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Reaching Manali
People who wish to reach Manali normally prefer road transport for several reasons. One of the main reasons is to get acclimatized to the weather conditions prevailing at Manali which is at a higher altitude. Traveling by bus makes one feel comfortable to that environment (especially for travelers who are visiting Manali for the first time) gradually moving towards higher altitudes. Only buses reach Manali directly at the town. Distance between Kullu and Manali is 40Kms.
One more advantage of traveling by road to Manali is that, there are many options making their journey via some important places. One can reach Manali through Shimla, or via Chandigarh, or one more way is to visit Dharmashala and then travel towards Manali through Mandi. In any of the above three ways, one has to reach Mandi which is a district head quarters before reaching Kullu district where Manali is located. The valley and the Beas river view is a memorable one in this route which lasts for nearly 4-5 hours before reaching Manali. Normal transportation from Delhi is through Chandigarh, Bilaspur, Mandi, Kullu and Manali. People can consider staying 2-3 days at Bilaspur and Mandi (in each place) in this route as there are some important places to see around. The distance between Delhi and Manali in this route is 570Kms on National highway number 21 and time required to travel is 14 hours.
People traveling to Manali via Shimla, can consider visiting Sarahan and Narkhanda. From Shimla one can travel towards Manali to join the main road of Chandigarh and Manali at Nauni just before Bilaspur which is 112Kms from Shimla. One has to cross through Sundernagar also in this route. The distance between Sundernagar to Manali is 130Kms. Distance between Sundernagar to Mandi is 21Kms. The distance between Shimla and Manali in this route is 260Kms. There is one more way to reach Manali from Sarahan via Jalori pass and Naggar which is also very scenic.
One of the best route to cover Himachal Pradesh to reach Manali is to travel by Toy train from Kalka to Shimla (reaching Kalka by road). The road journey from Shimla to Manali is worth seeing as the road passes through many tourist places. After your stay at Manali you can return to Delhi by road. However there are many different routes available to reach Delhi and you can continue your journey beyond Manali to Leh (Ladakh ) of distance 475 KM on the worlds highest motorable road. This road opens in summer season only and remains closed during winter because of snow blocking the road.
There are two more road transportations possible to reach Manali which are highly recommended because of the scenic places one can witnesses while traveling. One is from Delhi to Srinagar and then from Srinagar to Manali via Leh and Keylong passing through worlds highest motorable road. Another road is to reach Shimla from Delhi, then reaching Reckong Peo from Shimla and reaching Manali via Tabo, Kaza and Rohtang pass. These two options take more time (7-12 days) depending on the plan one makes to stay at various places between Delhi and Manali.
Delhi to Manali road journey is mainly through Himachal roadways section, counter number 7 at Kashmiri gate side which is for Chandigarh and Manali area. The duration of travel from Delhi to Chandigarh is 5 hrs. Chandigarh to Manali takes 10-12 hrs journey by normal deluxe bus. Delhi to Manali via Chandigarh, Bilaspur, Mandi and Kullu takes 12-14 hours. AC Volvo service available from 5.00pm to 6.30pm through private agencies. At ISBT Delhi, 24Hrs bus service available to Chandigarh. From Chandigarh, round the clock bus service is available to Manali. AC Volvo service is available from Chandigarh to Manali from 8.00am onwards.
ISBT Delhi phone number 01123868694
Reaching Manali by Train
Nearest railway station is at Joginder Nagar which is quite far away. This station is located after Pathankot. One has to take bus from Joginder Nagar to reach Manali via Mandi. Distance between Joginder Nagar and Manali is 165Kms. Kiratpur is one more railway station Nearer to Chandigarh which is the last one at Delhi, Chandigarh, Sundernagar, Mandi route. This railway station is at a distance of 250Kms from Manali.
By Air
There is only one way by which tourists reach Manali by air. The only airport nearer to Manali is at Bhunter which is at a distance of 52Kms from Manali and nearer to Kullu (9 Kms from Kullu). Flights are available from Delhi to Bhuntar daily. The air traffic is normally less and so cost of transportation is high between Delhi and Manali. There will not be any saving in time as the flight timings are at early hours. One can reach at the same time by bus if start from Manali in the previous night.
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