By bus:
Manali is about 550 km from Delhi, the capital of India, and there are buses connecting the town with Delhi, Shimla, Dharamsala and Leh. For service from Delhi to Manali, tickets and reservations can be made at the Inter State Bus Terminus as well as at the Himachal Tourism office on Safdar Hashmi Marg near Mandi House in New Delhi. The approximate travel time from Delhi to Manali is 18 hours; from Ambala to Manali is 10 hours; and from Kulu to Manali is 1.5 to 3 hours. Volvo buses are available from Delhi but you need to book these two to five days in advance. Considering the long and difficult drive, many prefer to take a day or two off at Simla before heading on.
By private taxi:
If hiring a private taxi, ensure that the driver has experience driving in hilly regions and doesn't have the habit of drinking alcohol.Also make sure the driver has done the trip atleast once before and knows all roads .
By train:
The nearest Broad Gauge Rail Head is Ambala Cantt(200 km) or Chandigarh (250 km)from Indian Capital New Delhi. Ambala Cantt is on the Delhi - Amritsar and Delhi - Jammu main lines and is well served by rail, but you will need to travel to Ambala to get a bus for the 10 hour ride to Manali. Jogindernagar and Kalka are other, less preferable, rail heads for Manali. The nearest Broad gauge station is Kiratpur Sahib in punjab near the city of Nangal . It lies in Ropar district of Punjab. The station lies on the Ambala Cantt - Una route of Indian Railways. From here you can easily get buses for Manali.
By plane:
The nearest airport is Bhuntar Airport ( Tel: 01902-65037, 65603) , 50 km from Manali, 10 km from Kullu, about two hours away. Indian Airlines, Kingfisher airlines,MDLR Airlines and Jagson Airlines operate flights to Kullu from Delhi and Chandigarh.
Get around:
There are various ways of getting around in Manali, if you are not already travelling with your own vehicle. Most tourists hire a taxi (various kinds available), which takes you around to all the sight seeing spots in and around Manali (Rohtang, Manikaran etc). It costs about Rs. 1500 per day, or little over Rs. 3000 if you book together for 3 days (in the peak season)
The second most common way is to hire a bike. There are many places where you can hire a bike (easy to find if you ask around), and is the most common mode of transport for foreigners. Both cruiser bikes like Bullet and sport bikes from Honda, Bajaj, Yamaha etc are easily available, though Bullet is the most commonly seen one on the roads. Rates hover around Rs. 500-600 per day in the peak season, but much discounted at other times.
Public transport is not so good. There are cheap bus services, but they are not so frequent. Yet, if you are going to stay for a long time, it is better to know the times and use them, as other modes of public transport and exorbitant compared to bus. For e.g., auto rickshaws take Rs. 200 from manali mall road to Solang valley, while the bus will cost you just Rs. 10.
