Kullu and Manali

Manali is the busiest place in Himachal and there is a reason for that: it is beautiful, it has snow, and it is the closest proper mountain town to Delhi. In May and June, and over the New Year, it can be very full indeed.

None of which is a reason to skip it. It is a reason to be careful how you plan it — Solang at eight in the morning rather than noon, Hadimba before the coaches, and the Kullu valley on the way in rather than as a day trip.

The Atal Tunnel is the real change here. Lahaul was a six-month proposition until 2020 and is now an afternoon, which has quietly made Manali a much better base than it used to be.

What the tunnel actually changed

Nine kilometres under the Rohtang ridge, and the effect is out of proportion to the length. Before it, getting to Lahaul meant the Rohtang climb, a permit, a daily vehicle quota and a road that shut for six months of the year. Now it is under an hour from Manali to the other side, open through the winter.

Two practical consequences. Sissu and Keylong have become day trips rather than expeditions, which is the single best addition to a Manali stay. And the Rohtang permit — quota-limited, booked online days ahead, restricted by day — is now only needed if you specifically want the pass itself rather than the far side. Most people do not, once they understand the difference.

Which part of Manali to stay in

Old Manali is up the hill across the stream: cafés, guest houses, a long-stay crowd, and steep lanes a car cannot get far up. Lively in season and largely shut in winter.

New Manali, around the Mall, is where the hotels and the coach parties are. Convenient, and the least atmospheric of the three.

Vashisht, across the valley, has the hot springs and the temple and is quieter than either, with the same twenty-minute reach into town.

For a family with an early start planned, New Manali is the practical answer. For anyone staying more than three nights, it is not.

Kullu, and why not to skip it

The valley below Manali is six hundred metres lower, noticeably warmer, and where most of the actual weaving happens — the shawl workshops in and around Kullu town are working ones rather than showrooms.

Dussehra here is unlike Dussehra anywhere else: village deities are carried in from across the district and the festival runs for a week. If your dates fall in October, check them against it, in either direction — it is either the reason to come or the reason the town is full.