How long to spend in Bir
Two days is enough to see Bir and possibly not enough to fly in it. Here is how the days actually fill.
Updated
Two days — the weekend version
- Arrive on the overnight bus in the morning, drop bags, sleep for two hours, eat.
- Afternoon: walk the Tibetan Colony and the landing ground, so you can see where you will come down.
- Next morning: fly, weather permitting. Afternoon: Deer Park and the café trail.
- Evening bus back. Tight, and entirely doable, but you get one shot at the flight.
Three days — the one to book
- Day one: arrive, walk Chougan, get your flight booked for day two or three.
- Day two: fly if the weather allows. If not, Sherabling and Baijnath.
- Day three: whichever of those you didn't do, plus a slow morning. Leave in the evening.
- Two chances at a flight instead of one is the entire argument for the third night.
A week or more
This is when Bir stops being a trip and starts being a place. Mornings at a desk, afternoons walking or flying, a monastery once or twice, and a rhythm that most people who come for three days end up wishing they had.
Rates drop for longer stays almost everywhere, ours included — ask.
Adding Bir to a bigger Himachal trip
Dharamshala and McLeod Ganj are two to three hours away, Palampur is one, and Manali is a long but manageable day. Bir sits comfortably as the second or third stop on a Himachal loop rather than a destination you fly in and out of.
