Shimla to Manali by road: distance, route and stops

Shimla to Manali is about 250 km by road and takes 8–9 hours with a lunch stop. The road drops from Shimla to the plains around Bilaspur or Sundernagar, then follows the Beas through Mandi, the gorge at Pandoh and the Kullu valley to Manali. Leave by 8 am, plan lunch in Mandi, and keep the evening free: it’s a full travel day.

The route

Stretch	Distance	Time	Notes
Shimla → Ghaghas / Bilaspur	~90 km	2.5–3 hrs	Downhill, winding at first
→ Sundernagar	~30 km	45 min	Lake town, tea stop
→ Mandi	~25 km	45 min	Lunch by the Beas
→ Pandoh & the Aut tunnel	~30 km	1 hr	The Beas gorge
→ Kullu	~40 km	1–1.5 hrs	Valley floor, apple orchards
→ Manali	~40 km	1–1.5 hrs	Up the Beas

Distances and times are approximate and change with traffic and roadworks.

Stops worth making

Sundernagar. A small lake town on the plain, good for a chai and a stretch.

Mandi. The halfway point and the best lunch stop, with old stone temples on the riverbank. If you have time, walk to the Bhootnath temple in the market.

Pandoh dam. Where the Beas is held back before the gorge; there’s a viewpoint by the road.

The Aut tunnel. A 2.8 km tunnel that skips a slow stretch of the gorge. The turn for Jibhi and the Tirthan valley is here.

Kullu. Shawl weaving is the craft here. A factory visit is easy to add, and from April to June and in September and October river rafting runs between Pirdi and Jhiri.

When to go

• March–June: clear and easy
• July–August: monsoon landslides, especially between Mandi and Kullu. Allow extra hours
• September–November: the best light and the apple harvest
• December–February: the road to Manali is usually open; snow starts above Manali, not on this route

Taxi, bus or self-drive

Taxi. The easiest way, and how most of our guests do it. Our indicative one-way fare is about ₹6,500 for a sedan and ₹8,500 for an SUV. If you’re doing a Shimla and Manali trip, keep the same car and driver for the whole week.

Bus. HRTC runs ordinary buses and some Volvos daily, taking about 9–10 hours.

Self-drive. Straightforward in daylight. The road is wider than it used to be, but still slow behind trucks in the gorge.

Fitting it into a trip

The classic plan from Delhi is two nights in Shimla, this drive on day three, and four nights in the Manali–Kullu valley. From Chandigarh, you can do the same in six days. Our Shimla and Manali trips start from about ₹15,999 per person from Chandigarh and ₹18,999 from Delhi, with hotels, breakfast and dinner and a private cab.

If you’re travelling with children, consider going up to Shimla on the Kalka toy train first; our family week does exactly that.