Manali is one of the best places if one wants to spend time with hills and snow. I went there during december 2009 for 5 days. We were one of very few couples who chose to sped 5 days in manali rather than traveling to shimla. I think if one is looking for some fun and lot of relaxation then skipping shimla is a correct choice as manali offers all that one will get in shimla.
The Plan: We were traveling from Mumbai. I chose to arrange ticket reservations myself and asked tour operator to arrange from chandigarh onwards. A bus from chandigarh to manali, indica for two of us for all travel in manali for 5 days and volvo for return from manali to delhi.
Travel Organiser: My trip was arranged by North Face Adventours( after going to manali I saw there are 2 with such a name in mall road itself). My experience with them was very pleasent and I found them cost effective as well.
Stay: Stayed in Hotel Khoosboo. Nice place with courteous staff. Only that quality of food is inversaly
proportional to the number of guests in the hotel. Rooms are not very luxurious but are very good with view of hills.
Adventures: In manali one has options like White water rafting( yes we did it in cold chilling water and it was fun), Skiing and Paragliding. A word of caution that during season, people ask for moon for these sports so its really advisable to get these things included in your package. The northface ppl arrange adventure sports and my experience was good with them.
Going Aound: The site seeing is pretty standard there. Manikaran is a must go place. Other places are in and around manali only. One can spend good time at Mall Road
Food: I didn’t like the food in restaurents on mall road. we tried a couple of them. I would suggest that one can go for MAP package in the hotel one is staying in, that will cover breakfast and dinner. I even dared to venture in to a road side Dhaba on the way to manikaran which again proved a wrong choice. over all I was disappointed on the food front.
Cost: I spent close to 20K for 2 ppl on a standard tour of 5 days. 15k was the tour cost and rest misc.