Manali itinerary: 3, 5 and 7 days, and a month

This is one part of our Manali guide.

TL;DR summary

• Day 2 on the road: About 80 km. Round trip to Solang, the Atal Tunnel and Sissu. Leave by 7 am.
• Naggar: 20 to 22 km. 45 to 60 minutes each way. The Roerich gallery is shut on Mondays.
• Rohtang permit: ₹550 a vehicle. ₹500 plus ₹50 congestion charge. The quota is 1,200 vehicles a day, and you apply up to 2 days ahead.
• Heights: 2,050 m to 3,978 m. Manali 2,050 m, Solang about 2,560 m, Sissu 3,120 m, Rohtang 3,978 m.
• Adventure ban 2026: 15 Jul to 15 Sep. Kullu district's order bans rafting, paragliding, river crossing and bungee jumping.

Manali plan, day 1 to day 7: where, distance and what to book

This Manali itinerary suits people who take the overnight bus, want the sights in a sensible order, and have three, five or seven days, or a month of working weeks. It skips the Parvati valley and the multi-day treks, and leaves each sight’s full description to things to do in Manali. It is about sequence: which stops share a day, when to leave, how long the road really takes, and what to drop. The bus gets you in at 7 or 8 am, so Day 1 is a half day on foot.

Manali trip planning: base, taxis, Rohtang permit and arrival

We’d base in Old Manali or Vashisht, both about 3 km from the Mall, and keep the Mall Road side for a first night or for winter. Where to stay in Manali has the reasons. The map shapes the plan. Old Manali, the Mall and Hadimba are on the west bank of the Beas, while Vashisht, Aleo and Naggar are on the east bank, so Day 1 stays on one side of the river and Days 3 and 4 are on the other.

Walk Days 1 and 4 and hire one driver for the road days. Ask every operator for the hours as well as the price, because the same quote can cover a 4-hour or a 9-hour tour, and some add 10 percent from Friday to Sunday. Starting prices for 2026 are ₹1,999 to ₹4,499 for Solang, ₹2,999 to ₹5,999 for the tunnel and Sissu, and ₹3,999 to ₹12,500 for Rohtang. Local buses (₹20 to ₹100 for short hops) run to Solang and Naggar; reconfirm the timing at the stand. If you drive a car registered outside Himachal, a green tax applies at Manali’s entry, ₹200 for a light vehicle, valid 7 days.

Two things need booking ahead. The first is the Rohtang permit, from rohtangpermits.hp.gov.in. It costs ₹550 for a car (₹500 plus a ₹50 congestion charge) and the portal releases permits for the next 2 days only, at 10:00 and 16:00, from a quota of 1,200 vehicles a day, so apply as soon as your day is clear. One permit covers one vehicle for one day, there and back. You need ID, a PUC certificate and a vehicle under 10 years old, you print it, and it can’t be cancelled. The second is HRTC’s electric bus, running again since 23 May 2026 at ₹500 a person. It leaves between 7 and 10 am and needs no permit, so ask at the stand the evening before whether it is running that day.

After 12 to 14 hours on the bus (how to reach Manali covers the options) you step off at 7 or 8 am tired. Plan the first day as check-in, a walk and dinner. Poor sleep at altitude can hurt a trip more than any closed road. Manali is 2,050 m, below the 2,500 m above which altitude sickness usually starts, so the first day is about sleep.

Manali itinerary for 3 days: easy start, long road day, softer finish

The shape is an easy first day, the long road day while you are fresh, then a shorter one. Each day starts with its fixed-time thing and runs one way out from town; distances are from the Mall.

Day 1: Hadimba and Old Manali, all within 3 km of the Mall

Evergreen forest around Manali.

Build this half day around sleep. Check in, or leave your bags, and go to bed. Around 4 pm walk up to Hadimba Devi temple, 2 km from the Mall on a paved climb of 20 to 30 minutes. It is free, open until about 6 pm, and by that hour the midday queue has gone. Give it 30 to 60 minutes. The Ghatotkacha shrine is 70 m away, and the folk art museum next door (₹30, 25 to 40 minutes) fits only if you feel good. Then go on to Old Manali, about 3 km from the Mall, where the lanes empty out in the evening and dinner is easy. Sunset is at 17:57 on 8 October and earlier through December, so be off the path before then.

Pace check: if you slept badly, stop at Hadimba and eat near your door. The museum goes first, then Old Manali.

