7-8 days in Himachal in Mid August

joepubli

Hello everyone

I have about week and a half. Landing in Delhi Mid August- my 10 yr old wants to spend his birthday visiting the Taj (he has just been doing it at school). That leaves about a week - and I'd like to spend it in Himachal. I have not been there - is Kullu, Manali doable in a week. Someone once told me about a place with hot springs - KheerGanga? I am told I lived a while in Kulu when aged 2 (40 years ago!).

Would appreciate a week long child friendly itinary - a bit of trekking (not too difficult). Come'on you experts -if you were taking your 10 year old for a special trip and you had a week and a decent budget where'd you go in Himachal and where'd you stay.

Is it safe to hire a car with a driver or is it better to take the buses.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Joe

rishabh6296

Hi joe,
if you have a week then manali region is appropriate for you.If 2 days are deducted for travelling you still have 5 days ,so here is ur travel plan.
DAY 1- delhi to manali
DAY 2- get a decent hotel and explore the manali town(old manali village,hadimba temple,nature park & circuit house on the banks of river manalsu,van vihar on the banks of beas,budhhist temple and the market.)
day 3-go to naggar and manikaran(roerich art gallery and valley view in naggar are a must)
day 4- go to solang valley,kothi village,palchhan,marhi and rohtang pass(all are on the same route)
day 5-do the beas kund trek,which takes you to the source of river beas(there is a jeep track from solang valley to dhundi and from dhundi its 6 km. so 12 km. overall)
day 6-go to vashist village(famous for hot springs)jagatsukh and prini village(arjun gufa)
day 7- return back to delhi

there are two options either you hire a taxi for the whole trip from delhi or take the volvo bus to manali and use local cabs for sightseeing.If you require more info about hotels,food other treks etc. feel free to contact me.
Rishabh

joepubli

Many thanks for your suggestions - hotel and food (vege) recommendations would be very welcome (with approx cost for hotels if poss). I was hoping to take the Toy Train and overnight from Delhi - Kalka. Is it possible to hire a taxi for rest of the trip from Simla? On return we can take Volvo. Is there anything direct from Manali to Agra?

TimMakins

Rishabh makes a good itinerary. Forget Kulu town - there is little of interest there. You will enjoy the overnight to Kalka + toy train to Shimla - make sure you book 1st class. Yes of course you can get a taxi from Shimla, though the bus is also aceptable.

There are SO MANY hotels in Manali these days, with new ones popping up all the time. Finding one is not a problem. Plenty of good vegetarian food also - all nationalities - just wander around and you will be OK.

Tim in Ireland

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"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

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joepubli

Tim thanks.

I think the toy train is a must. So the firt step would be the Delhi Kalka Express leaving at 22:35 (gives me chance to recover from a flight arriving in the morning!) and have a night's sleep. Then Chail sounds beautiful - the Palace hotel - I see there are variety of rooms but the log cabin sounds fabulous - has anyone stayed in it? Is the best place to get off the train Kandaghat? or should I carry onto Simla and then take a bus/taxi?

From Chail I would want to go to Manali and pick up the suggested itinary - do I have to go through Simla?

Only a few days to go now - is there a lot of rain at the moment

jnitesh

Hi All,


I am planning to visit Shimla, Kullu, Manali, Manikaran, Dharamshaala..and couple of other near by places. My idea is to spend 5-6 day.

Few questions I have are ...is it a good ideat to go in early december to Himachal...generally ppl go in summer ...

I will start in delhi so how about booking my travel needs like texi, hotels etc.

I would really appreciate if you guys can point me in the right direction about booking things where and how .

Thanks in advance

Nitesh

sabby80

Hi Joe

Just to add a bit to ur itenary-

1. I'd reccomend u avoid Kullu as already suggested & also Manikaran - Its just not worth wasting a day on that place at all!!

2. Naggar has a so called castle but I personally was pretty disappointed with Naggar coz the castle doubles up as a hotel & its no bigger than a large mansion! I agree the view is good - but then it is better from Manali itself & solang & Rohtang!!

3. The Beas Kund trek is just out of the world & I highly reccomend it - do get in touch with Naushad in manali & he'll organize a great trek for u. I did that trek with my cousins - 7 & 10yr old kids & I can assure u that they just loved it. here are a few snaps of that trek -
Manali : A different Perspective!

4. Its best to hire a taxi from Shimla/ Chail to Manali coz u hav the freedom to stop wherever u like on the way.

In manali check out Johnsons Cafe - they serve great wood oven pizzas & their trout is mouth watering! Also try the apple pie & apple crumble at cafe Amigos - both just off the mall!

Make sure u get to Rohtang pass pretty early in the morn or u'll get caught in a huge traffic jam.
For Agra u'll hav to come down to delhi coz theres no direct link b'w manali & agra - however u cld also come dn to chandigarh or kalka & catch a train directly to agra from there

hope u have a great time
Cheers!

sabby80

Hi Nitesh,

Manali is great any time of the year! The High season in winter starts from the 15th of December so if u get there before that u'll get good discounts on ur acco! also its wld be a lot less crowded.
in december u dont hav to bother about advance booking & stuff - but heres the info abt buses etc anyway
http://www.indiamike.com/india/showthread.php?t=24894
hav fun!

anap_

Hi! Sorry to take advantage of your post - I'm doing more or less the same thing a bit later and having troubles in getting trains from Kalka to Agra. Would it be an option to get a train from kalka to firozabad (30km from agra) and then a taxi?
Do you know which trains go directly Kalka - Agra?

Also, in Agra do you know where do i find bus companies/ taxi to drive us to jaipur?

Thanks,
Ana

anap_

Oh and also,

How long does it take to drive from Shimla to Manali?
Cheers,
Ana

subabu2002

if you have a week then manali region is appropriate for you.If 2 days are deducted for travelling you still have 5 days ,so here is ur travel plan.
DAY 1- delhi to manali
DAY 2- get a decent hotel and explore the manali town(old manali village,hadimba temple,nature park & circuit house on the banks of river manalsu,van vihar on the banks of beas,budhhist temple and the market.)
day 3-go to naggar and manikaran(roerich art gallery and valley view in naggar are a must)
day 4- go to solang valley,kothi village,palchhan,marhi and rohtang pass(all are on the same route)
day 5-do the beas kund trek,which takes you to the source of river beas(there is a jeep track from solang valley to dhundi and from dhundi its 6 km. so 12 km. overall)
day 6-go to vashist village(famous for hot springs)jagatsukh and prini village(arjun gufa)
day 7- return back to delhi

there are two options either you hire a taxi for the whole trip from delhi or take the volvo bus to manali and use local cabs for sightseeing.If you require more info about hotels,food other treks etc. feel free to contact me.
Rishabh



hi rishabh,

does your shedule will suitable for my family trip(me,my wife and my son(3.5yr).?

september-october or october-november.which one is best? i cant wait until december-jan.

my budget is 10-12k.

thanks
suresh babu

mridula

A friend has stayed at the log cabins at the palace hotel and enjoyed them a lot. When we went to Chail we got down at Kahndaghat and from there took a bus to Chail.

__________________
mridula

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rishabh6296

Hi Suresh,
yes your trip would be suitable for ue family except for the beas kund trek as your kid is too small.the budget 10-12 k is absolutely fine.october will be better as there wont be any rains and the weather will be really good;but you wont find snow in manali in this season,but you might get some patches of snow in rohtang.
Rishabh