[Jaguar]

We are a group of 4 guys planning a loop from Chandigarh covering Amritsar/Dalhousie/Dhramsala/Kasol/Shimla this December. The idea is to land in Chandigarh on Dec 15, drive around in a rental car and fly back on Dec 22.

What will be road condition during that period and what places should we definitely include and definitely avoid? Except the dates, everything else is flexible. So I am starting this thread to ask for suggestions and come up with a proper plan.

[aditya79india]

One word. Avoid.

Too foggy. Too smoggy. Too risky by road. Do it sometime in Feb (atleast after 15th Jan), if interested in winter.

[sudev]

Yes fog is a problem early morning and night. Smog should not be a problem by then. There could be snow in hilly areas.

Make it food cum visit trip. Lots of popular places to visit. And eating joints to try.

Early morning visit to Darbar Sahib and evening trip to Wagha is almost a must.

Make it two nights in Amritsar and Dalhousie Dharamshala. Drop Shimla. Too much traffic and resultant jams.

Check if you can all start and end at Amritsar as it also has lots of connections now.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by aditya79india

One word. Avoid.

Do it sometime in Feb (atleast after 15th Jan), if interested in winter.

Our leaves get lapsed in Dec. So kinda stuck with the dates.

Originally Posted by sudev

Make it two nights in Amritsar and Dalhousie Dharamshala. Drop Shimla. Too much traffic and resultant jams.

Check if you can all start and end at Amritsar as it also has lots of connections now.

Thanks for the suggestion. We had not planned proper shimla but surrounding areas like kufri. Mainly to try winter sports.

Chandigarh was chosen because because of more car rental options. And anyways flights are already booked.

[wanderernomad]

Definitely avoid Shimla during that time. The road down to Kalka is also in shambles between Kumarhati and Parwanoo. From Dalhousie go to Khajiar and continue down to Jasur via Jot. From Jasur you can continue towards Dharamshala. Do this if you are not afraid of sheer drops and small mountainous roads between Khajjiar and Chuvadi on the other side of the Jot.
Once at Dharamshala instead of just ebing on the road all the time limit yourself to Billing and Bir and come down to Chandigarh via Jogindernagar and Rewalsar. your detail plan can be like:
15 Land at Chandigarh/Amritsar. Night at Amritsar.
16 Visit Wagah and stay at Amritsar.
17 Dalhousie
18 Via Khajjiar to Dharamsala.
19 Dharamsala and surroundings.
20 Bir
21Chandigarh/Amritsar via Jogindernagar and Rewalsar.



There will be no snow anywhere on your route during your travel dates.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by wanderernomad

From Dalhousie go to Khajiar and continue down to Jasur via Jot. From Jasur you can continue towards Dharamshala. Do this if you are not afraid of sheer drops and small mountainous roads between Khajjiar and Chuvadi on the other side of the Jot.

We had plans to visit Chamba. So I suppose this is the only route. Will a regular sedan or hatchback be able to handle the mountainous stretch you are talking about? I have driven to Leh but that was on a fortuner.

[wanderernomad]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

We had plans to visit Chamba. So I suppose this is the only route. Will a regular sedan or hatchback be able to handle the mountainous stretch you are talking about? I have driven to Leh but that was on a fortuner.

Yups easily doable. For going to Chamba you can take either of the two routes i.. through Banikhet or through Khajjiar.

[HKap]

Originally Posted by Jaguar

We had plans to visit Chamba. So I suppose this is the only route. Will a regular sedan or hatchback be able to handle the mountainous stretch you are talking about? I have driven to Leh but that was on a fortuner.

make sure you check the tyres before you drive off. Tyres tend to get hard at temperatures below 7 degrees and the grip levels reduce. If the tyres are already in a poor state and if the temperatures drop big time, it could lead to safety issues.

[Jaguar]

We start in two days. Booked a Scorpio from ZoomCar since the number of people increased from 4 to 5

Originally Posted by sudev

Make it food cum visit trip. Lots of popular places to visit. And eating joints to try.

Please recommend some must try eating places.