How to find a place of stay in Himachal villages will be a definite question on your mind if your looking to explore the immaculate rustic villages of Himachal. And as someone has stayed for months in such dreamy rustic villages of Himachal, I think I can be of a great help to you.
So if you are someone who loves staying in sleepy hamlets of Himachal, witnessing the culture and tradition of Himachali villages, Here is a detailed blog on How to find a place of stay in Himachal villages based on of my extensive stays and experiences.
How To Find A Place Of Stay In Himachal Villages
Finding a place to stay in Villages of Himachal which are already on tourism map is quite easy actually with social media and internet these days. For instance, Tosh has numerous places to stay since it is quite popular and already on the tourist map.
But lets say you want to stay in rustic which are not at all popular and not at all on tourism circles. Then how would to about that ?
Based out of my experience of staying in rustic and offbeat villages of Himachal, I am going to share with you 7 useful tips to find such offbeat homestays or stays in rustic villages of Himachal.
| 1. Find out Whether the Villages has Homestays or Guesthouses |
| 2. Check out if there is a forest rest house or PWD rest house in The village you want to stay |
| 3. Build solid contacts with locals of Himachal |
| 4. Check out the social media Pages of Homestays in Himachal |
| 5. Befriend a local in the village you intend to stay |
| 6. Read blogs on the internet of Himachali villages |
| 7. Search on the internet for eco-tourism websites of Himachal |
1. Find Out Whether the Villages Has Homestays or Guesthouses
The best way to find a place to stay in a Himachali village, is to first find out whether the village indulges in tourism related activities. If it does, then you can be pretty much assured, there will be a place to stay in the village like a homestay or Guesthouse.
There are multiple ways by which you can find if village is into tourism related activities. You can ask the locals of the region or the valley, search on the internet, etc. And I found that out on internet and confirmed with the locals as well.
Take for instance, Sharchi village in Tirthan valley. Its a typical village in the higher reaches of Tirthan, but thanks to its ever growing popularity, there are now homestays here as well. Initially there weren’t any.
I follow this trick all the time. I ask locals all the time whether accommodation is available at certain village in certain region of Himachal and most of them really have credible information and help you out to get a place to stay.
By the way, here is detailed blog on traveling to 17 pretty villages of Lahaul. I really had a wonderful time visiting and I am sure you’ll too.
Me posing in front of Gundla village. I happen to stay here, during my short winter trip to Lahaul in a newly functional homestay.
2. Check Out If There Is A Forest Rest House Or PWD Rest House In The Village You Want To Stay
During the colonial era, Britishers for their love of Himalayas and of course administrative purposes had Forest rest houses and PWD rest house built across Himalayan states like Himachal, Uttarakhand.
Forest rest houses and PWD rest houses in Himachal will usually come to your rescue when there are no homestays in the rustic villages. And you are so enamored by the beauty of village that you want to just spend the night.
So you’ll find such colonial era rest houses scattered across plenty of villages, even the remotest ones which are still functional. The only hassle is that most of them are not online and booking them is not easy. Plus, if its too remote, chances are that the care taker might not be available.
Remote villages like Lapah, Shakti in Sainj valley along with now famous Shangarh, Lesser known villages of Tranda, Urni, etc in Kinnaur and hundreds of such villages in Himachal have one thing in common, forest rest houses and PWD rest houses.
Here is where you can download the list of forest rest houses and PWD rests of Himachal in a district wise manner. And mind a lot of them are not even on this list. Plus, here is a good blog by vargis khan on how to book them.
The beautiful Forest Rest House At Kaisdhar. While Kaisdhar is not a village but there are such beautiful colonial era FRH like the one in Kaisdhar spread across remote and lesser known villages of Himachal.
3. Build Solid Contacts With Locals of Himachal
If you have solid contacts with locals of different valleys, then this will surely enable you to get a place of stay even in the remotest of villages in Himachal.
Whenever I visit a village or a valley or stay at a homestay, I try to take the phone numbers of the locals so that I can easily connect with them in case I want to visit some other village in the valley or in different village of different valley altogether.
For instance, during my stay at the beautiful rabbit house homestay in Kamtan village, Sainj valley, I happen to ask the host Bicky Ji to arrange a place for me to stay in the lesser frequented Gadsa valley. The reason being, that there are no homestays or guesthouses in Garsa or Gadsa valley.
And I was quite elated when he arranged a place of stay. I stayed with one of his good friends, in Dhallan village of Garsa valley. And thanks to him and his friend, in whose home I stayed with for a good 10 days, I was able to explore a lot of places and rustic villages in Garsa.
