Manali Travel Guide
Honeymooner Paradise – Explore How to Reach, Weather, Places to Visit and Things to Do in Manali
What To Do in Manali
The is a question that comes to the mind of every tourist who are planning for a visit to Manali. To answer, the options are plenty. It is an extraordinary hill station which has different offering for tourists with different priorities. Moreover, depending on the nature of your trip and the seasonal weather you can plan the ones suitable for you. This spectacular hill station has many experiences to offer that mesmerize you. Let’s see the different options-
- Adventure sports – paragliding, skiing, river rafting.
- Trekking
- Satisfy the foodie in you
- Camping
- Bike riding
- Taking bath in hot water spring
- Visit temples
- Stroll and shop
- Visit Manali wildlife sanctuary
- Enjoy rope-way ride at Solang valley
Adventure Sports
Paragliding
Excellent experience for a person who loves to fly high and enjoy the beauty of surrounded mountain range from a bird’s eye view. You don’t need to have any prior experience and will be accompanied by a pilot.
Season: If you are visiting during summer, April to June will be the best time. If you are planning to visit in the winter, October to December – prior to snowfall will be the ideal time. If the weather remains good, paragliding can be done between January to March as well.
Location: Solang valley situated at 15 Km from Manali is the most popular spot to try paragliding.
Approximate cost: INR 1500-2000 per person
Skiing
Photo by Saurc zlunag, Public domain
This is one of the most popular winter sports activities in Manali. You need to have some prior knowledge to enjoy the activity at greater extent. If you are a novice, you will be able to do basic forms with some assistance of the local guide.
Season: In the month of January and February
Location: Solong valley or Rohtang Pass
Approximate cost: INR 500-1000 per person
River Rafting
Photo by B Balaji, CC BY-SA 2.0
For travellers who love to take the hard splash of water while moving through the rapids, river rafting is a must. Listen carefully to your guide and take appropriate safety measures before going for the rafting. Depending on the water current and weather the activity may become difficult.
Season: During summer – May, June.
Location: On river Beas near Kulu.
Approximate Cost: INR 1500-2000 per person
Tips: Carry extra clothing to wear after rafting.
Trekking And Hiking
From Manali there are several trekking options available with a lot of variations like – snow picked mountains, green valleys and jungles. There are multiple trek routes with different difficulty level – beginner to moderate and then difficult.
Suggested Trekking and Hiking Routes:
For beginners – Lama Dugh trek, Kheerganga trek, Bhrigu lake trek, Beas Kund trek.
For experts – Pin Parvati trek, Bara Bhangal trek.
Season: Depends on the trek route. Most of the routes have good weather conditions during May-June and October
Tips: Please ensure to prepare yourself by running, cycling etc. at least 3-4 weeks before starting your trek.
Satisfy The Foodie in You
Photo by Aniket431, CC BY-SA 4.0
Manali offers many good restaurants and food joints to satisfy the foodie in you. Not only the restaurants in Manali offer yummy food, but some of them also offer splendid views and ambience which will create a memorable trip for you. You will find a good number of restaurants with different cuisines like – Indian, Chinese, Italian, Continental. Along with these top restaurants, you may enjoy having very testy street foods available. Glimpse of few popular food joints and restaurants for you
Basil Leaf Restaurant – It has both indoor and outdoor seating facility. One of the best restaurants in Manali.
Il Forno: Authentic Italian restaurant – wood-fried oven pizza and Calzones are the specialty.
The Lazy Dog: Multi-cuisine restaurant with Indian, Thai, Italian, Continental menu options.
Café 1947: One of the best café in Manali with live music and great food.
The corner house: One of the best multi-cuisine restaurants in Manali – Indian, Italian, Chinese Continental, Thai food are available here.
Camping
Photo by Aniket431, CC BY-SA 4.0
When you think about camping, the first thought comes to your mind is to experience the sunrise from the top of a mountain with a spectacular view of snow-capped mountains changing the colour as the sun rises. Manali has a lot to offer when you think about camping –
> Near Beas river.
> At Solang valley
> Kullu valley
> Trekking and Camping combined from Manali
> River rafting and Camping
> Skiing and paragliding and Camping
> Summer camps
> Igloo stay at Nagar Road
Season: Camping can be done throughout the year depending on the place and nature of camping site you prefer.
Temperature:
Summer (March to June) : 10 to 25 degree Celsius
Monsoon (Jul to Sep) : 10 to 20 degree Celsius
Winter (Oct to Feb) : minus 10 to 15 degree Celsius.
