Manali Travel Guide
Honeymooner Paradise – Explore How to Reach, Weather, Places to Visit and Things to Do in Manali
How to Reach Manali From Delhi
Delhi to Manali route is very popular among the tourists visiting Manali. Most importantly, Delhi has the best Air and Train connectivity with all parts of India. As a result, people gong to Manali from various parts of India and abroad reach Delhi via a suitable communication mode. Subsequestly, they go to Manali by road. Alternately, they can take a train to Chandigarh and take a bus or car to Manali from there.
Transport | Distance | Travel Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
Delhi to Manali Direct | Private Car / Bus | 536 Km | 13 - 14 Hrs |
Transport | Distance | Travel Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
Delhi to Chandigarh | Train | 266 Km | 9 Hrs |
Chandigarh to Manali | Private Car / Bus | 298 Km | 4 hrs |
This is a very scenic road journey. The distance is 536 km and the road passes through NH44, NH205 and NH3. The route goes via Delhi-Ambala-Chandigarh-Mandi-Kulu-Manali.
Delhi To Manali By Bus
Large no of tourists travel from Delhi to Manali all through the year. As a result, frequent bus services are available in this route. Moreover, both day and night buses are run by government as well as private operators. All types of buses including AC Volvo, AC Deluxe, Non-AC Deluxe and Non-AC ordinary are available.
Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) and Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) are government controlled transporters who operate buses in this route. In addition, HPTDC and HRTC services are more reliable and recommended as they do not suddenly cancel a scheduled journey in case there are less occupancy. This is more important when you are planning a tour during the low season. Apart from these two, there are 10 to 12 private operators running Volvo and AC bus services in this route.
Delhi to Manali road journey is very popular among the tourists. The distance is 536 km and the road passes through NH44, NH205 and NH3. The route goes via Delhi-Ambala-Chandigarh-Mandi-Kulu-Manali.
From | To | Distance (Km) | Distance From Delhi (Km) |
|---|---|---|---|
Delhi | Ambala | 200 | 200 |
Ambala | Chandigarh | 45 | 245 |
Chandigarh | Mandi | 182 | 427 |
Mandi | Kulu | 69 | 496 |
Kulu | Manali | 40 | 536 |
HPTDC (Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation)
HPTDC runs daily AC Volvo services from New Delhi to Manali. Depending on the rush of tourists, daily 2 to 4 buses are operated. Most of their buses are of Volvo 9400 series and well maintained.
HPTDC Bus Details | |
|---|---|
Schedule | Buses start in the evening from Delhi and reaches Manali in the morning. It takes 14 Hrs to cover the distance of 536 km. While coming back from Manali to Delhi, the buses start from Manali in the evening and reach Delhi in the morning. |
Booking | Advance booking can be done at - www.booking.hptdc.in. It is better to book well in advance as the demand for HPTDC is high. Specially during high season, tickets are exhausted very fast. |
Fare | One-way fare from Delhi to Manali is approximately Rs 1700 |
Starting Point | Himachal Bhawan, Mandi House, New Delhi |
Halt | The buses halt twice. First halt is for dinner, though its already late in the night. For this, it is better to have refreshments before boarding the bus from Delhi. Next halt is in the early morning for tea |
Drop Location | The HPTDC bus will drop you at parking lot near the Mall road. If you are staying at a nearby hotel, you can pull your own luggage or hire a porter. Otherwise, hire a local cab to drop you to your hotel |
Tips | Overall journey is quite comfortable. Though HPTDC provides a bottle of mineral water, they do not provide blankets which few private operators offer. Vomit bags are provided at the beginning of the journey and sickness bag is available with the conductor in case someone requires that. |
HRTC (Himachal Road Transport Corporation)
HRTC runs multiple buses daily from Delhi to Manali. HRTC runs all type of buses (Volvo/AC Deluxe/Non-AC) in this route. Also, HRTC buses are more in number and couple of buses are available in the morning also.
