[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by rohitbagai

It still take around 11-12 hours to manali. The average speed will be slightly reduced after panipat till pipli as the road widening is going on. Roads are good ahead as usual, except when you start to climb the hills upto the ACC plant after bilaspur (barmana) There is a lot of truck movement till the plant. But I guess you will reach that stretch around 3 AM so it would be less of an issue. Also turn right immediately after the bhuntar airport ( Nagar Road )so that you can bypass the kullu city as well as manali to reach straight to solang valley resort.

Thanks for the update. Is there road signs to take the deviation at Kullu city for Solang Valley or do i have to trust the GPS of BMW, though i have not checked whether it has the deviation in it or it will take through Manali, also how many kilometers will i save by taking this deviation and what will be the road condition on that deviation, basically i am paranoid about the run flat tyres that BMW runs on (there is no spare tyre ), i dont want to have problems to the tyres with bad road conditions while BMW service centers are 500 km apart.

[rohitbagai]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

Thanks for the update. Is there road signs to take the deviation at Kullu city for Solang Valley or do i have to trust the GPS of BMW, though i have not checked whether it has the deviation in it or it will take through Manali, also how many kilometers will i save by taking this deviation and what will be the road condition on that deviation, basically i am paranoid about the run flat tyres that BMW runs on (there is no spare tyre ), i dont want to have problems to the tyres with bad road conditions while BMW service centers are 500 km apart.

The nav will take you through manali as its the highway. The one via Nagar is not shorter but it's a kind of bypass to kullu as well as manali. basically this road runs on the left bank of bias river and highway runs on the right bank. It runs on a higher altitude and is more picturistic and you will run across nagar haveli as well as monastery. I took this road last time because the main highway was under repairs last time I went. Road condition is ok and not good/bad.

[codelust]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

Thanks for the update. Is there road signs to take the deviation at Kullu city for Solang Valley or do i have to trust the GPS of BMW, though i have not checked whether it has the deviation in it or it will take through Manali, also how many kilometers will i save by taking this deviation and what will be the road condition on that deviation, basically i am paranoid about the run flat tyres that BMW runs on (there is no spare tyre ), i dont want to have problems to the tyres with bad road conditions while BMW service centers are 500 km apart.

Once you reach Bhuntar (where the local airport is located) watch out for an intersection sort of thing. Straight will take you into Kullu town, there is a right (almost hidden) you have to take to get on the Kullu bypass.

After a bit of a distance on the bypass there will be bridge that will allow you to switch back to the main highway. If you want to go via Naggar and avoid main Manali, stick to the right side. The road used to be fantastic earlier, but it has deteriorated a bit in recent time.

Do be careful about taking your BMW to Solang. There are a few bad stretches along the way where you may scrape your underbody, other than that it is mostly good roads.

[rajeshchand]

Originally Posted by codelust

Once you reach Bhuntar (where the local airport is located) watch out for an intersection sort of thing. Straight will take you into Kullu town, there is a right (almost hidden) you have to take to get on the Kullu bypass.

After a bit of a distance on the bypass there will be bridge that will allow you to switch back to the main highway. If you want to go via Naggar and avoid main Manali, stick to the right side. The road used to be fantastic earlier, but it has deteriorated a bit in recent time.

Do be careful about taking your BMW to Solang. There are a few bad stretches along the way where you may scrape your underbody, other than that it is mostly good roads.

Distance being same, i will decide after seeing the road condition physically to take that part or the highway.

If correct i see all kinds of sedans visiting Soland valley (from the pictures available at team-bhp as well as online), so i dont think my BMW X1 which has a much better ground clearance than a sedan will have issues of underbody scrapes. When did you visit last took this route. Thanks for the update.

[codelust]

Originally Posted by rajeshchand

Distance being same, i will decide after seeing the road condition physically to take that part or the highway.

If correct i see all kinds of sedans visiting Soland valley (from the pictures available at team-bhp as well as online), so i dont think my BMW X1 which has a much better ground clearance than a sedan will have issues of underbody scrapes. When did you visit last took this route. Thanks for the update.

For some strange reason I thought you were doing it in a sedan. The X1 should have no issues. I'd done this stretch last year, I think around the same time. You should get plenty of snow at Solang if you go now.

[pradeep-ivon]

dear friends, is this thread still active? if so please advise the driving on Delhi Manali now. I have a Swift hatchback, planning to do a camping trip in Palchan or Solang valley. Is pitching of your own tents permissible in these areas, any formalities etc. please share. What time you advise to leave Delhi, should i drive direct or break journey on way somewhere?