By the way, a lot of places in Garsa, features in my list of 47 pretty hidden places in Kullu. Be sure to check it out and let me know your thoughts about it.
Me with Shyam Sundar Ji at the beautiful Shonda Dhar in Garsa valley. Having a solid contact really helps like in my case now I can visit and stay in villages of Garsa anytime thanks to Shyam Sundar Ji
4. Social Media Pages Of Homestays in Rustic Villages Himachal
Due to much improved internet connectivity in Himachal these days, even homestays owners are now leveraging it to promote their homestays business online on Instagram, Facebook etc. Most of the homestay owners use some form of social media to promote their place.
The magic of social media algorithms will eventual lead you to pages of homestays if you have searches related to that. And follow accounts related to travel. So social media is great place where you can find a place to stay in pretty villages of Himachal.
I have perfect example of what I am talking about. I randomly happen to come across the page of Yuthok Homestay located in Baga village, Raison. And I was so impressed by the homestay and the host Rajeshwar Thakur that I eventually landed up there.
I loved my time at Yuthok house so much so that I made a second visit in just a matter of few months. And of course, for me now its a home away from home Himachal. By the way, here is a blog on how safe homestays are in himachal for travelers.
So leverage social media to your advantage and find some of the best places to stay at in rustic villages of Himachal. This will surely result moments you’ll cherish for lifetime.
Beautiful snow covered Rabbit house Homestay. And it has a phenomenal Instagram Page. Do check it out.
5. Befriend A Local Of The Village In Himachal
Lets say you visit a pretty village in Himachal. You like it there so much that you to stay there for a few days. But there are no homestays nor rest houses.
So in such a situation, what you can do is befriend a local of the village and ask them if you could stay at their home or even somebody else home for that matter and see if they could help you.
Of course, this can be a little awkward, but trust me the people in these remote villages are quite amiable. And you might just be able to stay there if you have know somebody in the village of Himachal.
I’ll share a recent personal experience. I was hiking down from Rhodo village in Banjar. And I happen to meet a local from one of the other villages nearby called Sharoghi.
I asked him a few questions about the villages around in general and he invited me to stay over his place which I politely declined because I was already staying at another place.
So just strike a conversation with the locals and politely ask them if you are really wanting to spend a few days in that particular village.
Here is a detailed blog on which mobile network is the best for Himachal. This will be surely of great help if you plan to visit villages of Himachal.
One with my good friend Rajeshwar Thakur of Raison village and host of Yuthok Homestay at Pristine Kufri Meadows above Raison in Upper Kullu. Befriending a local is one of the best ways to search for a place to stay in the villages of Himachal.
6. Read Blogs On The Internet Of Himachali Villages
Reading blogs on Himachali villages is one of the best ways to find a place of stay in Himachali villages. On a personal level this has helped explore and stay at a lot of beautiful places in Himachal.
A lot of genuine travel bloggers out there share their experience of traveling to rustic villages in Himachal. Try to look out if they mention about staying in such villages in their blogs.
I personally have encountered many genuine blogs through which I could later on stay in those villages. So this is one of the best ways to find village a homestay in Himachal.
For instance, I first read about Upper Neahi village of Sainj valley in a blog. And from the blog itself I got the relevant information about the lone homestay in Upper Neahi. By the here is a beautiful Sainj valley itinerary blog for those who are looking to visit Sainj Valley.
A gloomy rainy day in Bathad village, Tirthan valley, Inner/Kullu Saraj. I came across this village on a blog where I got the information about the place of stay in Bathad.
7. Search On The Internet For Eco-Tourism Websites of Himachal
Searching on Eco-Tourism and sustainable tourism websites like notonmaps is one of the best ways to find homestays in villages of Himachal Pradesh.
They help locals in helping promote their homestays and can be certainly helpful in order to find offbeat homestays in Himachal. I personally, haven’t used it myself because I’ve never felt the need to.
But I do certainly check such websites from time to and time. And let me tell I was able to find a lot of pretty homestays in the rustic villages of Himachal.
So there is no harm in sulfuring through such websites. You might certainly find a hidden gem, you never know.
To conclude, I hope that you are now well versed with how to find a place stay in Himachal villages. Trust me once you have been to a few villages and built a solid network with locals this will be quite easy. And of course, social media is always there to help.
In case you have any doubts about searching for place to stay in villages of Himachal, or are searching for a place to stay in Himachali village, drop them in the comments and I’ll glad to help you guys out.