Chandigarh to Manali

Does any one know the time taken by road to Manali from Chandigarh and what kind of hired transport is available? Do we get good vehicles like Qualis etc. for hire?

Chandigarh to Manali is 320 kms. via Rupnagar, Kiratpur, Swarghat, Bilaspur, Mandi and Kullu. A bus will take 9-10 hours, a taxi little less.

I've never hired a taxi from Chandigarh to Manali, but am sure you'll have a range of vehicles to choose from, including a Qualis.

Well, I went up North in March. We took a cab from Chandi to manali. We paid 2.5k. Since there was no small cab for 3 of us we got a Qualis. Right infront of the Chandi bus stand was Punjab tourist. Hired from them.

Hope that helped ..

Cheers..

2.5k is good...yes..there is taxi stand...try !!

Sabby - your posts are very useful. Do you know why the HRTC website only mentions a non ac bus at Rs500. It looks as thought the Luxury Volvos don't go as far as Manali.

Sorry, I' ve found the hotel section which works - as long as you live in India.

i went by a himacal state transport or haryana state transport(dont remember which) but wht i do remember is that i broke down within an hour of it leaving Kashmiri gate ISBT n for about 45mins to an hour the average speed came down to 10 kms per hour.
Then it spent few hours outside a workshop .
Changed buses 2 times n finally reached manali in 20hrs...
well, others downt have it so easy with the luxury n semi luxurt buses from delhi to manali..they reach in 10-12 hrs i guess...

I think I've nade a booking through www.himachalhotels.in for a deluxe Volvo. Rs800 plus Rs60 service charge(?) and Rs52 for credit card surcharge. However the system crashed before it confirmed the payment but www.himachalhotels.in sre pretty swift at emails so I'm sure it will be sorted.

They say an email ticket will do. Fingers crossed.

Thanx John, I'm glad my post helped u! just when i thought it had died its natural death, u came along & pulled it up. I guess calling up ur bank wld probably give u an idea if Himachalhoetls has charged ur credit card - worst case call them up on spyke!

If ur the adventreous kind then I suggest u get in touch with Naushad in Manali. Hez a really cool chap & organizes great treks!

Hope u hav a great time in India
Cheers!

Here are some snaps of my trip to manali in Apr,2006
Manali : A different Perspective!

Thanks Sabby, do you have a contact number for Naushad?

The bus ticket has worked out fine. The second try did work out, I've received the email ticket. Most impressed with himachalhotels operation, emails replied to within a few minutes.

Looking forward to September and October and thanks again Sabby.

Thanks guys - exactly what I was looking for for my trip in a month.

If one is a bit prone to travel sickness and hates long bus trips what are the other alternatives to get back to Delhi from Manali?

-> Taxi/bus to Shimla/Kalka, then train to Delhi?(departing what time?. How long will this journey take?)

We are taking the toy train on the way up, so wouldn't need to catch it on the way back. Perhaps drive to kalka and then overnight train to Delhi is best?

Cheers
Anna

Hi Anna,

If u want to avoid the long bus journey, then the best option wld be to hire a taxi from Manali to Kalka or Chandigarh & then catch a train from there to Delhi. It costs abt Rs.5000 if u hire an airconditioned Scorpio from Manali to Chandigarh/Kalka & takes abt 8-9 hrs.
From Chandigarh or Kalka the following trains are pretty convenient


2012 KALKA SHTBDI

Dep: Kalka 17:30
Dep: Chandigarh 18:20

Arr: NEW DELHI 21:40


2312 KALKA MAIL

Dep: KALKA 23:45
Arr: Delhi 06:03

The url for Indian Railways, is http://www.indianrail.gov.in/
Hope u have a great time

Cheers!
Sabby

i was thinking of going train 2311 o/n Delhi to Kalka then 241/251 to shimla, and catching bus to manali from there.

On the HRTC site however i cant get it to give me a connection timetable for any kind of bus from shimla to manali.

any ideas?

There are plenty of buses going from Shimla to Manali or to Mandi where you can change for Manali, just turn up at the station you don't need to worry about booking ahead. KK

drzog
u dont need any advance booking - just land up at the bus terminus as KK says. Just try & avoid overnight journey - coz not only is it tad uncomfy - u also miss the beautiful scenery enroute!

cheers
Sabby