[helterskelter]

Can’t thank you enough for this. What time did you start in the morning? I am in Manali right now and need to reach gurgaon tomorrow.

Originally Posted by gyanbaba

Just came back from Manali, like 3 hours ago. So, I can give you the most accurate update!

It took me exactly 10 hours 7 minutes of driving time (plus 2 breaks of 45 minutes each for food and another 15 min break for fuel) to reach from Manali to Gurgaon, which includes a bad traffic jam somewhere between Punjabi Bagh and Naraina Flyover which might have eaten up like 40 minutes for 3-4 KMs.

Most of the tunnels are open except a few nearby Kainchi Mod.

Tunnel 1,2 and 3 were in pure darkness but sweeping and cleaning was at a full swing, probably to impress gadkari Ji.

I also witnessed a landslide between tunnels 1 and 2 (feeling lucky)
Clearning of road was swift (The JCB team is always there in landslide-prone areas) but it took like 15 min.

The new route is impressive and 4-5 speed cameras are working too So, beware of crossing the limits.

I still can't believe that I did Manali to Gurgaon in a broad daylight and still feeling fresh enough to write this post.

[gyanbaba]

Originally Posted by helterskelter

Can’t thank you enough for this. What time did you start in the morning? I am in Manali right now and need to reach gurgaon tomorrow.

Don't worry! Gyanbaba will guide you

• I started at 5:30 am from Manali.
• Took fuel somewhere before Kullu (Raghukul Filling Station - 15 min break).
• Most of the newly built tunnels are open which means I was in Bharatgarh (Sukhdev Dhaba) by 9:40 am (Took 50 min break for breakfast).
• Started again at 10:30 and reached Karnal - Neelkanth Star Dhaba by 1:10 PM ( Took 1 hours break for lunch and another 15 minutes for XP100 topup at the IOCL outlet adjacent to the Dhaba)
  Met a bad traffic jam in Delhi (I skipped KMP because I thought of saving precious XP100 ) Still reached Gurgaon by 5 PM.

Please keep your eyes open after Tunnel #4 ... A bridge will come after which you may need to turn right for Chandigarh. There are road-signs as well. But don't pay attention to a board saying: "Ye Sadak Band h" (They forgot to remove the sign). So, just turn right.

And I forgot to mention about a landslide I witnessed. So, if you find people driving on a wrong side, just follow them. It could be because any lane would have been blocked.

I didn't drive beyond 105 kmph today, and tried to stick to the mentioned speed limits most of the time (except that few stretches with 40kmph limit looked impractical and hazardous).

I hope you got your spirits high for a dream drive!

[rohitsharma359]

So I came to Shangarh (Sainj Valley) on 10th Jun.
We started early in the morning, and reached Kiratpur around 9:30. As soon we entered Himachal, the new route was closed!

We had to go through Swarghat and everywhere there were huge traffic jams. Cars were barely moving. Later found out that it was due to the google maps re-routing to new route and then people getting stuck on the narrow roads. If you also face the first tunnel blocked, please ignore google maps and go through swarghat only. After reaching Kothipura, look for a highway on the left side. There we requested the police officer to let us take the new route and he obliged. From there on we were on the new route and and quickly reached Sundar nagar. There also was a lot of traffic and movement was really slow. Same thing in Mandi.

From entering Himachal to crossing Mandi it took around 5:30-6 hours due to the traffic conditions.

For anyone coming to Shangarh, you need to keep straight from Aut tunnel and reach Sainj first. After that road is not in good condition. You need to make several V turns and it's steep so drive carefully. I saw a guy bang his car into a rock in front of me.

Will be going back on 18th June so will post the conditions on return as well.

[RedOne]

Hi
I am planning a Chandigarh - Amritsar - Manali - Shimla - Chandigarh trip in mid December. Should I just stick to Google suggested route or are there better alternatives? How are the road conditions? Anything to watch out for in December weather?

[gyanbaba]

Originally Posted by RedOne

Hi
Should I just stick to Google suggested route or are there better alternatives? How are the road conditions? Anything to watch out for in December weather?

Hi @RedOne, The Google-suggested route would be the best one in the current situation. You can see the traffic and make wise decisions.
I might be one of those rare ones who did Manali to Delhi in less than 10 hours before the Mother Nature brought havoc.

The current road conditions have improved from what we saw 2 months back. But still we witness landslides and road closures between Mandi and Pandoh, almost every week. Another set of bad patches is between patlikuhl and Bhanu Bridge, and of course the Bus Stand road is still in a bad shape.

The Govt. has promised that all these broken patches will be fixed by November. So, you can expect that your December trip would be way nicer.

[sinharishi]

Just got back from Manali. Onward journey was done in 11.5 hrs with 3 breaks. Left Ghaziabad at 2am and checked into our hotel @ Prini at 1:30pm. Our total drive time was 8.5 hrs.

Encountered fog between Karnal and Ambala and then after Kharar. Roads are amazing till Sundernagar. Beware of cameras once the climb starts, just too many of them.

The only bad section is after Pandoh dam till Aut tunnel. The climb from the Dam till you hit the Pandoh View point (as marked on Google maps) is very narrow.

On return we stopped over at Chandigarh. We drove till Keylong on this trip. Sissu was all white. Sissu lake parking was packed with tourist cabs. Shockingly, on the same day Manali looked like a ghost town at 8pm!

We called white paradise to book a table for 4 since we saw so many cars at Sissu the same day. On reaching the restaurant we found the entire place empty. Same thing happened the night before at Jhonson!

