeod Ganj, and others carry on to the bus stand in McLeod Ganj. A drop in McLeod Ganj saves you the ride up from Dharamshala, which is covered below. Either way the 2 km to Dharamkot is still ahead of you.

Nearest railway station to Dharamkot: Pathankot Cantt and the trains

Pathankot Cantt station. Photo: Dr. Chinchu C., CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

No broad-gauge train reaches Dharamkot or Dharamshala. The nearest main station is Pathankot Cantt, also called Chakki, which is 88 km from Dharamshala and 91 km from McLeod Ganj. Overnight trains from New Delhi get in between about 5:30 and 6:30 am. Check timings and fares on IRCTC for your date, then read the next section for the road from Pathankot.

A daytime option is the Vande Bharat from New Delhi to Amb Andaura. It leaves at 5:50 am, stops at Chandigarh at 8:38 am and gets in at 11:05 am, a run of 5 hours 15 minutes. From Amb Andaura, Dharamshala is 75 to 88 km by road, which takes 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours 30 minutes, and a taxi from the station is quoted at about ₹2,200 to ₹2,800. Check which days it runs when you book.

The narrow-gauge Kangra Valley line from Pathankot reopened on 2 June 2026 after nearly four years. Landslides damaged the track near Jawalamukhi in September 2026, and the line is slow in any case: about 4 hours from Pathankot to Kangra, where you would still need a bus to Dharamshala. We wouldn’t plan a move around it.

Chandigarh and Pathankot to Dharamkot: buses, taxis and the last bus

From Pathankot Cantt you can take a taxi or a bus. A taxi to McLeod Ganj takes about 3 hours and costs ₹2,200 to ₹2,800 a car, and it is what you use once the buses have stopped. HRTC buses to Dharamshala take 3 to 4 hours, and a seat was about ₹200 in 2023. The last bus has left around 4 pm, so an overnight train that arrives at dawn works with the bus and a late one does not. From Dharamshala bus stand you go on as described under the Skyway heading below.

Chandigarh is only 236 km from Dharamshala on the map, yet an ordinary bus needs 8 to 9 hours. If you are already there, the flight in the next section is the better use of a day, as long as it falls on one of the four days it flies.

Nearest airport to Dharamkot: Gaggal flights, fares and the taxi

Kangra airport at Gaggal in 2022. Photo: JarrahTree, CC BY 2.5 au, via Wikimedia Commons.

The nearest airport is Gaggal, also called Kangra airport, on NH 154. It is 10 to 12 km from Dharamshala, 8 km from Kangra and about 15 km by road from McLeod Ganj. Flights go to Delhi, Shimla and Chandigarh. Check the Delhi schedule for your dates.

IndiGo restarted its Chandigarh flight on 31 August 2026, four days a week: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. It leaves Gaggal at 1:10 pm and lands in Chandigarh at 2:15 pm, and the return leaves Chandigarh at 2:45 pm and lands at 3:50 pm. Fares start around ₹3,200. With only four flying days a week, a missed connection costs you a lot, so we’d leave a day of slack before any call.

There is a taxi counter inside the terminal. A car to Lower Dharamshala costs ₹800 to ₹1,000, and a car to McLeod Ganj or Dharamkot ₹1,100 to ₹1,400. Agree the total before you get in, and ask the driver to take you to the road head in the village.

Dharamshala to Dharamkot: the Skyway, the local bus and the taxi

If your coach stops in Dharamshala, the next step is the 10 km up to McLeod Ganj. The Skyway ropeway is the quick way, 1.8 km in about 5 minutes from the station by Dharamshala bus stand to Temple Road in McLeod Ganj. It was shut on 20 August 2025 after a landslide and runs again in 2026, from 10 am to 8 pm. A ticket is about ₹550, so check the fare at the counter, and a return ticket is valid for 3 days. The round-trip counter closes at 7:30 pm. A coach that gets in before 10 am has to use the bus or a taxi, and with a large suitcase it is worth asking at the counter before you queue.

The ropeway stops in McLeod Ganj and does not reach Dharamkot, so you still need the taxi or auto in the next section. The local bus to McLeod Ganj leaves every 15 to 20 minutes, takes about 30 minutes and costs about ₹20. A taxi takes 15 to 20 minutes and costs ₹350 to ₹450 a car. The road up has been damaged in several recent monsoons, and the warnings section below says how.

Dharamkot from McLeod Ganj: the last 2 km and the damaged road

Dharamkot is about 2 km above McLeod Ganj by road, and a taxi or auto takes about 10 minutes. There is one road. It has been in poor repair since about 2024, with collapsed retaining walls, washed-out edges and a narrowed carriageway, and autos struggle on it. Taxis, private cars and tourist vehicles still get up.

Near the main square in McLeod Ganj there are separate stands for autos and taxis. Quotes for an auto run from about ₹100 to ₹250, so agree the fare before you get in. With luggage we’d choose a taxi over an auto, because the road is rough and narrow. We’d also do this stretch in daylight, since the damage is at the edges where there is little room.

Give the driver a lane or a cafe, not just the village name. Some stays that carry Dharamkot in their name are down in Upper Bhagsu, a 10 to 15 minute walk away on the other side of the hill, so check the pin on the map first.

