Khajjiar is a small meadow village in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, sitting at around 1,920 metres in a bowl of dense deodar forest with a shallow, reed-fringed lake at its centre. The Swiss ambassador to India once planted a signpost here declaring it India's Switzerland, and the comparison is hard to dismiss — the rolling green clearing, the pine-scented air, and the surrounding peaks do have an Alpine quality. It's 27 km from Dalhousie and makes an easy half-day trip from there, though staying a night lets you enjoy the meadow once the day-trippers have gone.
The main draw is simply the place itself: the lake, the meadow, and the 12th-century Khajji Nag temple on the water's edge, which houses five life-sized wooden images of the Pandavas. It's a quiet, unhurried spot — good for a walk through the forest, a pony ride across the meadow, or just sitting and looking at the hills. The surrounding Kalatop sanctuary offers the obvious half-day excursion. Don't expect much in the way of restaurants or nightlife; the few dhabas around the meadow serve the basics.