Manali is a perfect destination for honeymoon. It is rich in nature and offers so many activities, ranging from trekking, hiking, rafting, paragliding, nice cuisines, nature photography, waterfalls, to great locations just for relaxation. Manali Manali and places around it has some nice old temples as well.
Manali can best be enjoyed with a comprehensive tour package of places in Himachal Pradesh and using places in Punjab for transit.
Arrive at Chandigarh airport and head straight to a city hotel. If time permits you can go on to see the famous rock garden and rose garden. You can also choose to spend some quality time at Sukhna Lake.
Have a delicious Punjabi dinner. Overnight in Chandigarh.
Start after breakfast for Mandi which is on the route to Manali. This is around five and half hours journey. Check into a hotel on arrival in Mandi. Manali is your destination of desire, but Mandi is also quite beautiful and has a lot to offer.
Check out places in or nearby Mandi. An important place to explore in Mandi town itself is Bhutnath Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. It is an early 16th Century temple.
Overnight in Mandi.
After a good breakfast check out from the hotel and start for
Manali. This route is very scenic and has a lot of beautiful places. It takes a little more than three hours to reach Manali from Mandi.
You can check out Rewalsar Lake and Pandoh Dam on the way. While Rewalsar lake is a square shaped lake, Pandoh Dam is a hydropower generating dam built on River Beas.
Drive ahead after these detours and reach Manali, passing through Kullu Valley. Check into Cherry’s Manali on arrival.
Overnight in Manali.
Have a nice breakfast and set out for the beautiful Rohtang Pass. This is nearly two hour drive from Manali town. Coordinate with your tour operator for the necessary permit required for visiting Rohtang Pass.
Rohtang Pass is a gateway to Lahul and Spiti valleys which are surrounded by Pir Panjal Range. It also connects Manali to Leh. There is a rush among tourists to visit this place. As a result now a limited number of people are allowed per day.
Mountain biking is something all tourists love to try at Rohtang. It is an adventure you may like to indulge in. Cycling on rocky terrain is, after all, not for everyone.
If you have reached at a time when thick layer of snow is still present, you can try hands at snow scooter. These scooters are available on rent and you can drive around Rohtang Pass.
Paragliding is also an activity which you may find interesting here. This is a 15-20 minute ride and gives you opportunity to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the entire region. This activity is mostly available here from May to October. But if you are visiting Rohtang Pass in winters, you can try Heliskiing. A helicopter takes you on a 10 minutes ride to a height of more than 14000 feet.
Stop to see Rahala Falls either while going towards Rohtang Pass or while returning. Rahala waterfall is a result of melting glacier, and so the water at this fall is extremely cold. This fall is set amidst dense forest of deodar, silver birch trees, and fresh and aromatic air.
Third day at this perfect honeymoon destination should begin with breakfast. Today you should go on to visit Solang Valley. This is some 13km from Manali.
Solang valley is located between the Beas Kund and Solang village. It is also referred to as “Snow Point” as it offers the best view of the snow-capped mountains and the stunning glaciers in whole of Manali.
Solang Valley has different beauties in summer and winter. While in winter you can enjoy skiing here, in summer you can try paragliding, quad biking and zorbing.
Skies look so crystal clear and blue here. Gazing at it along with the towering snow capped peaks is also fulfilling.
At Solang Valley you can also experience a gondola ride and a zipline.
After an enjoyable time at Solang Valley, you can choose to visit two famous temples in Manali – Hidimba Temple and Manu Temple.
Enjoy a delicious dinner. Overnight at Cherry’s Manali.
Check out from Cherry’s Manali after a good early breakfast. Start for Dharamshala, an attraction of Kangra. This is a drive of over 230km and takes more than seven hours.
On the way to Dharamshala, you can stop at Mandi, Joginder Nagar and Palampur, depending on how much time you have.
Check into a hotel on arrival in Dharamshala. Enjoy a nice dinner. Overnight in Dharamshala.
Dharamshala offers a lot of activities for all kinds of travelers. Adventure seekers can straight away go for paragliding or trekking. For others there are other quite interesting activities.
A trip to McLeodganj, the seat of Dalai Lama, is a must. Those interested in trekking can go from here for Triund Trek which can be done in a day. An overnight stay on this trek is, however, recommended.
A trip to Kangra Valley to enjoy a peaceful time at the tea garden is highly recommended. Do sip some tea varieties and do not forget to buy some for yourself and your loved ones.
While in Kangra, go on to explore Kangra Fort, the largest fort in the Himalayas. This Fort witnessed a lot of attacks from the Mughal forces. A tour of the Fort is quite informative and gives a good chance to pip into history.
On the way back to Dharamshala from Kangra, take time to explore Gyuto Monastery. This is located approximately 9 kilometers south east of Dharamsala on the Palampur-Dharamsala road. It’s a very important monastery in Buddhist heritage as it is a premium tantric college. It follows the principles of the Gelug Order.
Enjoy your dinner and overnight in Dharamshala.
Explore the whole of Dharamshala and nearby areas today. Stroll on the streets of Dharamshala. Explore the local markets, local restaurants. If you get a chance, please have a look at the traditional folk dance in Dharamshala.
Try out traditional cuisines of Dharamshala and take walks in the forested villages in and around Dharamshala. If you are at a time when traditional fair is going on, take out time to explore that as well.
Check out after an early breakfast and drive to Dalhousie, a relatively smaller hill station situated at a drive of nearly four hours from Dharamshala. Check into Cherry’s Dalhousie on arrival in this hill town.
Dalhousie was once used as residence by Subhash Chandra Bose to recuperate during his illness.
Dalhousie is home to colonial-era buildings, including St. Francis, St. Patrick’s and St. John’s churches. Go and explore these on arrival in Dalhousie. Enjoy your lunch at a restaurant and take a stroll on the Mall Road here.
You can go on to visit Khajjiar, a small town some 20km from Dalhousie. Khajjiar is often described as Mini Switzerland by locals for its beauty.
Khajjiar is known for its picture perfect grassy meadows. There is a small lake in the middle of the meadow and you could enjoy the scenery by yourself or take part in some of the adventure sports including paragliding, zorbing, and horse-riding.
Enjoy nice cuisines. Overnight at Cherry’s Dalhousie.
After a nice breakfast start to say good bye to the beautiful Himachal Pradesh. Head towards Amritsar, the pious city and one of the most important Sikh pilgrimage centers in India.
This is around five hours journey. Check into a hotel on arrival in Amritsar.
Amritsar is famous for Golden Temple – a place of great reverence for all. Make it a point to visit Golden Temple. Soak in the environment there. Listen to the enchanting of pure melodious “Guruwanis”. Spend a quality time in the Golden Temple.
Nearby is the famous but tragic place – Jallianwala Bagh. This is the place where a number of unarmed Indians were killed in unprovoked firing by the British Police on 13th April 1919. Pay a tribute to all those killed. Look at the museum there and see the signs of the horror which took place that day.
Try out the delicious Punjabi cuisines which have made their names worldwide. Return to the hotel and have a nice comfortable sleep relishing the time spent on the entire tour.
After breakfast head to the airport to catch flight to your desired destinations. Relish the memories of this tour of Manali along with a few other beautiful places in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab.