Walking up to Dharamkot with luggage from McLeod Ganj

You can walk it. From the main square it is a steep uphill of about 1.5 km. Coming down takes 25 to 40 minutes, and going up takes longer, 30 to 60 minutes. McLeod Ganj sits at about 1,750 m and Tushita, at the bottom of the village, at 1,888 m, so you climb the whole way.

With a backpack on a dry day, we’d walk it. With a wheeled suitcase we wouldn’t, because the lanes above the road head are footpaths and the wheels stop helping. Before you head up, stop in McLeod Ganj for cash and groceries. The village has no ATM, a few small general stores for daily needs and one small pharmacy that stays open until 9 pm.

Which parts of Dharamkot a car can reach

Where the road gives out in Dharamkot, photographed in 2011. Above this it is footpaths. Photo: Aleksandr Zykov, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A car or taxi gets you to the road head in Lower Dharamkot, near Tushita. From there the lanes are footpaths. The main village around the chowk, Upper Dharamkot and Heini above it, and Gallu Devi at the top, where the Triund trail starts, are all reached on foot.

So the home you pick decides how much you carry. Ask your host how many minutes of walking remain from the point where the car stops, and whether it is level or uphill. The where to stay in Dharamkot guide goes through the parts of the village.

If you bring your own car, ask your host whether there is room to park near the house. Street parking is not allowed at the main square in McLeod Ganj, and the multi-level car park near the bus stand holds 125 vehicles. A taxi from Delhi is priced by the car, so ask for a door-to-door quote and agree where it will drop you.

Dharamkot road warnings: monsoon landslides and washed-out shortcuts

Leave slack in the monsoon. In 2026 it reached Himachal on 30 June and withdrew on 3 October. In 2025 it arrived on 20 June and left on 26 September. The weather department’s averages for Dharamshala, which sits far below the village, put July at 859 mm of rain and August at 942 mm, against 378 mm over about 14 rainy days in September and 53 mm in October. Dharamkot is a few degrees cooler than those figures.

Every road in has been hit by landslides in recent years. In August 2024 a 150 m stretch of the Dharamshala to McLeod Ganj road, just ahead of the Kali Mata temple, sank. In August 2025 the Khada Danda shortcut between Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj was washed away near Jogiwara and shut to vehicles from 12 August, which turned a 4 km link into a 13 km detour by the Forsyth Ganj and church bypass. On 20 August 2025 a landslide blocked the road near Delek Hospital and the Skyway was suspended. In September 2025 another, near St John’s church at Forsyth Ganj, cut the main road to McLeod Ganj. On the Pathankot to Mandi highway in Kangra, a landslide between Shahpur and Kotla closed the four-lane for more than 12 hours in August 2025, and the Kangra Valley line was hit again in September 2026.

The last 2 km to the village is the weak link all year, and rain makes it worse. From July to September we wouldn’t fix a deadline for the day you must be in Dharamkot. Ask your host which road is open before you set out, and ask again if heavy rain falls on the way. If the road to McLeod Ganj is shut, we’d spend the night in Dharamshala rather than wait in a queue. The Skyway has been shut by a landslide too, so it is not a sure fallback. After snow in winter, ask the same question.

October is the easier month, with rain down to about 53 mm and November’s average at 19 mm. The best time to visit Dharamkot guide has the months.

Going on from Dharamkot: McLeod Ganj, Upper Bhagsu and Gallu Devi

There is no local bus, so everything from the village is on foot or by taxi.

• McLeod Ganj: 2 km, about 10 minutes by taxi or auto and 25 to 40 minutes on foot going down. The ATMs and proper shops are here.
• Upper Bhagsu: a 10 to 15 minute walk down the other side of the hill.
• Gallu Devi: the temple at the top of the village, where the Triund trail starts. The treks guide has the registration rules and timings.
• Dharamshala town: about 10 km below McLeod Ganj, where some Delhi coaches stop.

Best way to reach Dharamkot if you work: arrive a day before calls

The night bus drops you in Dharamshala or McLeod Ganj the morning after you leave, after 12 to 13 hours on a coach. The Skyway does not open until 10 am, and then there is a climb with bags. None of that suits a call that morning, so arrive the day before and keep the first day empty. Download offline maps, tickets and call links on wifi before you leave, and tell your host your arrival time.

Cricket match days at the Dharamshala stadium make rooms and taxis scarce. The IPL games there fell on 11, 14, 17 and 26 May in 2026. Festival weekends do the same, and the film festival runs from 29 October to 1 November 2026. Over the long weekend in early October 2026, hotels in town were 80 to 90 percent full. If your dates touch one of these, ask your host to arrange the taxi in advance.

Choose by what you carry and where you start:

• Choose the bus if you start in Delhi and have a suitcase and a day of slack.
• Choose the train and a taxi if you want to sleep on the way and can pay ₹2,200 to ₹2,800 for the last 91 km from Pathankot.
• Choose the Chandigarh flight if your dates fall on a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday and you would rather skip 8 to 9 hours on a bus.
• Choose to walk the last 2 km if you travel with a backpack in dry weather.

Whichever you pick, withdraw cash in McLeod Ganj before you go up. Homes and rooms in Dharamkot, by the week or the month, are on the Dharamkot homes page.

Frequently asked questions about getting to Dharamkot