One of my favorite is my one week trip in Shimla-Manali with my family. We try to search at least one new destination every year. I could spend hours on Google trying to research and plan to try to make sure I hit all the best spots and don’t miss any of the highlights. This summer, with working on the remodels of our house, we didn’t have as much time to plan. One of my friends had told me about travel service that helps plan and customize your trip. Travel service seriously exceeded every expectation we had and made this trip the easiest trip we have ever planned!! Now that I’ve used it, I don’t think I could ever go back! It was such an amazing service so I wanted to share how it makes traveling Shimla so seamless!
Choose your destination: Travel Service has provide different countries available to book right now. They are always adding new countries so if your budget list destination isn’t on their list yet, keep checking back . They are gives detailed and spend lots of time getting each country’s experience perfect. We knew we wanted to do the northern coast of India in Himachal Pradesh.
Here I’m going to have a discussion on the plan in such a way that you spend more time in Manali than in/around Shimla. Manali has lot more to offer than Shimla so it is better to spend more time in Manali. The river element in Manali just adds more charm to the missing beauty of Shimla. While Shimla may appeal more to people close to architecture, Manali is more to people who are close to nature. In the past, I did give a detailed travel guide to Manali which can be referenced for more details, in case required.
Shimla and Manali, Both are well connected to Delhi / Chandigarh by Volvo buses. We always prefer taking an HPTDC or HRTC Volvo which can be booked by their official websites. It is a warning that you should avoid private Volvos when both HRTC and HPTDC have a very good fleet on offer. Otherway, for reaching Shimla, you can also enjoy the toy train ride from Kalka to Shimla.
So, the road conditions to Shimla from Delhi are excellent in shape. Well, with operational Himalayan Expressway that bypass the messed up traffic of Kalka, the journey to Shimla is so much smoother and faster. On the other hand, though the majority of road conditions between Delhi and Shimla is excellent, but, the section between Swarghat to Bilaspur/Sunder Nagar makes you feel frustrated. You just need to get past this section patiently and rest all is a breeze on Delhi to Manali route.
8 day’s Shimla and Manali plan for a trip which you can follow and have good time with your family.
- Day 1 | We are reach to Shimla from by overnight volvo from previous night or by toy train. Check-in and rest at hotel. After that explore local Shimla including Shimla Ridge, Mall Road, Lakkar Bazaar, Back to Hotel By Evening. You can even plan to stay at Mashobra.
- Day 2 | Around Shimla, a relaxing day. Jakhoo Temple, State Museum, Mall Road, Ridge etc. as you like or may be you can visit Kufri in the first half of the day and all this in the second half of the day.
- Day 3 | Shimla – Narkanda – Hatu Peak – Narkanda – Shimla (a bit long day) or you can do Shimla – Kufri – Chail – Shimla
- Day 4 | Shimla – Manali. This day will be used by traveling from Shimla to Manali
- Day 5 | Manali Local sightseeing which includes Hadimba Temple, Manu Temple, Mall Road, Local Monastery, Vashisth Hot Water Springs etc.
- Day 6 | Manali – Snow Point either at Solang Valley or Marhi/Gulaba on the way to Rohtang Pass. Enjoy in snow and come back to Manali. In summers, you can go up to Rohtang Pass as well.
- Day 7 | Manali – Naggar Castle (stay at Naggar and enjoy the place. Very romantic with great views and food. Visit Art Gallery, Roerich Museum, and do not miss the hike to ancient Krishna Temple at the top)
- Day 8 | Naggar Castle – Manali – Delhi. Checkout by noon from Naggar Castle .Then the Volvo to Delhi will be around 5.30 PM types, so either you can spend a sometime hanging around Naggar only and after lunch leave for Manali or you have also the option to come back to Manali and hang around on Mall road and finally take the return bus. Or, you can co-ordinate with bus HPTDC guys so that, the bus pick you from the nearest pickup point for Naggar on the way to Delhi. Naggar Castle guys will help to arrange the taxi for the drop there.
There are a lots of hotel available in Shimla and Manali with a wide range of budget. One of my fondest memories of Manali is picking fresh apples from orchards, when I had been here with my parents long back. And we also visited an apple sorting unit and picked delightfully fresh apples from here. If you like to visit around September mid, that would be the time of apple sorting and plucking in Manali. Do visit an apple orhard. The locals will be very happy to show you around. They will tell you about the huge volume of apple harvest, different verieties and other relevant details. Lots of enjoy while you walk across the roads of Manali.
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