Manali (Winter)

Manali is a town with a split personality, dictated by the changing seasons. In summer, travelers flock to this Himalayan hill resort for the hot springs, rafting, trekking, climbing, mountain-biking and epic scenery. In winter, Manali transforms into India's favorite ski resort, with pristine pistes soaring uphill from the village of Solang Nullah. By international standards, skiing in Manali is quite low-key, with just a handful of lifts and runs, but adventurous skiers head deep into the mountains by helicopter to ski on untouched Himalayan powder. Once a British hill station, Manali now attracts as many Indian tourists as foreigners. In ...

Manali is a town with a split personality, dictated by the changing seasons. In summer, travelers flock to this Himalayan hill resort for the hot springs, rafting, trekking, climbing, mountain-biking and epic scenery. In winter, Manali transforms into India's favorite ski resort, with pristine pistes soaring uphill from the village of Solang Nullah. By international standards, skiing in Manali is quite low-key, with just a handful of lifts and runs, but adventurous skiers head deep into the mountains by helicopter to ski on untouched Himalayan powder. Once a British hill station, Manali now attracts as many Indian tourists as foreigners. In summer, this is a premier honeymoon destination, attracting huge crowds of newly-weds; in winter, families come here from across the subcontinent for their first taste of snow. Superimposed over Manali the mountain resort is the laid-back hippie hang-out that first attracted overland travelers in the 1960s, best experienced in the nearby village of Vashisht. In summer, it is possible to continue by road to the remote valleys of Ladakh, but the passes close in October and only the most hardy brave the trekking routes in winter.

About the Expert

Joe Bindloss has written more than 30 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, Time Out and other publishers, with a focus on Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and island nations.