HRTC Bus Details | |
|---|---|
Schedule | The first bus starts from Delhi at 06:40 hrs and the last one at 23:15 hrs. Volvo buses are available for overnight journey only. In the morning, only AC Deluxe and Non-AC buses are available. There might also be some changes in the number of buses and timing based on the season HRTC Volvo From Delhi to Manali 18:00, 18:40, 19:00, 19:35, 20:00, 20:26, 21:03, 21:50, 22:30, 23:15 HRTC Volvo From Manali to Delhi 14:15, 15:00, 16:00, 16:45, 17:00, 17:30, 17:50, 18:30, 19:00, 20:00 There is another Volvo bus going directly to Manali from Haridwar and vice-versa. It starts at 18:00 hrs from Haridwar and 16:30 hrs from Manali |
Booking | Advance booking available at - www.hrtchp.com/hrtctickets. If you are planning to visit during the high season, book your tickets well ahead of the journey date as the demand for tickets are high. |
Fare | One way fare from Delhi to Manali is between Rs 800 to Rs 1700 depending on the type of the bus. |
Starting Point | Inter State Bus Terminal(ISBT), Kashmere Gate, New Delhi |
Halt | The buses halt twice during the journey. Depending on the time of travel, the 1st stop will be for lunch/dinner and the 2nd stop for tea break. It is better to have refreshments before boarding the bus from Delhi as the 1st stop will be only after 4-5 hrs of travel. |
Drop Location | The HRTC bus will drop you at bus depot near the Mall road. If you are staying at a nearby hotel, you can pull your own luggage or hire a porter. Otherwise, hire a local cab to drop you to your hotel. |
Tips | Overall journey is quite comfortable in Volvo or Scania buses. |
Delhi to Manali Private Volvo Service
Apart from HPTDC and HRTC, there are 10 to 15 private operators who are providing AC Volvo in this route. Some of the private services offer blankets and personal LCD seats. But, while comparing the services between the two government operators and the private operators, opt for private operators only, and only if you do not get a booking for the government buses. This is especially true for low season when many a times, private operators cancel the trip at the last moment if the occupancy level is low. Also, punctuality and professionalism are big advantages of the government services.
Most of the private buses start from near RK Ashram metro station. Please check about the boarding point after you do the booking
Few private bus operators operating in this route are –
Delhi To Manali By Train
Manali do not have a railway station. From Delhi you need to reach Chandigarh Junction or Ambala Cantonment which have a very good railway connectivity with all the major cities of India. Delhi to Chandigarh AC Chair Car fare ranges from Rs 450 to Rs 1100 depending upon the class of the train.
Manali is at a distance of 300 km from these places and have very good road connectivity. From Chandigarh/Ambala it takes about 8-9 hr by car and 9-10 hr by bus to reach Manali via Kulu.
Click here for Chandigarh-Manali Route details …
Train No | Train Name | From | Depurture | Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|---|
22439 | Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Vande Bharat Express | New Delhi | 06:00 | 08:08 |
12029 | New Delhi - Amritsar Swarna Jayanti Shatabdi Express | New Delhi | 07:20 | 09:55 |
12013 | New Delhi - Amritsar Shatabdi Express | New Delhi | 16:30 | 18:50 |
22461 | Shri Shakti AC Express (PT) | New Delhi | 17:30 | 20:08 |
12459 | New Delhi - Amritsar InterCity Express | New Delhi | 13:40 | 17:15 |
12203 | Saharsa - Amritsar Garib Rath Express | New Delhi | 14:10 | 16:49 |
Delhi To Manali By Car
If you are traveling to Manali by your own car or a rented one, most common route to follow for reaching Manali from Delhi is –
Delhi – Panipat – Ambala – Chandigarh – Mandi – Kulu – Manali (536 KM)
It will take 12 to 14 Hrs to reach Manali. You may travel either in daytime or night depending on preference. There are multiple advantages of making the journey via car. You can stop at a place you like. If you are traveling during daytime, photography lovers will love that opportunity. Also, you can stop at places and stretch your legs.
Delhi to Manali Car Rental Plan
There are multiple options offered by the good car rental agencies serving in this route. On an average, per kilometre fare of sedan type cars (max 4 persons) are Rs 9-10 per km and SUV (max 7 persons) are Rs. 12-13 per km. Various options include –
Car Rental Plans | |
|---|---|
One Way | One way distance will be approximately 550 km and cost will be about Rs 8500 in sedan and Rs 15000 in SUV |
Round Trip | Delhi-Manali-Delhi round trip distance covered will be approximately 1400 km including local sightseeing in Manali. Cost for a round trip will be approximately Rs 15000-16000 in sedan and Rs 19000-20000 in SUV |
4-Days Package Trip | Delhi-Manali-Delhi 4 day package trip including local sightseeing will be costing you approximately Rs 15000-16000 in sedan and Rs 19000-20000 in SUV. Additional days will be charged on actual km or 250 km whichever is higher. |
Car rental agencies in Delhi with good user feedback are –
Manali Links
Popular Tour Plans - Himachal Pradesh
1-3 Days
1. Shimla (2N/3D)
2. Manali (3N/4D)
4-6 Days
1. Shimla-Kulu-Manali (6N/7D)
7-10 Days
1. Shimla-Kulu-Manali-Dharamsala-Dalhousie (10N/11D)
2. Kinnar (Shimla-Sarahan-Sangla-Chitkul-Kalpa-Shimla) (8N/9D)