manali help...car rental,itinerary.. in feb-march.

hi IM members and all,

finaly we(i,my wife and 4yrs son) decided to visit manali and surrounding on coming feb-march.before our visit,we will need some helps.

as per advised from some indiamike members,we decided to visit manali only for 5 days 4 nights.cancelled the shimla and surroundings.

1. taking a cab from delhi to manali for 5 days or taking a bus from delhi to manali and then taking a cab in manali. which one is cheap and best? how much they charged in both delhi and manali?

2.for 5 days what will we do in manali and surroundings? my itinerary is,

day:1: arrived in early morning and local visit(hidimba temple,and then ???? help)if possible,shopping around the mall

day:2: visit to solang valley and play skiing and childrens games in snow slopes and walk around there.

day:3: visit to rohtang pass(upto restricted area), marhi,kothi,rahalla falls..(will it possible in feb-march?)

day:4: visit naggar castle and museum, afternoon ???? help

day:5: ???? help


we dont cosider kullu,manikaran because of just commercial place.we will need picturesque spots especially snowy valleys.. or kullu and manikaran is worth to visit?

does my itinereay is correct?? or if any change,pls help me

what will i do in local visit

in feb-mar,do i expect skiing oppertunities in solang valley and snowfall in manali?

how about palchan village,kasauli,solang sullah??

how about narkanda and kufri? is it worth to visit?

do i change any shedule?

help,help,help

thanks
suresh babu

Dear Suresh Babu,

I had visited Manali via Delhi on the 1st of Nov and came back on 5th. My trip was :

1st Nov: Landed at N Delhi and hired a ITDC taxi ( Ari conditioned Tata Indigo) and it cost me Rs.14500/- for 4days. The first night I stayed at Chandigarh at Hotel Jullandhar.

2nd Nov: I left Chandigarh at 7.00am and reached Raison (20 Km after Kullu) There is a nice resort (HPTDC) in the name of Nature Notes. The river Beas runs just a few mrtres away from from the log huts.

3rd Nov: I left for Rothang Pass and came back in the evening. Stayed at the Sterling Resort at Old Manali for the night.

4th Nov: Did some shopping at the mall and left Manali at noon and reached Chandigarh at 11.00pm

5th Nov: Started early in the morning at 6.00am and headed toward Delhi. Reached Delhi at 10.00am and did some shopping and reached the airport at 1.00pm. Boarded a flight back to Guwahati.


Therefore, as per your querries, buses are much more cheaper than the cabs. It is 750/- approx per person by bus whereas you have to pay around 15,000/- for a cab.

You might not be able to go to Rothang as there would be a lot of snow and the road might be closed.

Still there are a lot of places to visit in and around Manali like Banjar, Aut, etc, etc. You can ask the people at the hotels where to go and where not to.

Happy journey,
Bhaktijananda

There will be a lot of snow at Rothang at least

Hi Suresh,
cabs from delhi are much cheaper than mentioned by bhaktijananda,it's approx 8 rupees per km. for a toyota qualis say if u travel 1300 km. overall it will be around 11,000 rupees including driver night stay charges.since u r just 3 ppl so u can hire a smaller vehicle like indica at 5 rupees per km. which will come to 7000-7500 rupees approx for ur trip,there would hardly be any snow in march as far as solang is concerned,trying going in feb.
Rishabh

I agree, it would not be possible to goto Rohtang till about Mid May. But you should be able to go upto about Marhi in march and enjoy the beautiful enjoy valley views. I am not sure about any skiing in either feb/march.

Also I would include Manikaran for the breath taking journey along the Parbati river alone. As the place is closer to Kullu, so maybe you could plan your stay in kullu for a night on the return journey.

thanks to all,

how much the cabs charging in manali?

and also help with my itinerary day4 and day 5 and local visits

thanks
suresh babu

hi suresh babu ,
i will probably suggest u to go by taxi cause rishbh is right that it cost u only 7500 for the small cab n that u will be able to stay anywhere as u like ...!
manali is bit expensive in cabs as there is a union which wan't let u negotiate so better take cab from delhi...!
any queries may P.M me i wil be happy to help u..!
mike mike

thanks mike,

if we decided to go with another family(4+1child),how they charge for toyoto qualis? the same 8re per km or they will collect any other charges?

thanks
suresh babu.

dude you've been planning this trip for quite some time now! I hope u have a great time & try & make it to Manali in feb if possible, then u'll get more snow than u can handle.Of course rohtang would qt simply be out of bounds that time of the year!!

Abt the transport part - I wouldnt advise travelling all the way to Manali from Delhi in a cab. Its qt cold up here in the north in Feb & trust me u'll love the great airconditioning of a Volvo bus.

cheers

Hi Suresh,
The qualis charges from delhi wud be rs. 8 per km. plus 150 rupees per night for driver night stay charges.
Rishabh

hi suresh babu,
all that u have to pay is almost 13500(cab)+750(driver all)+800 (t.tax/prkg)=15050 appx
U can have this price for ur whole tour in toyota qualis..!hope fully..1
Mike mike.

My advice take a Volvo from Delhi, it will cost Rs.800-850 per person. There is also a sleeper class Volvo, costs around Rs.1000 per person.

Once in Manali you can hire a car or better yet an MUV, last year when I went to Rohtang pass with my family the quails hire charges came out to be Rs.1200 for Rohtang and Solang Valley plus small destinations in between. It wouldn’t cost more than Rs. 1000-1500 per day for local sight seeing and that means Manikaran as well!