Bir Billing Beyond Paragliding: A 3-Day Bir & Barot Itinerary from Delhi (and Where Rajgundha Fits)

Most people do Bir Billing as a transaction: overnight bus, twenty minutes in the air, a café, the bus home. It's a fine weekend. It's also the least interesting version of the place. Give Bir a slow day of its own, then drive two and a half hours into the Barot valley, and the trip turns into something you'll talk about for months.

Quick answer: For a 3-day Bir Billing itinerary from Delhi, leave on Thursday night. Day 1: Bir's hidden waterfall trail, the Tibetan colony and cafés. Day 2: an optional morning paragliding flight from Billing, then drive about 65 km to Barot for a night in a wooden cottage. Day 3: the river and village in Barot, then the overnight drive home. With a fourth day, add the Rajgundha valley between Billing and Barot.

Bir, Billing and Barot in one minute

• Bir is the village where you stay, eat and land if you fly, at about 1,500 metres in the Kangra district. It has a Tibetan colony, monasteries and the best café scene in this part of Himachal.
• Billing is the paragliding take-off, about 14 km up the road from Bir at roughly 2,400 metres.
• Barot is a river village in the Mandi district, around 65 km from Bir by road (2.5 to 3 hours), on the Uhl river. It's quieter, greener and has far fewer visitors.
• Rajgundha is a remote valley of farmhouses and meadows in the mountains between Billing and Barot, reached by a rough jeep track or on foot.

Bir is about 520 km from Delhi, which is 10 to 11 hours by road via Chandigarh and Mandi. Overnight Volvos run to Bir, or to Baijnath nearby, most nights.

The 3-day itinerary

This is the shape of our Bir · Barot weekend, and it works the same if you're planning it on your own.

Day 0: Delhi to the mountains

Leave Delhi around 8 PM. A few introductions, a few playlists and a "so what do you do?" that becomes a much better conversation somewhere on the highway at 2 AM. Sleep if you can.

Day 1: Bir, but not the version on Instagram

Arrive in the morning, check in and have a slow breakfast. Then skip the landing ground and walk to a hidden waterfall in the forest outside the village, with a local guide who knows the trail. It's a proper nature walk: streams, old trees, and very few other people.

Spend the afternoon at your own pace:

• Walk through the Tibetan colony and visit Chokling Monastery, with its white stupa and prayer wheels.
• Find a café for a long lunch. Bir has dozens, from bakeries to rooftop places with valley views; our guide to cafés in Bir has the pick.
• Catch golden hour from the landing ground, where you can watch the last gliders of the day come in.

Dinner, then the kind of conversation that only starts once everyone's had a day outdoors.

Day 2: Fly, then drive into the quiet

After breakfast, the flyers head up to Billing. Paragliding is optional and paid separately: a standard tandem flight of 15 to 20 minutes costs roughly ₹2,000 to ₹3,500, with longer flights and video extra. Our guides cover what it really costs and how safe it is, and how to pick a certified pilot.

Around midday, drive to Barot. The road drops through Jogindernagar and climbs again into the Uhl valley, past meadows, river bends and the old hydel works the village grew up around.

Check into a wooden cottage. Then do nothing in particular: chai, the sound of the river, a walk if you feel like it. After dinner there's a musical bonfire under a properly dark sky. Whoever grabs the aux decides the playlist.

Day 3: Slow walks and soft goodbyes

Barot is made for mornings. Walk the village lanes, follow the river, and take the flat path that runs along the old hydel canal through the pines. If you like fish, the trout farm is worth a look; this is one of Himachal's trout valleys.

Find a local café for a long chai, take one last look at the valley, and start the drive home in the evening. You're back in Delhi early the next morning.

Things to do in Bir besides paragliding

If you have extra time in Bir, or simply don't want to fly, there's plenty:

• Monasteries: Chokling in the Tibetan colony, and Sherab Ling, a large monastery a short drive away in the forest.
• The Deer Park Institute: a centre for Buddhist and Indian philosophy that runs talks and courses; check what's on when you visit.
• Tea gardens: Bir sits on the edge of the Kangra tea belt, and the estates around Palampur are an easy half-day trip.
• Gunehar: an old village of slate-roofed houses a short walk from Bir, with a waterfall trail beyond it.
• Baijnath Temple: a stone Shiva temple from the 13th century, about 15 km from Bir.

For a fuller guide to the village itself, read our Bir Billing travel guide.

Where Rajgundha fits

Rajgundha is the valley that people who've done Bir twice talk about. It sits high in the mountains between Billing and Barot: farmhouses, terraced fields, almost no phone signal and very few visitors. Getting there means a rough jeep track from Billing or a walk on the trails between Barot and the upper valley.

It's beautiful, and it's also a commitment. The track depends on the weather, nights are cold for much of the year, and stays are simple. That's why our current Bir weekend trades the Rajgundha night for a wooden cottage in Barot: warmer, easier on a three-day schedule, and still well off the usual route.

If you have a fourth day, add Rajgundha between Bir and Barot. Our Rajgundha valley guide covers the route, the trek and when to go, and the Barot valley guide covers the other end.

When to go

• March to May: warm days, good flying, and rhododendrons in the forests in spring.
• July to mid-September: monsoon. Paragliding stops and roads can be blocked by landslides. Skip it.
• Late September to November: the best window. Clear skies, steady flying and crisp, cold nights in Barot.
• December to February: flyable on clear days but cold, with foggy mornings in the valley. Barot gets very cold.

Our best time to visit Bir Billing guide goes month by month.

What to pack

• Layers for big temperature swings: warm in the sun at midday, close to freezing by the river at night in autumn.
• Comfortable shoes for the waterfall trail.
• A windproof jacket if you plan to fly; it's colder in the air.
• Cash for paragliding and small cafés, and a power bank for Barot's patchy signal.

Frequently asked questions

Is 3 days enough for Bir Billing?

Yes, if you travel overnight both ways. Three days gives you a full day in Bir, a morning flight from Billing and a night in Barot. Two days covers only Bir and the flight. Add a fourth day if you want to go to Rajgundha.

Is paragliding included in the Chalo Folks Bir trip?

No. Paragliding is optional and paid on the spot, so people who don't want to fly don't pay for it. Expect roughly ₹2,000 to ₹3,500 for a standard 15 to 20 minute tandem flight.

How far is Barot from Bir?

About 65 km by road, which takes 2.5 to 3 hours via Jogindernagar. The road is narrow in places but scenic the whole way.

What can you do in Bir besides paragliding?

Walk to a forest waterfall, visit Chokling and Sherab Ling monasteries, explore the Tibetan colony, spend an afternoon in Bir's cafés, visit the tea gardens around Palampur or the old temple at Baijnath, and watch the gliders land at sunset.

Is Rajgundha worth visiting?

Yes, if you have time and don't mind basic stays and a rough road. It's one of the quietest valleys in this part of Himachal. On a three-day trip, it's usually better to save it for a longer visit.

What is the best month to visit Bir and Barot?

October and November are the best months for clear skies and flying, with March to May a close second. Avoid July and August, when the monsoon stops paragliding.

Make it a weekend you'll remember

You can plan all of this yourself with the itinerary above. If you'd rather have the van, the stays, the waterfall guide and eleven good people sorted for you, request an invite, or read how invite-only trips work first.