Tips:
1. Pack your bag with good warm clothes, required medicines, pocket knife, rain jacket, dry fruits etc.
2. Plan well in advance to avoid late surprises.
3. Wear appropriate shoes.
4. Plan your camping along with some adventure activities with a total duration for at least 2-3 days.
Bike Riding
Photo Free for commercial use, DMCA
The entire state Himachal Pradesh is bikers’ paradise for the offering it has to the biking enthusiasts. The long stretches of road beside the lovely Beas river goes through the splendid valley offers enormous natural beauty to a biker. Manali to Ladakh is one of the most popular biking tours in India where the rider has to cross Rohtang pass situated at an altitude of 13,058 ft. Biking through such high altitude challenges the rider to acclimatize quickly and on the other hand the nature offers mesmerized scenic beauty to experience throughout the journey.
Few exiting routes to explore –
1. Shimla to Manali ride on a bike is very special to many bikers. This is because of the very good road conditions and beauty of the surrounded landscape.
2. Manali local sight-seeing
3. Manali to Ladakh – Manali too Ladakh is a dream journey for a majority of the bikers. This is a long route going through a rough terrain where you have to cross high mountain passes and face very extreme weather.
Taking Bath in Hot Water Springs
Manali is famous for hot water springs where you can take a bathe. Popular hot water springs around Manali –
1. Vasisht Kund – 3.5 km from Manali bus stand
2. Kalath hot water spring – 7.5 km from Manali bus stand
3. Hot water spring at Manikaran – 80 km from Manali
Visit Temples
Photo by Shriniwas Deshmukh, CC BY-SA 3.0
If you are a spiritual person or looking to experience the cultural side of Himachal Pradesh, you must visit the beautiful temples in and around Manali.
1. Hadimba Devi Temple – 2.5 km from Manali Bus Stand. Temple of Devi Hadimba, a character from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. Famous for its unique architecture and rich heritage. A must visit during Manali trip.
2. Manu Temple – 2.8 km from Manali Bus Stand. The temple is located in the Old Manali area along the road of main market, which passes down to the community center. The temple is devoted to Sage Manu, who was considered as the writer of Manusmriti, one of the ancient legal text. The site is largely visited by local and foreigners. The unique architecture of the temple poses an awe inspiring view even to the people of different religion, who can admire the beauty of the construction. The temple is surrounded by hills on one side and Beas River on the other side. A huge waterfall lies in front of the temple, which is inaccessible from the temple route due to hilly region. The interior is made from wooden walls and marble flooring. It is one of the most visited places of the region.
3. Jagatsukh Temple – 7 km from Manali on the way to Naggar. This is a picturesque temple built in Shikara style.
4. Vasisht Temple – 3.3 km from Manali towards Rotang Pass. This is a pair of old stone temples dedicated to sage Vashist.
5. Bijli Mahadev Temple – 62 km from Manali. Temple dedicated to lord Shiva. The last 3 km of the route is a easy trekking from Chansari village near Kulu.
Strolling and Shopping in Mall Road
Photo by Adam Jones, CC BY-SA 2.0
After completing your sight-seeing and other adventure activities, if you have some leisure time left – a perfect way would be to take a stroll and shop. If you take some great stuffs to your home from Manali, those will remind you about the exceptional holiday even after many years. Here are the top places for shopping.
The mall road
Tibetan Market
Manu Market
Old Manali Market
For shopping, famous articles in Manali are –
Woolen clothes
Tibetan and Himalayan handicrafts
Carpets
Shawls
Thankas – scroll painting
Visit Manali Wildlife Sanctuary
Photo by Dinesh Valke, CC BY-SA 2.0
Manali wildlife sanctuary is a home for wildlife creatures like Monal (bird), Leopard, Black bear, barking deer and other species. The sanctuary offers activities like Bird watching, hiking amidst the nature and camping
Opening hours: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM every day
Best time to visit:
October to February – as most of the wildlife creatures and birds come out more often and visible. If you want to trek through the sanctuary and plan for camping, May and June would be the best season
Rope-way Ride at Solang Valley
Photo by Joginder Pathak, CC BY-SA 2.0
Solang valley now has a spectacular rope-way ride to offer the tourists. It is advisable to book cable car tickets only from government managed counters and not to book from the local vendors on the way to Solang valley.
Season: If you want to enjoy the view of the snow and snow-capped mountains, December to February would be the best time. You may experience snow-fall as well if being lucky. During summer (May to June) green valley view will be there.
Manali Links
Popular Tour Plans - Himachal Pradesh
1-3 Days
1. Shimla (2N/3D)
2. Manali (3N/4D)
4-6 Days
1. Shimla-Kulu-Manali (6N/7D)
7-10 Days
1. Shimla-Kulu-Manali-Dharamsala-Dalhousie (10N/11D)
2. Kinnar (Shimla-Sarahan-Sangla-Chitkul-Kalpa-Shimla) (8N/9D)