Manali

Manali is really two places, and knowing which one you booked matters more than anything else about the trip. Mall Road Manali is a busy Indian hill-station town — traffic, hotels, shops selling the same shawls. Old Manali, up the hill across the river, is quieter, low-rise and where most people actually want to be. Vashisht, on the other side, has the hot springs and a similar feel. Hadimba temple, in the deodar forest above town, is four hundred years old with a tiered wooden roof and is worth the twenty minutes. Solang and Rohtang are the standard day trips and both are congested in season; Rohtang needs a permit, which is capped daily and must be arranged in advance. The Atal Tunnel changed the geography here. Lahaul, which used to be a full expedition, is now well under an hour away, and going through it for the day gives you a completely different landscape. May and June are the peak and are crowded. October and November are clear, cold and quiet. Do not expect snow in town below about December, whatever the photographs suggest.