Manali is one of the oldest towns in Kullu Valley. The place surrounds with the aura of ROMANCE everywhere, right from the hustle-bustle of mall road to the very calm, traditional, foreigners dominated old Manali to the woods/villages around/beyond Manu temple to the walking path around Hadimba temple. It can easily be called one of the ROMANTIC destinations of India. The Hadimba goddess runs the Manali town and is the center of worship of the people living at Manali. The mighty goddess also governs the tall mountains along with raw nature, and it’s only after her permission that one gets to enjoy this beautiful place to the core. When people think of Manali, the second keyword that comes is, of course, Rohtang Pass which no doubt is a must-visit place if you go to Manali. View of Manali Manali Weather The weather in Manali offers a variety throughout the year. If you like the cold weather and snow, then you can enjoy winters from November to February. However, you can experience nice and pleasant Manali weather in summers from March to October. I recommend that you avoid traveling to Manali in the month monsoons, late July to August and nowadays some part of September as well. Landslides and flooding are common on Delhi to Manali highway in monsoon time. You do not want to get stuck in the middle of it. Although July-August experience rainfall but this place has again, it’s unique beauty when it rains Hence, the best time to visit Manali is March to June when the heat is burning the low lands of Northern India. Then during the autumn season from the middle of September to late October is also a nice time to visit it. However, during the Dusherra festival, the Kullu region gets very crowded. If you are fond of snow or snowfall, then visit Manali from late December to March for enjoying the snow in Manali, Rohtang Pass, or Solang Valley. You may witness snowfall also in January and February, depending on the weather at the time of the visit. No doubt it is one of the top places to see snowfall near Delhi in Himachal. View of Manali What is the best time to visit Manali April to June is the best time to visit Manali, but do keep in mind that in summers (April-June), people from most Northern parts of India invade this place like anything and seeing the Mall road in the evening can cause serious shiver in your head. It’s almost you are in Trade Fair of Pragati Maidan, Delhi But if you enjoy it, then it’s an awesome time to visit Manali. Also, you can take the shelter in Old Manali in such extreme cases, which is far off from the hustle-bustle of the (over) crowd. Right from accommodation to food to shopping to taxi/auto fares, everything is costly in this peak season summer holidays in the Himalayas. If you are looking for adventure sports then, hit for skiing December to February season is the best time and for rafting May to September would do good. All of you who seeks Paragliding in Manali, it’s always dependent on the weather on the current day of the year What about Honeymoon in Manali? For a honeymoon, of course, if you get married in winters, then late November to February is the best time to be in Manali. It is one of those places where you can find snow easily in winter months. You get an additional benefit of the heavy discounts, being off-season topped with less number of tourists. Finally, you get to see similar love birds thronging the region of Manali and Solang Valley. Hence, without any doubt, Manali does get to my list of best honeymoon places in Himachal. What time to avoid? Do avoid Durga Puja holidays mainly in October when the rush is at peak again, and people flood the Kullu Manali towns like anything. It is also the Dusherra Festival time in Kullu Valley with which also valley is under heavy tourist rush. Also, there is an official HPTDC off-season at the time of monsoon and winters (usually mid-November to February) when they provide a 30% discount on their services. View of snow cap peaks How to reach Manali from Delhi Manali is well connected by road from Delhi vis National Highways. You will find ample of public transport as well from Delhi to Manali or Chandigarh to Manali. Let us look into the various options of traveling to Manali by road. By Air The nearest airport to Manali is Bhunter about 50 km away. From Bhuntar-Kullu, you can hire a taxi to reach Manali in 90 minutes approximately. The fare of a taxi could be Rs 1000 – Rs 1200, depending upon the bargaining skills as well as season time. By Train Chandigarh is the closest major Railway Station from where it will take around 9 hours to reach Manali by bus or car. Apart from that Joginder Nagar railway station near Mandi can be considered as the nearest one. However, the connectivity can be limited to it from far-flung places in India. Dheeraj Sharma (Devil On Wheels)Dheeraj Sharma (Devil On Wheel By Road The distance of Manali from Delhi is 570 km (approximately) and it takes around 12-14 hours to reach depending upon traffic and how you drive. Generally, the route followed for Manali from Delhi by road is – Delhi – Ambala (188 KM) – Chandigarh – Roopnagar (282 KM) – Kiratpur – Bilaspur (371 KM) – Sunder Nagar – Mandi (440 KM) – Pandoh – Aut (481 KM) – Kullu – Manali (570 KM) HPTDC Volvo Buses also run from Delhi at 6 PM every day from HPTDC Office, Janpath. These buses reach Manali the next morning around 8 AM. The fare is around Rs 1300-1400 for one side. The similar buses leave from Manali every evening at 5.30 PM and reaching Delhi by 7.00 AM the next morning. There are other daily buses available from HRTC as well from ordinary to Volvos that run between Delhi to Manali and Chandigarh to Manali. Follow my YouTube Channel & Ask Travel Questions View of strrets in Old Manali Road Conditions from Delhi to Manali Delhi to Manali roads run on NH-21 