Our family holidays will be in North India this year and the two places we will be visiting at Delhi, Chandigarh, and Manali. We are ok with getting to Delhi and Chandigarh but are unsure about going to Manali. We would like to know how to reach Manali? We would be relying on public transport. Would it be easier to go to Manali from Delhi or Chandigarh?
Hello, @Mithun! Welcome to the forum! The distance between Manali and Delhi is about 620 kms. It can take you 13 to 14 hours to cover this distance by car and a little longer with public transportation. Here are your transportation options from Delhi to Manali: 1. By Bus - For buses from Delhi to Manali, you have different options: Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Buses, Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) Buses and Private Buses. For the HPTDC Bus timing, here it is: HPTDC Volvo AC Bus - Departs from Delhi at 6:30 pm. Fare is at Rs. 1,300 per passenger. It departs from the Chandra Lok Building in New Delhi. It also has a stopover at Mirchi Restaurant, about 5 hours away from Delhi. For the HRTC Bus timings, here they are: HRTC Volvo AC Bus - Departs from Delhi at 7:00 pm, 7:35 pm, 8:00 pm, 8:26 pm and 9:03 pm. Fare is at Rs. 1,412 per passenger. It departs from the Kashmiri Gate ISBT in New Delhi. HRTC Non AC Bus - Departs from Delhi at 11:30 am, 4:40 pm, 5:40 pm, 6:15, 6:40 pm, 7:30 pm, 9:14 pm and 10:02 pm. Fare is at Rs. 684 and above per passenger. It departs from the Kashmiri Gate ISBT in New Delhi. For the private buses, here are their timings: Himachal Volvo Bus Service (Volvo AC Seater/Semi-Sleeper) - Departs at 5:00 pm from Majnu Ka Tila. Fare is at Rs. 899 per passenger. Himalayan Nomad KTC Bus (Volvo AC Semi-Sleeper) - Departs at 4:45 pm from Majnu Ka Tila. Fare is at Rs. 1,100 per passenger. Swagatam Holidays Bus (Volvo AC Seater/Semi-Sleeper) - Departs at 6:00 pm from Majnu Ka Tila. Fare is at Rs. 1,299 per passenger. Shubham Holiday Bus (Volvo AC Seater/Semi-Sleeper) - Departs at 5:00 pm from Rama Krishna Metro Station. Fare is at Rs. 725 per passenger. 2. By Train - The nearest railway stations to Manali are Chandigarh Railway Station, Joginder Railway Station and Una Railway Station. The best railway station would be Chandigarh, as it has plenty of buses plying to reach Manali. Here are your train options from Delhi to Chandigarh: Jabalpur Atari Special Fare Train No. 01707 - Departs at 00:50 and arrives at 4:00. Allahabad Jammu Special Fare Train No. 04111 - Departs at 00:54 and arrives at 4:30. Indore Chandigarh Weekly Express Train No. 19307 - Departs at 1:40 and arrives at 6:45. Himalayan Queen Express Train No. 14095 - Departs at 5:35 and arrives at 10:25. From Chandigarh, there are buses plying to Manali. Here are their timings: HRTC Bus - The Volvo HRTC Bus leaves at 8:40 pm and fare is at Rs. 854 per passenger. The ordinary HRTC Bus leaves at 6:40 pm and fare is at Rs. 449 per passenger. Private Bus - There are also plenty of buses plying this route. The New Himalaya Travels has a Volvo AC Semi-Sleeper Bus and it leaves at 11:15 pm. Fare is at Rs. 950 per passenger. The Swagatam Holidays has a Volvo AC Seater/Sleeper Bus and it leaves at 11:45 pm. Fare is at Rs. 950 per passenger. There are also trains from Delhi to Una Railway Station. However, there are no buses plying from Una to Manali so you have to ride a taxi to reach the latter. Here are the timings of the trains: Himachal Express Train No. 14553 - Departs daily at 22:55 and arrives at 7:48. Una Jan Shatabdi Train No. 12057 - Departs daily at 14:53 and arrives at 22:10. Una is about 247 kms from Manali so it can take you 7 more hours to reach the latter. As mentioned, you can only ride a taxi to reach Manali from Una. From Delhi, there are also trains going to Joginder Nagar Railway Station. However, the trains for this route is slow and they are passenger ones. Here are their timings: Pathankot Joginder Nagar Kangra Valley Passenger Train No. 52471 - Departs daily at 2:15 and arrives at 11:25. Pathankot Baijnath Kangra Valley Passenger Train No. 52463 - Departs daily at 4:00 and arrives at 10:45. Pathankot Baijnath Kangra Valley Passenger Train No. 52465 - Departs daily at 6:45 and arrives at 14:00. Joginder Nagar is about 162 kms from Manali so it can take you 5 more hours to reach the latter. Honestly, you won't have any problems with the two routes, either from Delhi or Chandigarh. Bus availability is frequent and you won't have to wait that long to be able to board a bus to reach Manali from Delhi or Chandigarh. But if your itinerary does include Chandigarh, then it would be better to ride a bus from there to Manali. I hope this helps.
