Manali is where northern India goes to escape the heat, and that popularity cuts both ways. The town itself is busy and over-built. Twenty minutes out of it, the Kullu valley is apple orchards, deodar forest and the Beas running fast and cold, and the road north climbs to one of the great mountain passes in the country.
Here is how to spend time in Manali without spending it in the traffic on Mall Road.
Stay in Old Manali or Vashisht rather than the new town if you have the choice. Old Manali is up the hill across the river, quieter, and closer to the walks.
A four-tiered wooden pagoda from 1553, set in a cedar grove. It is the oldest thing in Manali and the grove around it is the reason to go early, before the crowds and the costumed-yak photographers arrive.
Natural sulphur springs in a village above the town, with separate bathing areas. Free, functional rather than luxurious, and used by locals rather than staged for visitors.
Thirteen kilometres north, a wide meadow under the peaks. Paragliding and zorbing in summer, snow in winter. It is commercialised, and it is still a genuinely beautiful piece of ground.
At 3,978 metres, Rohtang is the crossing into Lahaul and the reason a lot of people come to Manali at all. The road is open roughly May to November depending on snow.
Two practical points. Vehicle permits for Rohtang are limited by the authorities each day and must be arranged in advance. And the Atal Tunnel now runs under the pass, which means you can reach Lahaul year-round in about ten minutes without crossing Rohtang at all. Many travellers now do the tunnel for access and Rohtang for the view.
Delhi to Manali is roughly 12 to 14 hours by road, or about 8 from Chandigarh. It is a long drive on mountain roads and it is genuinely more comfortable broken into two days with a night in Shimla or Chandigarh. Overnight buses exist and people survive them, but they are not a good introduction to the Himalaya.
Manali works best combined with Shimla and Dharamshala rather than as a destination on its own. That circuit is roughly what our North India Himalayan Tour covers, with your own vehicle for the whole route.
Private vehicle and driver for the full circuit, fuel, tolls, state taxes and the road permits. Hotels, meals, entrance fees, activities such as paragliding, and guides are not included in the price. We can arrange any of them at cost, including the Rohtang permit, which is worth letting us handle because the daily quota fills.
Three is enough for the town, Solang and a Rohtang or Lahaul day. Four if you want a full day in the Parvati valley.
No, roughly May to November depending on snowfall. The Atal Tunnel gives year-round access to Lahaul underneath it.
September and October. Clear air after the monsoon and far fewer people than the summer rush.
Twelve to fourteen hours. We would normally split it with a night on the way rather than drive it straight.
Send us your dates and we will plan the Himachal route around the pass openings.
