[MacSr]

Am planning a drive around mid Feb 2018 Pune - Ludhiana - Jalandhar - Dharamshala - Palampur - Mandi - Chandigarh - Pune.
Any advice on road or route condition / updates would be welcome to work out the drive. Family of 4 of which two are experienced drivers.
Looking forward to hearing from those who have done the route / parts of the route recently and of course from the experienced stalwarts, whose advice is always worth its weight.

[arun_josie]

Originally Posted by MacSr

Am planning a drive around mid Feb 2018 Pune - Ludhiana - Jalandhar - Dharamshala - Palampur - Mandi - Chandigarh - Pune.
Any advice on road or route condition / updates would be welcome to work out the drive. Family of 4 of which two are experienced drivers.
Looking forward to hearing from those who have done the route / parts of the route recently and of course from the experienced stalwarts, whose advice is always worth its weight.

You can find some information in my travelogue here,
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...ml#post4187203

[girishglg]

Planning to visit Himachal in the 3rd week of December for 10 days. Planning to start from Chandigarh and cover Kinnaur region first, then to Tirthan valley and finally to Kasol area. Planned to take a one way taxi to Kalpa via Sarahan (halt for 2 days). Travelling with my wife and kid of 8 years.

Some key questions-
1. Is the above plan really feasible given 10-12 days in hand.
2. Do we get one way taxis from one region to the other.
3. Any local contacts in Kinnaur / Tirthan / Kasol who can provide real local inputs.
4. Any other itinerary options that you would like to suggest

All those hotels/ taxi operators we approach sell us a touristy package, that is places they can cover each day, stay option etc. however we are folks who have our own mind and do not prefer the constant nagging of the taxi driver who has his own interest in taking us to a place or not. We prefer to stay up sometimes without even going anywhere and hence there would be a wasted taxi which would not go anywhere for days.

If we can get someone locally who can take us around whenever its feasible and drop us to the next region, it would be perfect.

Please comment if this is even a good idea or we have to take up a taxi from Chandigarh - Himachal - Chandigarh.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by girishglg

Please comment if this is even a good idea or we have to take up a taxi from Chandigarh - Himachal - Chandigarh.

Firstly, that is an easy plan. I may have done Himachal and Uttarakahand at least a dozen times during winters as that used to be my favorite drive from Delhi.

I normally visit Delhi to visit in-laws, cousins each December and take a week off to the the mountains.

I normally rent a self drive car or book a cab (Innova /Indica) depending on no. of people for duration of the trip.

This information is dated- If I remember, I used to pay INR 13 or 14 per km and would travel roughly 2000kms over a week. There would be many cab companies who come for full trip. I suggest you take this option.

Other option is to rent a car.

But, never depend on one-way cab/buses/public transportation on the mountains with family along. It's not worth the incovenience and risk.

Here is one travelogue from my last trip in 2017 with a self drive car. The areas visited is around the same what you are planning.

I love Tirthan Valley and normally spend a cold night in the valley in some nice place.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4168986 (Ford Aspire : A Road-Trip to Himachal Pradesh)

[girishglg]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Firstly, that is an easy plan. I may have done Himachal and Uttarakahand at least a dozen times during winters as that used to be my favorite drive from Delhi.

I normally rent a self drive car or book a cab (Innova /Indica) depending on no. of people for duration of the trip.

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post4168986 (Ford Aspire : A Road-Trip to Himachal Pradesh)

Thanks Mobike for your quick and pointed revert which gives quite a bit of reassurance on our trip. Since I am a novice to self drive but not to driving as such as I would just take my trusted EcoSport and drive away on long trips such as the one we did was a 21 day last year end drive from Bangalore-Gujarat and back with just three of us in tow.

However I really hate is the nagging cab driver who has his own plan and agenda being peddled on to us. This time around though I would like to repeat the same, I do not have the time in hand to drive all the way from south to cover the Himalayas but would prefer to have our own plan in hand. We are unlike those tourists who would want to visit a popular locations and cover A,B,C spots and return back but for us even the journey is holiday by itself.

I have been really wary of using the self drive rentals in India after knowing many horror stories about their service and vehicle conditions etc. So if you have some inputs on the below clarification, please do try answering them-

1. Which self drive operator do you recommend and which of those have you personally used and your experience?
2. What about the state entry taxes or road tax, do we have to pay for a self drive rental car, where should we pay if so and how to pay?
3. What happens if there is a breakdown during the period and how will the rental car take care of it especially given that we are in the hills and this time around would be snowing etc?
4. Are the roads moderately drivable in the regions we are planning especially in the Tirthan valley.

However despite all these if its still better to get a cab with driver given the season and terrain, I would be ok for it as a compromise.

Thanks!
Girish