[hsroy]

Dear All,
Greetings from Bangalore. I am planning a trip to Manali in April end or beginning of May. I am thinking of renting a self-driven car (Zoomcar etc.) from Chandigarh airport. Have a few questions:
1) How are the roads? I have never driven in the Himalayas. However, I have done a good deal of driving in ghat roads of South India and am fairly comfortable with twists and turns.

2) Can one do this with a Hatchback? I am thinking of taking a Swift or Celerio (preferably automatic).

3) Is it going to be crowded in April end/May due to the summer vacations? Should I be prepared for hours long traffic jams on the key roads? Especially since we have to catch a return flight from Chandigarh.

4) Any other points to note ?

[Tarrodie]

Originally Posted by hsroy

Dear All,
Greetings from Bangalore. I am planning a trip to Manali in April end or beginning of May. I am thinking of renting a self-driven car (Zoomcar etc.) from Chandigarh airport. Have a few questions:
1) How are the roads? I have never driven in the Himalayas. However, I have done a good deal of driving in ghat roads of South India and am fairly comfortable with twists and turns.

2) Can one do this with a Hatchback? I am thinking of taking a Swift or Celerio (preferably automatic).

3) Is it going to be crowded in April end/May due to the summer vacations? Should I be prepared for hours long traffic jams on the key roads? Especially since we have to catch a return flight from Chandigarh.

4) Any other points to note ?

1. I visited Manali from Delhi many years ago and the roads, after about one hour from Chandigarh were very bad. But since then, I believe there has been a lot of road building done and what used to be a 12 hour drive from Delhi is now only 9-10 hours. So my guess is it will take about 6 hours from Chandigarh.
2. Contrary to popular belief my opinion is that a small, fast car is best for the hills. So a hatch is fine but don't take anything underpowered because you will not enjoy going uphill in it.
3. All popular hill stations in north India are very crowded especially if kids' summer vacations have started. They usually start mid-May so April-end may be better but with a boom in car ownership, better roads and highways, and people wanting to head out, now it is crowded everywhere. During the summer, there is a lot of traffic and before entering hill stations there is bound to be a traffic jam. Similarly, while exiting hill stations there will be a lot of traffic who are also people exiting after enjoying their holiday. So if you want to be on the safe side, start early and you will avoid traffic. Usually people on holiday in hill stations start only after 9am so if you begin your journey much earlier, and the earlier the better, you will not encounter much traffic on your way out.

I was planning a trip to Manali much later maybe in October but what I usually also do of late is, when I want to know things like this, I watch the latest videos on YouTube of someone who may have driven to Manali recently so that I get to know how the roads etc. are like. Also, I check out some travel groups on Facebook. As you may have guessed by now, that is where the crowd seems to hang out nowadays.

[beast2503]

Originally Posted by hsroy

Dear All,
Greetings from Bangalore. I am planning a trip to Manali in April end or beginning of May. I am thinking of renting a self-driven car (Zoomcar etc.) from Chandigarh airport. Have a few questions:
1) How are the roads? I have never driven in the Himalayas. However, I have done a good deal of driving in ghat roads of South India and am fairly comfortable with twists and turns.

2) Can one do this with a Hatchback? I am thinking of taking a Swift or Celerio (preferably automatic).

3) Is it going to be crowded in April end/May due to the summer vacations? Should I be prepared for hours long traffic jams on the key roads? Especially since we have to catch a return flight from Chandigarh.

4) Any other points to note ?

Did you manage to go on this trip? I am planning to drive from Delhi to Kullu next week. I heard from some people that there is road closure for 2 hours near Mandi. Did you encounter that during your trip? If not, how long was your travel from Manali to Chandigarh? Did you travel during day or night?

[Sumain]

Hi All,
Just returned from Manali last weekend.
Road conditions are very good. No problem.
The Pandoh dam section has also been repaired now, and is open.
Left from near Solang (a little beyond Manali) at 3 pm, and were in our hotel in Chandigarh (Zirakpur) by 9:30 pm, after a stop for a late lunch.
6-7 tunnels are already open, cutting down distance by about 40km.
4-5 tunnels are scheduled to be opened by June end or so. Should cut down distance further, and reduce time by another about 30-45 mins.
Can take any car, no problem.
I was with a colleague in his Hyundai Alcazar.

[hsroy]

Originally Posted by beast2503

Did you manage to go on this trip?

I had to postpone this summer due to some personal reasons. Might think of during Autumn.

[hsroy]

Originally Posted by Tarrodie

I was planning a trip to Manali much later maybe in October but what I usually also do of late is, when I want to know things like this, I watch the latest videos on YouTube .....

