The big Himachal loop
Dharamshala across to Shimla, then up to Manali and back. Old hill stations, deodar forest, the Beas running alongside you and the Dhauladhar at both ends of the trip.
- Dharamshala
- Shimla
- Manali
- Kullu
Good for — A first trip to Himachal, when you want to see the range of it rather than one corner
Read the full descriptionClose the description
The loop most people mean when they say they want to see Himachal. It takes in the three places the state is known for, and the driving between them is a fair part of what you came for — the Beas the whole way up the Kullu valley, the apple country past Narkanda, the Dhauladhar sitting over the Kangra valley at both ends.
Nine days is the shortest this works in without it becoming a series of car journeys with hotels attached. If you have twelve, we would put the extra three into Spiti or Dalhousie rather than adding stops to this.
The three long days, and why they are where they are
This loop has three driving days of seven to eight hours: Dharamshala to Shimla, Shimla to Manali, and Manali back to Dharamshala. That is the unavoidable cost of joining three places that sit at the corners of the state, and it is worth understanding before you book rather than discovering on day three.
They are spaced deliberately. Each long day is followed by a day that does not move far — Shimla, then Manali, then home. Two consecutive long days is the thing that ruins a trip like this, and the itinerary is built to make sure it never happens.
If you want the arithmetic behind those numbers, we have written it up separately; the short version is that thirty to thirty-five kilometres an hour is what mountain road actually runs at, and no amount of optimism changes it.
Why this direction
Anticlockwise — Dharamshala, Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala — for two reasons.
The first is that it puts the Kullu valley leg, which is the prettiest driving of the trip, in the middle of the week rather than at the end when everyone has stopped looking out of the window.
The second is practical. The Mandi–Pandoh stretch, which is the least reliable piece of road on the whole loop, is crossed on day five going north. If it is badly delayed that day we still have four days of slack to rearrange around it. Crossing it on the last day, with a flight to catch, gives us none.
What we would cut
If you have seven days instead of nine, drop Shimla. It is the longest drive for the least distinctive result — a hill station a lot of people find busier and more built-up than they expected — and cutting it removes both of the worst driving days at once. Seven days of Kangra and Kullu is a better trip than nine days of all three done in a hurry.
If you have twelve, do not add stops to this loop. Add Spiti or Dalhousie as a separate leg. The loop is already at the density it can carry.
Day by day
How the 9 days run
- Day 145 min from Gaggal, 4–5 hrs from Amritsar, 6–7 from Chandigarh
Land, and get up the hill
We meet you at the airport or the station and drive straight up. If you land late there is nothing planned for the evening — the altitude and the road take more out of you than you expect on the first day. Dinner in McLeod Ganj if you are up to it.
- Day 2
McLeod Ganj and the Kangra valley
The Dalai Lama's temple and the Namgyal monastery first thing, before the crowd. Then the waterfall at Bhagsu, the Tibetan market, and down into the valley for the tea gardens at Palampur. Naddi for sunset, with the Dhauladhar going pink behind you.
Show all 9 daysShow fewer days
- Day 37–8 hrs — the longest day of the trip
Dharamshala to Shimla
No way around this one. We leave early, come down through Mandi and Bilaspur, and stop properly for lunch rather than eating in the car. You are into Shimla by late afternoon with enough of the day left for a walk along the Ridge.
- Day 4
Shimla
The old summer capital on foot, which is the only sensible way to see it — most of the centre is closed to cars. Christ Church, the Gaiety Theatre, the Viceregal Lodge, and the lanes below the Mall where people actually live. If the trains are running we put you on the narrow gauge for the stretch down to Kandaghat and pick you up there.
- Day 57–8 hrs
Shimla to Manali, up the Kullu valley
Out through the apple country at Narkanda and down onto the Beas, which you then follow the whole way up. We stop at Kullu, and at the shawl weavers if that interests you. The valley narrows as you climb and the last hour into Manali is the best of it.
- Day 6
Manali
Old Manali and the Hadimba temple in the deodars, Vashisht for the hot springs, and the monastery below the town. A short day on purpose, after two long ones.
- Day 73–4 hrs in total
Solang, and through the tunnel
Up to Solang first, then through the Atal Tunnel into Lahaul, which until 2020 was shut for six months of the year. Sissu and the Chandra river. It is a different landscape on the far side — bare, wide, no trees — and you are back in Manali for dinner.
- Day 88 hrs, 240km
Manali to Dharamshala
Long, and the distance is misleading — this is the drive that teaches you what mountain roads do to an average speed. We go by Mandi and the Kangra valley, stopping at the Baijnath temple on the way through.
- Day 9
Home
Down to whichever airport or station you are leaving from, timed against your flight rather than against a checkout hour.
The price
What is in it, and what is not
Included
- Private car and driver for all nine days, fuel, tolls and parking
- The driver's own food and accommodation
- Airport or station pickup and drop
- Hotels, twin sharing, with breakfast
- A phone number that is answered at any hour of the trip
Not included
- Flights and trains into Himachal
- Lunches and dinners
- Entry tickets and camera fees at monuments
- Anything you buy for yourself
We do not publish a rate card. The number depends on the season, how many of you there are and the sort of hotels you want, so we price each trip on its own — and whatever we quote is what you pay.
Questions
What people ask about this one
Two long driving days out of nine. Can that be avoided?
Not on this route, no. Shimla and Manali sit at opposite ends of the state from Dharamshala and the roads go around mountains rather than through them. If long days in the car are the problem, the honest answer is to drop one of the two and spend the time you save actually being somewhere. We will say so if you ask.
Can we do this in fewer days?
Seven works if you cut Shimla, and six if you cut Lahaul as well. Below that you are spending more of the trip driving than looking at anything, and we would rather talk you into a different route than sell you that one.
Does it run in winter?
Yes, and Shimla and Manali under snow are worth seeing. The Atal Tunnel stays open but Lahaul beyond it may not, and the high side roads close. We tell you what is actually open in the week you are travelling, not in theory.
Keep reading