Viceregal Lodge & Botanical Gardens

The place is awesome to visit. If you are staying nearby victory tunnel or Old bus stand shimla, you can directly walk ad visit the place. You cannot get any bus or local vehicle to travel or you have to book a cab which will cost you approx Rs500 from old bus stand shimla. It is about 2.5KMs from victory tunnel. The site opens at 10: 30AM and closes at 5PM. We were two people so we were charged Rs 200 for entry and guided tour inside the monument. The view of this place is amazing from outside and inside both. You are not allowed to take photos inside but you can click pictures from outside.

If you are in shimla this place is a must visit, the cost of the ticket is 30rs for Indian nationals and 50 for foreigners and if you want a tour from inside its 100rs for Indians and 500rs for foreign nationals, in our case we did the lawn and sightseeing from outside only and i must say each and every penny was worth it, the architecture is amazing and the lawn is lush green beautifully maintained, if you have a car or a bike you can easily reach there because buses are not allowed near the viceregal lodge and taxi’s cost almost 300rs which i feel like is way too much so if you are near old bus stand just walk for few mins and enjoy hence i will highly recommend this place in your shimla iteanrry.

The Rashtrapati Niwas, formerly known as Viceregal Lodge, is located on the Observatory Hills of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India. It was formerly the residence of the British Viceroy of India. It houses some of the most ancient articles and photographs going back to the times of the British rule in India.

This place is part of our history and must be on your list of things in Shimla. Had a nice time here with family knowing the legacy and history behind the building.

If in Shimla, worth one visit to this place. A historic and beautiful place. Great for photography and selfies

However the deterioration of building is on. At very quick pace. Need to be taken care by experienced people for its long life.

Wonderful & Historical place and pictures Like in
But inside Photography is prohibited

It's a must visit place in shimla, the wood work inside is amazing and tour guide is also available with good knowledge of the palace.
Photography is not allowed inside the premises.

History:
* Viceregal Lodge which is also known as Rashtrapati Niwas.
* It was formerly the residence of the British Viceroy of India.
* It has some of the most ancient articles and photographs going back to the times of the British rule in India.
* The Rashtrapati Niwas Estate was transferred to the Ministry of Education to be handed over to the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.

Was sent to the Ministry of Education and then the lodge was handed over to the research centre IIAS (Indian Institute of Advanced Study) in 1965.

Interesting facts about Viceregal Lodge are as follows:

It is spread across an area of 110 acres of land
The pine and cedar woods were used to construct this architecture
The woods were imported from Burma
It costs nearly INR 36 lakhs to construct it

It's very beautiful from inside and out.
Paintings and photographs inside make you visualise it's historical importance.
It has some amazing things which I would mention here.
The outside garden is so soothing.

The Indian Institute of Advanced Study has an interesting tale attached to it. It is said that before it turned into an educational institute, the building was originally a home for Lord Dufferin, who was the Viceroy of India from 1884 to 1888. During that period, IIAS was known as Viceregal lodge.

Many important historic decisions including the Shimla Conference that was held in the year 1945 and the decision to separate Pakistan and East Pakistan from India were taken here in this building at the time of independence. After independence, this architectural marvel came into the hands of the then President of India and was renamed as Rashtrapati Niwas. Later, after a few years, it was converted into a center of higher learning.
Visit the garden and lawns to spend some time in tranquility surrounded by evergreen lush greenery. The garden has several fountains that enhance its overall beauty.
Click pictures outside this historical edifice. It’s a great place to capture some good photos for shutterbugs.
Do not forget to take the museum pictures from the ticket counters to cherish your visit for a lifetime.
Head to Manorville Mansion and Annadale to make the most of your trip to this location. As both the places are situated nearby, it can be a great decision to include them in your itinerary list on your Shimla sightseeing tour. One can also stop at the Mall Road to shop for a variety of souvenirs for their loved ones.

It's the wonderful place.must visit place in shimla to get some moments full of enjoy and mindpeace together. Just go there. Lovely place

You must visit the place, iam a local so visited the place several time. Mesmerizing view, I fell in love in this place every time felt special

Time pass ke liye jaa sakte ho, inside study center nothing is special jisko dekh ke kaho wow. Vahi sab milega jo aap net pe bhi pad yaa dekh sakte ho and photos click karna allowed nhi to vaha sirf vahi log jaan, jinke pass bohot faltu kaa time he. Out side view acha he jaha pics bhi le sakte ho or ache se ghum fir sakte ho to agr yaha jaana ho to sirf bahaar kaa hi ticket lena jo ki 30 rs kaa hoga and under kaa ticket 200 per person hoga.