Thanks for the detailed note. Yes, am also thinking of October now. And yes, I do the same things before any trip.... Youtube, forums etc.

[knrn]

Hello brethren,
As luck would have it, I am in Manali right now. Started from Jalandhar at 4.00 am, drove non stop till KMDH restaurant at kullu for brunch and reached Manali at 11.00 am sharp. Beautiful views from the restaurant.

Total distance 348 kms.
Pointers-
Heavy heavy rainfall at Manali and Kullu, heavy Snowfall at Rohtang, Atal tunnel and beyond. So it is closed as of today. Expect white sissu. And bring warm clothes. It is cold. Be careful if you are planning a trip this week.

Beautiful roads. Watch out for the Speed limit of 60 starting from the toll after Kiratpur till Sundarnagar. Some cameras calibrated to show your speed by minus 5 kmph, while some show exact. Try to spot them and stay below 60. Most of them after curves or on downhill sections so watch out for speed. No cameras beyond Sundarnagar. And yes there are cameras every 500 metres.

Pandoh to Aut section. Very landslide prone now due to rains.

Try to stay at hotels on Hadimba road. It’s a walk to Mall Road and Manu temple sites. Can rent two wheelers and autos. A little cumbersome to reach but heavenly for location. One is right in heart of the city. My pick Hotel wood rock. Has a spa and a heated swimming pool. Good food.
Manu Allya resort just beyond Manali before Vashisth is another option. Saves one from the traffic. But one will have to drive or rent a cab to Manali.
Try cuisines at the desi mom pops stores/ restaurants for authentic Manali cuisines. The momos and thukpas mix is a great meal.
Plus local golgappas or paani puri.

And most importantly stick to your lane and drive safe.

Manali is my pick in Himachal. It surpasses the rest in weather and beauty. But requires skills and patience.

I am here till the weekend so hopefully will be able to visit Atal tunnel. I always prefer parking my car at the hotel and taking a taxi. No hassles for permit and one can enjoy the scenery.

I was a regular to Manali from 2009 till 2014. After that I have come here after 10 years after nearly exploring all Himachal every vacations. And it is just better than the rest. I took a lot of pointers from this thread and reels on Instagram. There are few channels that upload status of traffic and weather everyday so great for planning a trip. It will be advisable to watch a few YouTube videos of drives to Manali as they show the important intersections and diversions plus landmarks.
Will update further.
Thanks and cheers.

[Altrozed]

Was there in Manali for 3 days and drove along these roads. Are you saying about camera which are above the road like a "Kaman" ? They are CC cameras but not related to Radar. Also, good to stay from Mall road as it's very noisy, no scenic and "not so pleasant" feeling ��

[knrn]

Originally Posted by Altrozed

Are you saying about camera which are above the road like a "Kaman" ? They are CC cameras but not related to Radar.

Hi there
I was talking about the cameras on the stretch from the toll as one enters Himachal from Kiratpur side till Sundernagar. There is screen first on which a white dot flashes as one approaches and displays the speed of one’s vehicle and takes a pic as one crosses.
The ones like a kamaan as you said are hoisted all where else and are for cctv monitoring as you said.

Originally Posted by Altrozed

Also, good to stay from Mall road as it's very noisy, no scenic and "not so pleasant" feeling ��

Yes you echo my thoughts. Lots of rush.



Update-
Rohtang opened yesterday after fresh snow. I happened to chance upon a few snow cutters diligently clearing roads.

Though Rohtang is open but the weather is very windy and cloudy and cold. Was minus 2 when I was there. And as Rohtang is notorious for it changes every now and then. Been clouded since yesterday.


The roads post Rohtang till Atal tunnel via Koksar are better, more scenic and less congested.
But they don’t allow you to come from that side. To avoid congestion the authorities have made a one way sort of route from Manali via kothi, Gulaba view point, marhi to Rohtang and back via koksar to Atal and back. A good way is to hire a bike and come to Rohtang via Koksar side. But then one will have to arrange for permits beforehand.

Due to the treacherous weather entry from Gulaba barrier post 2 o clock is not allowed. At 5 a security cordon starts from Marhi and clears Rohtang and asks everyone to leave.
After all, it’s called the mound of the dead for a reason.

Although I came to this place after so many years, I did not like the behaviour of the people organising the rides and events at Rohtang. Their interest is to fleece money and they can be rude or unprofessional. And everything is supposed to be prepaid at the shop from where one is hiring the snow suits. Although the system is organised, this time I found it to be more money oriented.

Anyways one comes here to enjoy the scenery and beauty of the place. Can’t blame them as they come at 3 or 4 in the morning to set things up.

climbing up poses a serious concern for AMS. I carried Dexa and Diamox and had to take it.

But it’s cold.
And beautiful.

