Delhi / Manali

With parents, deliberately slow

Same route, half the pace. Volvo up, a car for the local days, and nothing scheduled before 9am.

Rohit

Day by day

1
Overnight Volvo from Delhi
Boarded at Majnu ka Tila at 8pm, into Manali by about 9am. Book the front seats on the lower deck if anyone gets motion sick.
Worth knowing
HRTC's own Volvo is half the price of the private operators and the same bus.
2
Settle in, Old Manali
Deliberately nothing planned. Slept, ate, walked as far as Manu Temple and came back.
3
Solang valley
Car for the day. Up early to beat the crowd, back by mid-afternoon before the road jams.
Watch out
Every ropeway queue triples after 11am. Go first thing or not at all.
4
Naggar and the castle
Quieter side of the valley, and the drive itself is the point. Roerich gallery is small but worth the stop.
5
Volvo back
Evening bus, into Delhi at dawn.

Two nights in one place beats one night in two. With parents it is the whole difference.
The Atal Tunnel day is long and cold. Skip it if anyone is struggling with the altitude.

Two of us on rented Himalayans, no bookings past the first night. Fast, cold, and cheaper than it sounds.

Gatimaan down, back the same night. Possible, and much better than the bus tours.

Train down, one fort a day, and a lot of time spent eating.

This page exists because Rohit took twenty minutes to write it down. The next person is looking for yours.