It was a great experience to visit this place.to be honest The outside of the centre is mesmerizing, but i think the inside tour is not that great they showed only 2 rooms which consist of multiple photos not worth it as per ticket amount.but I recommend you to visit this place for historic purposes & outside beauty.kindly bring your mask for entry.

Been there in 03, October, 2021.quite place.
Plan before you go there.
You have to leave your vehicle in the parking and walk for 10-15 mins to reach the ticket counter.
If you have a driver, they can drop you and go back.
Ticket price for Indians is
30 for only garden
200 for the guided tour (limited slots) (inside building, you will be taken to 3 rooms and told the history)
Inside the building it has amazing wood work done in the main hall, and fire safety sprinklers installed since British Era.

Complete vest of ₹ 200. Very high ticket price of ₹ 200 and ₹ 30 for out side building. In ₹ 200 they show few rooms (3-4 rooms only) of building and there are only few photos of shimala conference, some old furniture and old electric switches. You can watch state museum insted, which is very much better and worth watching it.

It is very important to visit today, there is a lot of information inside it which you can show to your children by coming with your family, many students come here to do PhD and do research on the history here. This place is in Shimla

Even thought the tour and items on display was not worth the cost (which 200/person for a 15 mins walk through of four rooms of the building), the place was exquisite. Loved the architecture and garden.

Awesome place
Great experience i had by sitting there and reliving colonial times by imagining a movie in my mind
Ambience of this place is so sereal and soothing. Last but not thr least the Fire canteen eatables price are reasonable that i especially loved

Nice place to visit. As it was the residence of lord Viceregal in British rule, now it had been converted into institute of advance studies and muesiam.

Visiting these days is quite not possible due to COVID situation. Not all the premises is open for public only the fellows are allowed to visit and explore from inside. Location in pretty good.

Great for architecture and history buffs. However, guided tour of the interior is too short. Gardens are great, can spend more time here.

Everything was great, but the number of places allowed for visiters to see was very low despite the lodge being huge. And the ticket per person was expensive too. But it gets sort of worth it when you observe the lodge's beauty

What an architectural brilliance this place is.
One of the highlights of my shimla trip.
Thankfully it was not very crowded when we visited there.
The good thing is that there is guided tour of the inside of the building but it's limited to just three rooms where in they tell you about the history and significance of the place.
Although Rs 200 for the guided tour is little expensive for three rooms.
If you wish to just visit the garden aand the outside area than it's Rs 30.

It was an amazing experience. Properly maintain and strict security though.
Historic monument and a great photography library.

This is good place but ticket is too much expensive and you have to wait several hours to go inside after buying ticket because there is always house full.

The magestic architecture is very impressive and well maintained. Further, it is surrounded by very peaceful environment. It is a much glorified place but mostly it is the outside view of the building that is awesome. And for that, only a garden ticket is enough. Parking is quite a bit of distance, and the long uphill walk to just observe the building from outside can be a bit disappointing for some.

A must visit place.
What a beauty it is, a truly awestruck experience.
This is one of the things for which I want to thank the Britishers for making it.

एक बहुत ही सुनियोजित तरीके से ऐतिहासिक स्थान के दर्शन। हेरिटेज साइट को इंस्टीट्यूट ऑफ एडवांस्ड स्टडीज द्वारा भली भांति संजो कर सभी गतिविधियों को सफल बनाया जा रहा है।
समस्त स्टाफ एवं प्रबंधन बधाई के पात्र।

Excellent place to visit in Shimla. If you are a history buff or love to visit museums, you'd love it. It's very well maintained and reasonably priced. Must visit.

Please don't step on the lawns. The purpose is rainwater harvesting and there are underground tanks below the lawns. Not stepping on it helps maintaining the beauty and cleanliness also.

A beautiful, rustic, old- fashioned building with expanding lawns and mesmerizing views of mountains. It is a good place to go in the day-time as you can take a clear look at all the beautiful flora there.

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