Spending a relaxing day now before I head back tomorrow. Will post a few pics once my cloud syncs up.

Cheers.

[rahulk2510]

Hi,

I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh in last week of October (Diwali Week). As per google maps the driving time shows around 6.5 hours via NH205 and NH3. I also asked one of my tourist agent where he said that google is very optimistic and currently due to road conditions it will take at least 8-9 hours plus time for breaks.

I wanted to confirm from here which one is correct and realistically how much time one should budget for drive from Chandigarh to Manali excluding breaks.

[Sumain]

Originally Posted by rahulk2510

Hi,

I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh in last week of October (Diwali Week). As per google maps the driving time shows around 6.5 hours via NH205 and NH3. I also asked one of my tourist agent where he said that google is very optimistic and currently due to road conditions it will take at least 8-9 hours plus time for breaks.

I wanted to confirm from here which one is correct and realistically how much time one should budget for drive from Chandigarh to Manali excluding breaks.

I just checked google maps, and it is showing 6 hrs and 4 mins. This should be about right. You can budget around 6 hrs plus one break.
Can be done in 5.5hrs too, if you are a quick driver.
Road is 4-laned (almost all of it) till just before Mandi. Thereafter parts of it are again four laned.
8-9 hours is a thing of the past, unless you are very unlucky and encounter something unexpected. In any case, there are sufficient number of JCB and other earth moving equipment now available with the authorities to quickly tackle any situation. And they react fast to clear the roads.
Which car are you driving? Something with a higher ground clearance is recommended, but not critical. Most of the Himachal taxis are Swift / Dzire class vehicles, and keep moving.

[kshitish]

Originally Posted by rahulk2510

Hi,

I am planning to visit Manali from Chandigarh in last week of October (Diwali Week). As per google maps the driving time shows around 6.5 hours via NH205 and NH3. I also asked one of my tourist agent where he said that google is very optimistic and currently due to road conditions it will take at least 8-9 hours plus time for breaks.

I wanted to confirm from here which one is correct and realistically how much time one should budget for drive from Chandigarh to Manali excluding breaks.

I drove in to Manali from Delhi yesterday and the whole trip was covered in 12 hours with 3x 10min breaks in all. The Chandigarh-Manali stretch took exactly 6.5 hours (exited Chandigarh at 10:15AM and reached Manali at 4:45PM).

The bits that took time were Sunder Nagar and the Mandi-Bhuntar stretch. The highway that bypasses Sunder Nagar was closed to traffic - I'm not sure if it was just a yesterday thing or if it hasn't been opened yet - so we had to drive through the town. Mandi-Bhuntar is the only stretch where you get the whole 'mountain driving' feel and is not a 4-lane highway. I don't think there's any alternate to this section that's being constructed. There are 9 tunnels on the route, which do help in making the drive easy. In all, Google's 6.5 hours is accurate.

However, it's the Diwali weekend that you're talking about. Manali ranges from crowded to extremely crowded all through the year, and Diwali will most likely be on the most crowded side of the spectrum. So even if you leave Chandigarh really early and escape the traffic jams at Sunder Nagar and Mandi, your real bottleneck will be at the doorstep of Manali. From that perspective, I won't discount the possibility of a 8.5 or 9-hour end-to-end drive.

All the best. It's a beautiful route to Manali.

[Sumain]

Please take the 6.5 hour estimate as fairly accurate. You could also do it in a little less, depending how your drive. I have heard of people managing 5.5 hours as well.
As far as delays and traffic jams at the entrance of Manali are concerned, that is usually a summer vacation thing (June month mainly). At all other times of the year, it should be fairly clear.
The Sunder Nagar bypass is complete and under use. Should be open when you go.
The Mandi bypass and onwards till Bhuntar stretch of road is going to be diverted through 4-5 new tunnels, currently under finishing, and will be opened soon. That should cut more time in the future.
Roads are good. Scenery beautiful. Enjoy.

[Sumain]

Good news!
The Mandi bypass is now open (two new tunnels - nos. 6 and 7).
The Sunder nagar bypass has been re-opened.
Drive should be even smoother now.

[wandering soul]

Hi All,

I am planning a winter trip to Dharmashala/Mcleodganj and Lahaul Valley from 15 Jan onwards next year.

I shall enter Himachal on 15th itself from Pathankot. Rest of the itinerary is truly open depending upon accessibility for my FWD Alcazar.

I wish to cover Manali, Sethan, Koksar, Sissu and return to Shimla via Tirthan valley.

Is it doable? What areas can I expect to be accessible in those days?

We shall be 4 adults and 2 Kids below 10 year.

All expert advices are wholeheartedly welcome. Thanks in advance.