Day 2: Solang Valley, the Atal Tunnel and Sissu, 80 km round trip

The Chandra river in Lahaul, on the far side of the Atal Tunnel.

This is the long day and the only one with a hard clock, so it comes second, once you have slept. Leave by 7 am, because the Solang road fills after 10 and you want to be at Sissu before then. Solang comes first, 13 to 14 km out at about 2,560 m. Make it a 15-minute view stop, because the ropeway and paragliding want a half day of their own. Next is the Atal Tunnel, 9.02 km at 3,000 to 3,100 m, where stopping, parking and photographs are banned. It is a road, not a sight. Sissu, at 3,120 m, is the goal of the day: 38 to 40 km from Manali, 1 to 1.5 hours when clear and up to 2 in traffic or snow. Walk to the lake and the waterfall viewpoint, eat, and come back the way you went.

You sleep at 2,050 m again, so the usual rules on sleeping height don’t apply, but a headache is a reason to stop climbing. Friday evening, Saturday late morning and Sunday afternoon are the worst times on this road: leave by 7 or skip the tunnel. Vehicle owners entering Lahaul and Spiti must register on the e-Aagman portal, so ask your driver the evening before whether a Sissu run needs it.

Pace check: the driving alone is 2 to 3 hours on a clear day. If the morning slips, drop Sissu. Solang by itself is 26 to 28 km round trip and a half day.

Day 3: Naggar and the Roerich gallery, 40 to 44 km round trip

The Roerich gallery at Naggar. Photo: Debashritaiitmandi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

This is a softer road day, with a fixed point at each end. The castle opens about 9 and the Roerich gallery is generally shut on Mondays, so this day can’t be a Monday. Leave about 8:30. Naggar is 20 to 22 km along the east bank road, 45 to 60 minutes each way, and at 1,800 m it is lower than Manali. Start with the castle (₹30, 30 to 45 minutes, stone steps; confirm the hours at the gate), then walk uphill through the deodar forest to the gallery, about 20 minutes, and give it 1 to 2 hours. The road had large potholes and waterlogging at Khakhnal, Archandi and Aleo in 2025, so ask your driver how it looks before you fix a return time. A taxi one way runs ₹450 to ₹1,200 depending on who quotes.

Pace check: this is the lightest road day. Drop the gallery and the castle is still a morning. Add Jana falls, 12 km beyond, only if you want 8 to 9 hours out with lunch. If you would rather not sit in a car again, swap in the Day 4 walk and keep Naggar for a weekend.

Manali 5 day itinerary: add a walking day and a flexible day

Days 1 to 3 stay as they are. Days 4 and 5 add a walking day and a flexible day, in that order, because two long road days in a row are best avoided. From Day 3 on, each day is a choice between staying local (Day 4, or Van Vihar, the Nyingmapa monastery and the museum) and taking a trip (Naggar, Sethan or Rohtang).

Day 4: Jogini Falls and Vashisht, 3 km out and 3 km up

A waterfall in the hills near Manali.

This is a day on foot, which is why it sits between road days. Start by 8 or 9. Vashisht is about 3 km from the Mall (auto ₹100 to ₹150). Walk up to the falls first: 3 km from the Vashisht temple, 1.5 to 2.5 hours round trip, to about 2,150 m. The last stretch is steep and rocky, with nothing to buy in the final kilometre, so carry water. Then soak at the springs, which are free, with bathing from 7 am to 1 pm and 2 to 9 pm and separate sections for men and women. Bring your own towel.

Pace check: skip the falls after a late arrival, with small children, or after rain. The springs alone make a half day.

Day 5: Sethan village, 12 to 15 km out, or an empty day

Plan half a day out, or nothing at all. Sethan is 12 to 15 km out through Prini, 35 to 60 minutes in summer and 1 to 2 hours after snow, and you need 3 to 4 hours there. The Prini barrier charges an entry fee that is quoted anywhere from ₹100 a person to ₹200 to ₹500 a vehicle, so carry cash, ID and the vehicle papers, and ask your host the evening before what it is this month. The village has no fuel, no ATM and no reliable signal, so sort all three in Manali. In the monsoon leave the day empty, for whatever the weather took.

Manali itinerary for 7 days: Rohtang and a spare day

Day 6: Rohtang Pass, 51 km each way and a 10 to 14 hour day

The road at Rohtang Pass.

