Delhi to Manali by Car

dinu_m

Hey Guys!,

We would be travelling to manali from Delhi on 27th/28th Dec. Is it safe to travel by car (Indica). Some people in the group have some problems in bus travel and so are not sure whether we should still take the bus if there would be problems taking a car. Please advise

karnail

Safety is no problem , just take care to start early from Delhi so that you can reach Manali before sunset.

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assault_power

tata indica is good as well said above u will be travelling the 506 kilometres distance inatleast13 hours ,, we r also leaving delhi 26th dec by car but would stopover in chandigarh and leave for manali the next day,,,, the best would be u leave delhi by4 in the morning and be in manali in time ................

vdvoort

Safety is not the problem. It's the distance, and more important, traffic. You may consider to make a stop in Shimla (or Chandigarh). I travelled by car from Delhi to Shimla to Manali last summer. From Delhi to Shimla it took around 9-10 hrs, and from Shimla to Manali another 7 hrs. So, if you want to go from Delhi to Manali in one day, be prepared for a very long (and tiring) trip. And if you're not in a rush, Chandigarh and Shimla both are worth a visit for a few days.

Enjoy!

Aishah

I think too far in one day - we did it in an overnight bus on push-back seats and I found that an ordeal. Also your driver is going to be extremely tired by the time he hits those tight mountain curves. Just not a good idea. If you want direct to Manali, then I suggest as vdoort does, stop at Chandigarh. If you can arrive there by afternoon from Delhi you can see some good things - Rock Garden, Rose Garden, Lake etc. I spent one day in Chandigarh meeting some Punjabi friends and they showed me around. I really enjoyed it.
By breaking your journey you can ensure more safety, pleasant experience, and arrive fresh to Manali the next day.

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rishabh6296

i did delhi-manali in 13 hours in a qualis this july and it was definitely tiring.

vasuki

One convenient stop while traveling to Manali is Swarghat on NH-21. Chandigarh happens to be too close to Delhi to take a stop. Swarghat is a 90 minutes drive further from Chandigarh and from Delhi becomes a 8 hours drive. There is a HPTDC hotel named Hilltop and and can be reserved online with comfortable AC and non AC rooms. Next day Swarghat to Manali can be covered in 6-7 hours.

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saajan_20

I started @ 6.00 am sharp thats late by the journeys length and reached manali mkt @ 6.30 settled in a hotel @ 7.15 slept early to start following morning for leh thats an altogether differene story

anyways start early AS early as 4 am and cross the busy chandigarh sector by 10 or 11 am morning some flyovers r being built here in the heart of the city which shall be chaotic hence to avoid this start 4 am sharp rest it s a breeze

rishabh6296

my leisurely drive to manali takes 13-14 hours with 4 stoppages.

Styler

Hi,

I have driven to Manali 6 times in the last one year, I do it straight every time, and i am the solo driver. Don't think i'm mad, i set up a new office there last year and had to travel there often to get it started.
I have tried all routes and stopovers, and here is my recommendation.

Start at 5 am. Take the NH1, dont turn right for Chandigarh after Ambala. About 8-9 kms after Ambala, before Rajpura, there is a right turn just before the Toll Gate between Ambala and Rajpura. Infact you can see the toll gate 40 mtrs ahead at the point you have to turn right. This is a road which will take you to Banur, around 30 kms, and you will hit a red light where you will cross the Chandigarh -Rajpura Road. Keep going straight for another 25 kms, you will hit the Chandigarh Ropar Highway at a place called Kharar. This is around 14 kms from Chandigarh. Now you are on NH21 as you turn left and drive towards Ropar.

This routle bypasses the Chandigarh Mess all together.

Your first stop should be at either at Karnal, or if you can carry on, stop at Swarghat, whehere you should reach by 10.30-11.00 am. Take a 30 min break for breakfast here at HPTDC Hotel Hilltop. My first stop is always at Swarghat.

The bad winding stretch in the entire Delhi - Manali route is 100 Kms (Kiratpur -Swarghat - Bilaspur - Sundernagar).
So if you have people who get sick on winding roads, just drive very slowly with a few stopovers on this stretch.

The next stop that i take is Hotel Green Valley, on the left side, 5-6 kms before Sundarnagar. You should be here by lunch time. After sundarnagar the road is not winding till you reach Pandoh Dam. Pandoh is a good place to tank up fuel. With this the only next fuel stop you will need is on your way back.

After Pandoh the road is a little winding and is carved out of the hills, next to the river. You should reach the tunnel before Aut at around 3.30 - 4.00 pm. Once you cross the tunnel, you are in Kullu Valley. The road from here is really beautiful, next to the Beas. The tension of the long drive should be over. You should relax and enjoy the drive, taking stops whenever you feel like. You should comfortably reach Manali 6.00 - 7.00 pm

If you have any more questions....ask..

Styler

Yogesh Sarkar

It is a bit tiring and even more so on a motorcycle and I have done that plenty of times.

Don't spend the night at Chandigarh or take a detour to Shimla, take the route that Sajan has suggested and if you start feeling tired then there are plenty of places to spend the night in Himachal and this route especially is dotted with several small and big towns with plenty of hotels.

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Dilliwala

Second that. Anywhere from Swarghat to Bilaspur is good, actually.

People are talking about how bad Chandigarh traffic is (I found it smooth sailing last time I passed thru). It's nothing compared to the real mess, at Panipat. 30 mins to drive 2-3 km.

saajan_20

what styler has suggested is also good but for the seasoned traveller !
And office in vashist valley
wOw !!

mira4bai4

Personally coming from Delhi and going to Manali via Shimla does not seem logical as to me it just adds a further 2 hours to the trip.

However in saying that there are some options once here. One is to go the by-pass way which is out to Halog ~ Karsog ~ Thunag ~ Kandi ~ Gohar ~ Pandoh which by passes Bilaspur and Mandi. Turning off at Karsog and heading to Sundarnargar on highway 21 still by passes Bilaspur and brings you close to Mandi. This takes about 7 hours late at night.

Another option is to head out of Shimla toward Rampur on Highway 22, turn off after Luhri ~ Ani ~ Banjar ~ Bajaura on Highway 21 close to Kullu. A friend took this route by bike but as he had a few break downs and was grossly overloaded on his Bullet 500 with his house hold stuff which fell off near Kullu, I don't know how long it takes but should be about 6 hours.

Dilliwala

I've done the first route - partially at least. I went Mashobra-Tattapani-Alsindi-Charkufri-Pangna-Chail Chauk(mostly SH13)-Gohar-Pandoh. Wudn't have known if it hadn't been listed in some guide-books, but they say go to Mandi from Chail Chauk, which made no sense. Not familiar with Halog-Gohar, and left Karsog to one side.
I'd recommend the a.m. route for the scenery and the traffic-free drive any day over the NH 88/21 combo via Ghagas/Mandi, but it has to be said that it's a lot faster to go on the NHs.
If one has to go via Sundarnagar, I have to say it's not much point to go on SH 13 - it's longer and a lot slower than the NHs to get to the same place.

Still to do the Sainj-Ani-Jalori-Banjar-Aut route. What surprised me is that a.m. guide says it's shorter than the SH 13 route; it looks longer on paper.