I have recently completed a trip to Manali. Now it’s a off season time and hotels are offering great discounts. Also it’s snow time. So we have decided to go there and enjoy the snow and hills. Mode of Travel
We had traveled in Rajdhani Express from Bangalore to Delhi(You can find the Rajdhani Train review on the Railways-Rajdhani Section). Not a good choice. Better you can travel by Air/ Any other train. If nothing else, then Rajdhani as last choice.
From Delhi, we have traveled to Ambala as one of my friend is there. You can take a direct Bus to Manali from Delhi. Always select a Volvo as the roads are very bad in Himachal.(Try Raj National Express-Volvo). We have traveled to Chandigarh from Amabala and taken a Himachal Govt AC Bus to Manali.
Govt AC Buses are good, but their driving is too bad. They cut turns like anything and don’t mind any bad roads. Same 70-80 Km on Bad road too.So you will be in very bad condition when you reach Manali as from the Chandigarh, road becomes very bad till Manali. Accommodation in Manali - There are lot’s of Hotels available in Manali at very cheap rates.
As it is off season time, you can expect discounts up to 50-70% from the normal season rates. We got hotel rates in range of 600-900 for 3 Star hotels(and for suites!), same is costing around 2-2.5 K in season time. Always negotiate. You can directly call the hotel and talk to them. Try to include the breakfast also in room rate, else it will cost you another 100+ per person per day.
Also when you reach Manali Bus stand in the early morning, there are lot’s of agents to catch as you as soon as you step out of bus and I think they will also arrange hotels at Bargain rates. Always try to select some hotel nearby to town(Mall Road) as otherwise you end up paying so much for taxi. Taxi fares are too high in Manali. Just 2 Kms, they charge 100-150 Rs.
Check the hotel location before you book. Sightseeing - I think the best two parts are Snow/Mountains and Apple’s.For apple, you have to go in the Apple season. It’s from July to September with an apple fest in August.It will be really nice to see apple tree’s with full of apples where you can eat fresh apples as much as you like.! We could see only dried apple trees near to our hotel and all over manali, not even a leaf also.!:-( . Snow.
For snow, you have to go to Solang Valley, if it’s not available in Town.! Sometimes it will be snowing in Town, else you can get a taxi package for sightseeing to Solang Valley where you get lot’s snow.You can get full snow dress also in rent, Rs. 200 for full set including Snow shoes and all. Also The Rohtang Pass. This will be open only for few months when the snow melts and vehicles can go upto the mountains. Check with your hotel for the season times. Naggar.
It’s a small beautiful town and a very beautiful Castle. Very good valley views. But roads till Naggar is very bad. Bumpy rides. Get a good taxi. Travelling. There are mainly two types of taxis- Either the Alto or Sumo/Qualis. Alto is cheap. Per day sight seeing will come around 400 or Naggar/Solang will come around 600. Sumo should come around 600/900 range.(depends on your bargaining).
Check with different travel agencies.lot’s of them are on Mall road. Also contact the taxi owners standing near the taxi union office in Mall road. Best deal guaranteed.! Eating - Food is costly in Town. One nice place to try there is Chopsticks.(Chinese) Excellent food and average prices.
You can have very good momo’s from local tea shops/small Tibetan restaurants which are very tasty. Try Johnson’s cafe, also there are many hotels there. But we got very good food from our Hotel, (Mountain Top Manali), so we had food from there most of the time. Overall this will be an enjoyable trip. Also this will work out very cheap if you do some Net research and bargain. Use the travel sites /direct hotel contacts for better prices.