Team-BHP - 7 Days- Del to Del- Have to see LOTS of Snow in HP, where to go..?? Chamba or Shimla?

Hi All,

As the title suggests, I have about 7 days Delhi to Delhi and want to see lots of Snow ( with less tourist traffic ).

Any pointers as to what options i could be having..??

I plan to leave tomm from Ahmedabad and reach Del tomm itself, i know it's short notice types but that's all that i have right now.

Me + Wife + my 2 yr old Son shall be travelling in our car a Hyundai Getz. Apart from me, this shall be their 1st SNOW trip and hence i want to make it memorable.

I was thinking on the following lines..

17th - Ahmedabad - Delhi around 950Kms

Route 1 :

18 - Delhi - Pathankot / Chamba / Khajjiar around 600 - 700 Kms
19 - Chamba - Khajjiar - Rest
20 - Khajjiar - Chamba - Tissa
21 - Tissa and thereabouts / Bairagarh
22 - Tissa and thereabouts / Bhuntal Valley
23 - Start Return towards Delhi
24 - Reach Delhi and push off towards Ahmedabad if possible
25 - Reach Ahmedabad

Route 2 :

18 - Delhi - Shimla or Narkanda
19 - Shimla Sightseeing
20 - Shimla - ?????
21 - ???????
22 - ???????
23 - Start Back towards Delhi
24 - Reach Delhi and push off towards Ahmedabad if possible
25 - Reach Ahmedabad

The blanks need to be filled in for the Shimla Part. I was thinking of Chitkul Side. But will the roads to Sangla / Chitkul be open and will these towns have acco options...???

I wish to avoid the regular touristy options ( yeah, i know i've mentioned Shimla, but then that's Wifey's interest )

Any other options / pointers that I could get would be great.

If you want lots of snow, and guarantee of snow, manali is the best bet.
Since it snowed this weekend, even Narkanda will have snow now.

Less touristy options are Tirthan valley.
As for Chamba, Khajjar is pretty touristy, and you will have to head towards Sach pass if there is no fresh snow at lower reaches.

So you can do the following
1. Go to Manali - And see snow there
2. Go to Narkanda(no point going to shimla).

If you want to escape tourist rush do the following
1. Delhi - Narkanda ( 10-12 hours drive)
2. Narkanda - Kalpa(5-6 hours)
3. Kalpa - chitkul Kalpa (Day trip 3-4 hours)
4. Stay in Kalpa
5. Push Kalpa-Delhi (18 hours max)
6. Rest in Delhi - Start for Jaipur etc., afternoon
7 Go to A'bad

For Tirthan/Manali circuit do the following
1. Delhi - Tirthan valley (10 hours)
2. Day trip to Jalori pass for snow via shoja
3. Tirthan - Manali - 4 hours odd
4. Manali
5. Manali - Delhi
6. Start for Ahbad

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...la-manali.html

That was my Snow Hunt Trip to Dalhousie (saw snow), Shimla (saw snow) and Manali (saw snow).

Roads to Chitkul will be open, but expect snow blockades on the road from Sangla to Chitkul. Most of the hotels are closed, please call up in advance before going. Water is likely to be in short supply once the freeze sets in!

Sorry to hijack your thread buddy but i am travelling to Narkanda (Himachal) for the New Year Celebrations and just wanted to check as in what all do i need to take care of.

The plan as of now is:
Pax: 8 Adults
No. of Cars: 2 (1 Skoda rider and 1 Maruti Esteem)
Resort: Narkanda Resorts (www.narkandaresorts.com)
30.12.2009: Midnight: Leave our residence
30.12.2009: 10:00 am (approx): Reach Narkanda
30.12.2009: Activities/Lazying around
31.12.2009: 8km Trek to Hatu
31.12.2009: Evening - - - Party
Now we have the bookings for 30th and 31st night but we might extend the booking for 1st night also.

Are there any places around Narkanda? What all do i need to take care of? Any special precautions?

Friends Do pour in ur suggestions please.

Cheers...

@warrior: A trek to Hatu is peak is good enough. In case you want you can go to Thanadhar but nothing much there from what you will see all route..scenic beauty. There is a small kuccha road whcih goes towards Hatu. There is a small picnic spot called Ghanasidhar there. Good for idlyllic walk in the forest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Warrior (Post 1644533)

Please also let me know that whether a Skoda and Esteem can do this in terms of Ground Clearance (just hoping that is snows) or do we have to hire a Innova (but 9 adults in an Innova would be more than cramped??)

C'mon guys help me out here! In case if you feel that these 2 cars cannot make it then we'll have to rework on our budgets and hire 2 cabs..

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Warrior (Post 1646613)

C'mon guys help me out here! In case if you feel that these 2 cars cannot make it then we'll have to rework on our budgets and hire 2 cabs..

Mate I had travelled to Shimla last year on my Alto and the roads were real good. So you have nothing to worry about till you get to shimla. But I am not sure if the road from Shimla to Narkanda (about 64 KMs) will be equally good.

You might wanna travel to Chail or Kufri, but Narkanda itself is a beautiful place. Don't forget to walk to the Hatu Temple, its a difficult terrain but you will enjoy it. But be sure that everyone going on the treck is fit enough to walk 15 KMs. Its actually 6 KMs but its equivalent to a 15 KM walk in the plains.

Hope this helps.

PS: try searching for travelouges on other sites, you would find a lot of info.:)