and NH-1 highways and are pretty much in great shape being a highway. In the entire route, there are one or two rough patches so that you never lose your concentration. Especially, the drive from Kiratpur to Sunder Nagar is horrible with trucks running madly all over the road on both sides, slowing you down terribly. A slight Chandigarh to Roopnagar stretch is also in bad shape but the rest of the road conditions are pure bliss to drive. For updated road conditions of Delhi to Manali, please refer to the DoW Community thread: Delhi – Manali Road Conditions. Preferred Vehicles The best way is to take your car/bike and hit the road as there is no such specialty required in the vehicle, be it 2X2 or 4X4. You can take it as long as its engine runs and fuel exists An alternate route to Manali from Delhi The regular route to Manali via NH-21, that is Manali – Chandigarh Highway, is mostly in pathetic condition from Kiratpur Sahib to Bilaspur. The beelines of slow-moving trucks, chaotic overtaking of these overloaded trucks, and deep crater-sized potholes all around on almost 70 km of stretch. The journey becomes so tiring and frustrating… For the last few times when I went to Tirthan Valley from Delhi, we took the route as Kiratpur Sahib > Anandpur Sahib > Nangal > Una > then turn right towards Bhota > then again right towards Jahu > at T-Point, turn left towards Ner Chowk. Don’t go towards Sunder Nagar as you will lose a couple of hours then. This is a bit longer route, maybe 55-60 km, but the time difference is almost about 40-45 minutes only. However, roads are super smooth all the way to cruise upon apart from last average roads of 25 km after Jahu to Ner Chowk. It does save you from all the frustration and risks of accidents. So, better avoid the NH-21 route and take this route via Una – Bhota to reach Manali or beyond Mandi to Himachal. View of Manali Bus Service from Delhi – Manali As per HRTC FB Page, both HRTC & HPTDC operates a total of six daily Volvo buses from Manali to Delhi. While HRTC charges ₹1283- for this service, HPTDC charges ₹1300/-. Travel time is roughly 14 hours (580 km). Bus Timings from Manali: 3:00 pm, 4:00 pm, 5:00 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:00 pm, and 6:30 pm. Bus Timings from Delhi: HPTDC (from Himachal Bhawan)- 6:30 pm, 7:30 pm; HRTC (from Delhi ISBT)- 7:35 pm, 8:00 pm, 8:25 pm, and 9:03 pm. Travel Tip: If you are interested in some treks, you may also check these easy treks in Himachal. Common Itinerary for Manali Trip in 3 Days From Delhi to visit Manali, you require at least 3 Nights, 4 Days and it would be great if you have more But ideally, in 3 Nights / 4 Days, you can cover the majority of this place. I would also provide some add-on or pop-up day tours which you can include exclude as you like. Day 0 / Night – Overnight from Manali to Delhi Leave Delhi in the evening to reach Manali the next morning either by car/or Volvo bus. You can take a morning flight to Kullu as well which takes you to the first day. Day 1 – Manali Local Sightseeing Check-in at the hotel in Manali, rest for a few hours and go on for local sightseeing. This sightseeing may include Mall road (which of course you can’t avoid any day), Local Monastery, Hadimba Devi Temple, Manu Rishi Temple in the evening through the streets of Old Manali. You can have dinner at one of the traditional/western cuisine restaurants at Old Manali. Come back to the hotel for the rest. Day 2 – Visit Rohtang Pass or Snow Points Leave for Rohtang Pass early in the morning to avoid traffic jams. Mind it; it can be the worse jam of the trip, so be prepared. It is always better to avoid by leaving for Rohtang Pass from Manali early morning maybe 7 AM Come back to the hotel by the evening at around 4 PM to rest at the hotel and enjoy the mall road in the evening/night. Day 3 – Visit Solang Valley Visit Solang Valley if you want to do some adventure sports and enjoy the day there. Come back in the evening. Leave for the home in the night, either by taking the evening Volvo or by your own car. View of Manali Trip to Manali in 5 Days Continuing the above 3-day itinerary of Manali trip for those who have more days in hand. Day 4 – Visit Nagar Castle – Jagatsukh If you are not interested in visiting a unique place, then include Naggar Castle in your trip with a night stay at Naggar Castle. Well, the views it offers are just breathtaking. So you can also opt for Naggar in place of Solang if you don’t like adventure sports, then replace this day with the trip to Naggar Castle, just 30 odd km from Manali. For a honeymoon, it’s one of the best places to stay and must-visit for couples looking for an ideal romantic point. To get the glimpses of the views from Naggar Castle, check these links of my visit to this beautiful place. You may take a day trip to Naggar and leave for Manali the same day if you don’t like much but better include a night stay at this lovely hotel. Next morning you can leave to Delhi from Naggar itself. Jagatsukh comes on the way as well and it is one of the offbeat places in Himachal. Follow my YouTube Channel & Ask Travel Questions Day 5 – Visit Parvati Valley (Manali to Kasol) Another set of places you may include on your Manali trip is that you leave for Kullu or Kasol in the evening. If it’s the penultimate day of the trip or early morning on any day if you have an ample amount of time. Just it would be great if you can do it on the way back home towards Delhi or a similar route. Reach Kullu, shop in the market and head towards Kasol & Manikaran. Visit this holy place and leave for Kasol, where you can enjoy the evening in nice Israeli flavor. If you have time, then dedicate a day to Kasol and try to enjoy the environment to the core besides the Parvati River. Leave for Delhi in the evening and reach by morning.