Shimla to Manali by road
Shimla to Manali is one of the popular tourist routes in Himachal Pradesh. Tourist arrive at Shimla by toy train or by bus from Delhi, Chandigarh , Kalka etc. After staying one day or half day at Shimla you can start for Manali.
Start early from Shimla so you can spend more time on the way towards Manali and reach before dark.
After traveling 33 KM from Shimla you will reach Shalaghat. You can take your breakfast here.
After 49 KM you will reach Daldamode, here Ambuja Cement factory is there. After 66 KM from Shimla you will reach Bage, here JayPee cement factory is there.
After traveling 78 KM you will reach Beri junction, this junction is before Bilaspur. This is the junction from here the road from Chandigarh, Delhi and Kalka side joins the Shimla Manali road.
From here after traveling another 6 KM you will reach Barmana , here ACC cement factory is there.
At 105 KM from Shimla you will reach Bilaspur. After Bilaspur you will reach Haribag , this is the launch point and you will see many restaurants , Dhabas at right side and at your left side will be SunderNagar Lake. Photography is not allowed here.
After traveling 25 KM from Sundarnagar you will reach Mandi. Here you will meet river Beas. This river will be at your right side upto Manali. All the scenic places will start from here. So try to reach Mandi as early as possible.
12 KM from Mandi you can see Pandoh Dam at your right. Photography is not allowed here. You will climb up the hill and to your right the total dam view will be visible.
Further 12 KM you will get Anokhi Mata temple. River Beas will be at your right. Further 22 KM from here you will reach Aut town and before that you will pass through a 2.8 KM long tunnel. Just before entering the tunnel the right side road will take you to Jalori pass and further to Rampur of Shimla district.
Good restaurants are available at Aut , all these restaurants have extended gardens and lawns by the side of the river. Take a cup of tea here and then start moving towards Kullu..
From Aut Manali is 69 KM and Kullu is 29 KM.
After 15KM from Aut you can see Buntur Airport at your right side.
Here Parvati river joins Beas river .
After this you can visit Vaishno Devi temple, this temple is constructed by the side of
Beas river in the style of vaishno Devi temple near Jammu.
You can do river rafting here. Different types of rafting are available based on the distance you want to cover.
At Babeli at your left side you will see many shops selling traditional Kullu dresses, woolen dresses and carpets. You can spend some time in buying woolen dresses here. If you have plan to return the Shimla from Manali then on return you can plan for river rafting and shopping.
You can take a bypass road to avoid traffic in Kullu town. Before Manali towards right will be small town Naggar, famous for Naggar Castle.
This road remains open throughout the year and serves as main connection to Manali town from different parts of India. Snowfall does not affect this road in winter.
You can enjoy your drive in this road by the side of river bg watching distance snow peaks and waterfalls.
Danger :
Between Mandi and Manali river Beas looks very attractive and many tourist lost their lives while taking photo in the river bed due the slippage and sudden rise of water level.
24 engineering students lost their lives while taking photo close to the river as water level gone up suddenly due to release of water from nearby Dam On June 8 2014