Visitors to Shimla see the Mall Road and the Ridge but rarely the orchards up the road. Guided day trips to grower families near Narkanda, Thanedar and Kotgarh let tourists see blossom, pick cherries or apples, eat a village lunch and buy fruit from the farm.
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This business runs small guided day trips from Shimla town to working orchards. Guests ride out in a hired taxi, walk the orchard with the grower, pick and taste fruit, watch grading and packing, eat a home-cooked Himachali lunch and carry back a box of fruit bought from the family.
Most visitor spending in Shimla stays in hotels and souvenir shops on the Mall Road. The belt around Narkanda, Thanedar and Kotgarh, where the district's apple trade took root more than a century ago and where most of Himachal's cherries are grown, is within a day's drive and full of farm families who could host guests. Tourism is Shimla's official 'one district, one product', and NABARD's credit plan names Narkanda among the district's famous spots.
You need to register as a travel agent with the state tourism department, hire only taxis with tourist permits, and agree clear, fair terms with each host family so they share in every booking. The hard part is the season: blossom in spring, cherries in early summer and apples from late summer into autumn, with monsoon landslides on the Narkanda road that can cancel trips at short notice. Keep groups small so orchards are not damaged.
Sell through hotel front desks and homestays in Shimla, online travel listings, and school and college groups.
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