The campus at Chheb sits in the middle of the Kangra valley, and nearly everything worth a day off is within reach of it: the Fort, the temple and its bazaar, the little train, a museum of the valley's own painting, and McLeod Ganj up the hill. And there is a pool, for the day you want to do nothing at all.
Kangra Fort, in the morning
Go early, before the stone heats up. It is one of the oldest forts in the country, built along a spur above the meeting of two rivers, and the view from the top is the valley you see from the campus, all of it at once.
There is very little shade up there, so the morning is the time. Give it a couple of hours, because you will stop more often than you plan to.
Brajeshwari and the old bazaar
Kangra town is just below the fort. Brajeshwari Devi is at the heart of it, and the lane up to the temple is lined with shops the whole way. It is one of the four temples on the Devi darshan circuit, and in Navratri the whole town fills up.
The valley's own school of painting
This is the one for anybody who draws. Kangra gave its name to a school of miniature painting in the eighteenth century: fine line, soft natural colour, and Radha and Krishna in gardens that look a great deal like this valley.
The place to see it is the Kangra Art Museum, in the Kotwali Bazaar in lower Dharamshala, which the state government set up in 1990 to keep it. On the other side of the valley, towards Palampur, Andretta is a village of potters and painters, and worth a morning of its own.
The little train
The Kangra Valley railway is narrow gauge and slow, and Kangra Mandir is the station for the town. It is not a way to get anywhere quickly. It is a morning at a window with the valley going past, which after a week of juries is sometimes exactly the point. There is more on the ride, and where to get off.
McLeod Ganj for a day
Up the hill are the cafés, the Dalai Lama's temple and the walk around it. Go up in the morning, stop at the museum in lower Dharamshala on the way, and come back down to the valley by dark. This is how that day usually falls.
Where to swim near NIFT Kangra
There are not many pools around Kangra, and ours is a short drive from the campus. Day visitors pay ₹250. Students pay ₹200, and nobody asks for an ID. Just tell us at the gate. The hours and the rest are on the pool page.
The kitchen does veg and non-veg, and tea keeps coming all afternoon. If it is somebody's birthday, message ahead and lunch will be ready. Bring the batch, or bring a book.
When family comes up
Parents come up for admission, the Design Collection show and convocation, and the rooms near the campus go quickly in those weeks. There are rooms here from ₹999 a night, or ₹1,699 with air conditioning. Send the dates early.