I believe the extreme cold might have kept all of them inhouse in their hotels! On saturday night temp went down till -6!

Stops taken enroute:
- Twenty Four Seven just ahead of chandigarh for coffee.
- Raj Haveli @ Sundernagar.
- Our fav offlimits coffee @ Kullu.

Return:
- Offlimits again for breakfast.
- Ropar Haveli.

[gyanbaba]

Originally Posted by sinharishi

Just got back from Manali. Onward journey was done in 11.5 hrs with 3 breaks. Left Ghaziabad at 2am and checked into our hotel @ Prini at 1:30pm. Our total drive time was 8.5 hrs.

Just Wow!

With so many security cameras, and a speed limit of 50kmph, it is really irritating to drive too slow in this route.

I assume that all the broken roads between Aut and Manali are fixed.
I did Gurgaon -> Manali during Dussehra and there were too many broken sections.

I already have my bags packed for a snowy New Year in Manali.

[sinharishi]

Originally Posted by gyanbaba

With so many security cameras, and a speed limit of 50kmph, it is really irritating to drive too slow in this route.

I drove on the 24th Nov weekend to tirthan in my Slavia.
On this trip, we took our cousin's brand new Nexon. On both the trips, I crossed the cameras way above the limit. No challans received for both the cars.

The only bad patch is near Aut, when climbing up from Pandoh dam. And some 200m before Manali.

Safe travels!

[vredesbyrd]

Hello there!

I am thinking of a quick drive to Manali (from Lucknow) and back in Feb.
Can anybody please tell me about the situation of tourist infra and road conditions during mid-late Feb?

Thank you

[AdityaDeane]

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

Hello there!

I am thinking of a quick drive to Manali (from Lucknow) and back in Feb.
Can anybody please tell me about the situation of tourist infra and road conditions during mid-late Feb?

Thank you

The road conditions are very good these days, even the Volvo buses are plying without problems, except for fog in the plains.

So far, we haven't had snow at all in Manali, so the road conditions are generally good. Before you start off from Lucknow, do ping me a day or two before, and I can update you on the road conditions based on real time situation.

[vredesbyrd]

Originally Posted by AdityaDeane

The road conditions are very good these days, even the Volvo buses are plying without problems, except for fog in the plains. Before you start off from Lucknow, do ping me a day or two before, and I can update you on the road conditions based on real time situation.

Thank you for the update! Will ping you for sure.

[dhinchak]

Hi All, I am planning a trip to Manali from Delhi on 6th March, with family, including a 6 yr old. Will be self driving (Car - Grand Vitara - Strong Hybrid)

Queries:

1. Is there any route guidance, apart from what Google Maps shows. I last went some 9-10 years back, the route at that time was via Swarghat and Bilaspur, Google Maps is avoiding that altogether now. Is it due to the new tunnels that have opened up? It is showing a Left at Kenchi Mod, and go through Tihra Tunnel and Baloh Toll plaza.

2. Do I expect any traffic at this time of the year, especially in and around Manali?

3. Solang valley - I assume there will be snow at this time round. Any problems with taking a 2WD? Also, is parking a problem in Solang valley?

4. Rohtang, I believe, will be closed at this time of the year. Correct?

5. How will be the road conditions beyond Atal Tunnel at this time of the year? Is it advisable to do a day trip and come back to Manali by night?

Thanks!!

[gyanbaba]

I came back from Manali on Feb 08.

1. Yes, the new tunnels that have opened up so follow the Google map. One advise is that turn left after Pandoh Dam (there is a small board for Manali). The old route to manali via right-turn is still not ready, but the barriers are missing. Another advise - follow the speed limits as cameras are strategically placed and they send challans.

2. Manali has heavy traffic nowadays. Specially because of an almost-unending snowfall happening since Jan 31. So, the roads have been narrowed with hard snow piled up on both the sides. But it would be all fine in March.

3. Solang valley definitely has a lot of snow but I don't thik it would be the same till 6th March. But you can try visiting Koksar for snow. You can take your 2WD without any issue. There is ample of parking space in designated places in Solang. So, don't lose hope if you see cars parked on roadside. In Koksar, you may have to park on the roadside, depnding upon the snowpoint.

4. Yes, Rohtang would be closed in March.

5. The road conditions beyond Atal Tunnel is exceptional. You can easily do a day trip and come back to Manali by night. But I would advise to leave early from Manali as roads get packed after 9:30 am. Also, you should start back from Atal Tunnel by 3 pm as the returning traffic gets heavier after 4 pm.

[dhinchak]

Originally Posted by gyanbaba

I came back from Manali on Feb 08.


5. The road conditions beyond Atal Tunnel is exceptional. You can easily do a day trip and come back to Manali by night. But I would advise to leave early from Manali as roads get packed after 9:30 am. Also, you should start back from Atal Tunnel by 3 pm as the returning traffic gets heavier after 4 pm.

Thanks for the information! Also, do we need any permits to visit Koksar/cross Atal Tunnel? Where to get it and how early should we apply?

[gyanbaba]

You may need to pay SADA toll of Rs. 300 (Grand Vitara would be under SUV category). As you come out from Atal tunnel and cross Chandra river, you will get the toll booths after turning right or left. You might be lucky as the toll booth towards Koksar side might not be functioning. No additional permit is required to visit Koksar.

Another free advice: In case you pay the SADA toll at 11 am, you can use the same receipt to revisit the place next day by just making sure you start early and cross the toll before 11 . Also, a receipt from Koksar side is also valid for visiting Sissu, same day or even next day if 24 hours haven’t passed.