Rohtang replaces Day 2 rather than sitting on top of it, and it shouldn’t follow another long road day. Leave between 4:30 and 6 am. It is a 10 to 14 hour day door to door, and a jam can stretch one leg to 8 hours. The pass is at 3,978 m and some people get headaches and nausea there. Marhi, 17 km before the top, has the last dhabas, and there is no dependable signal on the pass, so carry cash. Take the permit car or the electric bus described in the trip planning section above; taxi quotes run ₹4,500 to ₹6,000 or more. Two-wheelers are not allowed.

Pace check: drop Rohtang first if anything is off. Out of season, Gulaba (20 to 26 km, 45 to 60 minutes, a taxi at ₹1,200 to ₹1,500) is the snow stop, and a taxi drop there needs no Rohtang permit.

Day 7: a spare day for rain, closed roads or Jana falls

Keep it empty, so a closed road or a wet day has somewhere to go. If nothing slipped, stay local, or take the car to Jana falls (32 km, 2 to 3 hours with the walk, best May to October).

Manali in 2 days: a half day and one road day

Keep Day 1 as the half day and add one road day, Day 2 or Day 3, not both. Go straight from the bus to the north road and you see Solang tired. Two days cost you the other road trip, plus Vashisht, Jogini and Sethan. If the tunnel road is shut, Naggar and the Roerich gallery, then Van Vihar (₹50, 45 minutes), is the fallback.

What fails in Manali by season: Rohtang, the tunnel road, monsoon

Rohtang fails first. It usually opens in mid-May (15 or 17 May in 2026). Early snow shut it on 9 October 2025, and it normally closes between 20 October and late November. Check the portal the evening before, and keep Tuesday free: the portal lists no closed day, but many operators treat Tuesday as a maintenance day.

From 15 July to 15 September the District Tourism Officer’s order bans rafting, paragliding, river crossing and bungee jumping in Kullu. Day 2 still works as a view day, since Solang is only a 15-minute stop in it.

Snow hits the tunnel road. It was blocked from 23 to 27 January 2026, and on 30 January it was open only to Lahaul residents in 4x4 with chains. The Lahaul side has seasonal closures from November to March. Decide each morning, and make Day 3 the fallback for Day 2. Solang itself has stayed open when traffic beyond it was held.

The monsoon is a road risk. In August 2026 the Mandi to Kullu highway was blocked, and in 2025 the Kullu to Manali road shut for 21 days. Keep Day 5 empty, skip Jogini after heavy rain, and never fix a deadline for the day you leave. Best time to visit Manali covers the months.

Manali itinerary for a month: working weeks and weekend trips

Spring in the Kullu valley.

A working week in Manali: what fits before 9 am and after 6 pm

On weekdays, use the edges of the day. On 8 October the sun rises at 6:19 and sets at 17:57, with last light at 18:22, so an after-work walk ends at dusk. Before 9 am, the Manu temple opens about 6 and is free, the Goshal loop above Old Manali is about 2 km and 40 minutes, and the Vashisht springs open at 7 and are calmest early. After 6 pm, Mall Road is lit and full of food stalls, the Old Manali lanes are quiet, and the springs stay open to 9 pm but fill up. Hadimba shuts at 6, so save it for a weekend along with Solang and Jogini. Treks near Manali lists the short walks for an evening.

Four weekend trips from Manali, easiest to furthest

• Easiest, Naggar and the Roerich gallery. Day 3 above, 20 to 22 km each way, any day but Monday.
• Next, Sethan. Day 5 above, 12 to 15 km each way and a morning on the ground. After fresh snow the road shuts until it is cleared, so pick a dry week.
• Then Sissu and the tunnel. Day 2 above, about 80 km round trip. Leave by 7 am on Saturday to get ahead of the weekend jam.
• Furthest, Kasol and Manikaran. About 80 km: down 50 km to Bhuntar, then 30 km up the Parvati valley. It is a 6 to 8 hour road day, so go for a night. Kasol is the place to base.

Mixing Manali days: the order rules and the one day to keep

Day 1 always goes first. Rohtang replaces Day 2 and never adds to it. Avoid two long road days in a row by putting the walk between them, and in the monsoon leave a day empty.

If you keep one day, keep Day 2 when the road is clear and Day 3 from November to March, because the Naggar road is open all year and snow on it is rare, while the tunnel road is the first to close. The full write-up of every stop is in things to do in Manali.

Frequently asked questions about planning a trip to Manali