himachal tour

santos_g15

i approached a tour operator through net for visiting himachal pradesh .i am bit ambitious and i have tried to cover as much as places as possible ( still i might missed a lot ). this is the itenary and they quoted rs 77,000 for 3 people with accomodation,car,food-breakfast and dinner.Is this reasonable .i would like to reduce the span of days to say 10 (fear of losing job in this crisis but that does deter me from touring hurray )

Day 01:- 10th May:-Chandigarh

Pick up from Chandigarh railway station/Airport & drive to hotel-check in hotel-evening visit to Rock Garden-Sukhna Lake- Market of Sector-17-o/n hotel.



Day 02:- 11th May:- Chandigarh-Shimla

Check out & transfer to Shimla. On arrival check in at hotel. Overnight at hotel.



Day 03:-12th May:- Shimla:-

Morning free. Afternoon half day city tour visiting Indian Institute Of Advanced Studies, Sankat Mochan Temple and Jakhu Temple. Evening free to stroll in the famous shopping place of Shimla town – The Mall & The Ridge. Overnight at hotel.



Day 04:-13th May:- Shimla:

Full day excursion visiting Fagu, Chail, Kufri and Naldehra. Overnight at hotel.



Day 05:-14th May:- Shimla-Manali

Morning after Breakfast Check Out From Hotel and Depart for Manali with Sight seeing of SUNDERNAGAR LAKE, KULLU VALLEY, PANDOH DAM, arrival at Manali Check In Hotel . Evening dinner at Hotel and ovenight stay.



Day 06:- 15th May:- Manali:

Morning half day city tour visiting Hadimba Devi Temple, Manu Temple, Tibetan Monastery and Vashisht Village. Afternoon free. Overnight at hotel.



Day 07:- 16th May:- Manali:

Full day excursion visiting Kothi Gorge, Gulaba, Marhi, Rohtang Pass (Upto Snow Line in case Rohtang is closed due to snow fall) and Sollang Valley. Overnight at hotel.



Day 08:- 17th May:- MANALI-MANIKARAN

Manali/ Manikaran: Full day excursion visiting Manikaran. Manikaran has the World's hottest Suplhur Spring Waters and is a holy place for Hindus & Sikhs alike.



Day 09:-18th May:- Manali-Dharamshala:

Travel by surface from Manali to Dharamshala. On arrival check in at hotel. Overnight at hotel.



Day 10:-19th May:- Dharamshala:

Morning half day city tour visiting Dal Lake, Church, Bhagsu Nag Temple and Tibetan Monastery. Afternoon free. Overnight at hotel.



Day 11:- 20th May:- Dhramashala to Dalhousie:

Travel by surface from Dharamshala to Dalhousie. On arrival check in at hotel. Overnight at hotel.



Day 12:- 21st May:- Dalhousie-Khajjiar-Dalhousie:

Morning half day city tour- visiting Khajjiar-evening back to hotel- Overnight at hotel.



Day 13:- 22nd May:- Dalhousie – Chamba-DALHOUSIE:-

After breakfast visit to Rock garden-Dam site-Chamba town-evening back to hotel-o/n hotel.



Day 14:- 23rd May:- DALHOUSIE-Amritsar

Morning after Breakfast Check Out & start for Amritsar-evening visit to Wagha Border ( Indo-Pak Flag Ceremoney) –o/n hotel.



Day 15:- 24th May:- Amritsar

Morning check out & visit to Golden temple-Jalianwala Bagh-Afternonn Drop at railway station/Airport to close some "Melodious Memories" of Himachal 's Culture, Tradition, Cuisine, Living Standard



Suggestive Star category hotels

01 Night Chandigarh- Hotel City Heart Premium

03 Nights Shimla- Hotel DePark

04 Nights Manali- Hotel Royal Park

02 Nights Dharamshala- Hotel Anand Palace

03 Nights Dalhousie- Hotel Grand View

01 Night Amritsar- Hotel K K Continental

rajeev1008

I would say that 5000 per day is ok with a dedicated AC car and the higher end acco.
Also as Khajiar is half way to Chamba from Dalhousie, you could save some time on the road if you move onto Chamba from Khajiar and stay there.

santos_g15

Thanks Rajeev for your reply.we will defenitely think about staying in chamba.

rajeev1008

Khajiar also has a couple of good hotels/resorts.

spicetrekker

Well i had done a similar tour sometime back only difference being that instead of Amritsar, we went to Katra (Jammu) for ma Vaishnodevi darshan. I had a slightly different deal, as i had booked only the car and paid for everything else. For 3 people I guess an indica should be fine - should cost you around 1200 per day or so - say 20K for 15 days. That leaves around 55K for other things food and stay. I would say it is slightly on the higher side, as I am assuming 3 people here mean a couple and 1 kid so basically we are talking of only one room here. I went in March and being off season got very good rates. It also gave me a lot of flexibility to change my plan for eg we had planned 3 nights in Shimla but I absconded from that place in 2 nights and stopped over at Kullu - from where I went to Manikaran before proceeding to Manali.

Obviously there is some hassle as you will need to llok out for some places and do a bit of bargaining but I think it will be better for you. I am not saying that you will end up saving a lot but you check the acco yourself and decide where and how long to stay at each location. For eg at Manali we stayed at bungalows opp the Holiday inn, slightly outside of the town but it was ok as we had a full time car and driver at disposal. Even at Dharamshala instead of Mcleodganj we stayed close the the lake at a resort (I think it was nishad or some name like that)
Hope this helps

santos_g15

thanks for you reply spicetrekker it certainly helps.