Manali in March and April — blossom below, snow above, and nobody here

The season the calendar forgets

Between the winter crowd, which leaves after New Year, and the summer crowd, which arrives in the last week of May, the Manali valley has two months in which it belongs to the people who live in it. Days warm from around 17 °C in March to 21 °C in April. The snow retreats up the valley walls week by week, the orchards below the town come into flower, the rhododendrons turn the forests red, the meadows go green, and the streams run full. The pass is shut, the tunnel is open, and the far side of the ridge is still in winter — so a spring day can hold blossom and snow an hour apart.

It is the quietest good season the valley has, and the cheapest outside the monsoon. This page is why, and how to use it.

March

The month of reopening. The cafés and guesthouses of Old Manali that shut in December come back through March, a few at a time; by the end of the month most are open and the lane is itself again. The town is green, the mornings are cold, the afternoons are mild. The orchards around Kullu and Patlikuhl flower first; Naggar's follow. On the far side of the tunnel Sissu is still deep in snow, and Gulaba on the pass road holds it into the month.

What works in March: the town and the springs, the tunnel to Sissu for snow, Naggar Castle and the left bank, the sanctuary path. What does not yet: the walks to Jogini Falls and Anjani Mahadev hold ice in the shade early in the month and dry out by the end; the flying at Solang starts as the meadow dries.

April

The best of it. Days around 21 °C, the orchards at Naggar in full blossom in the first half of the month, the rhododendrons out above the town, the walks dry. The meadow at Solang green and the flying running in calm morning air, and — most years — snow still on the far side of the tunnel at Sissu. Rooms at spring rates; the lanes to yourself. The pass usually stays shut until May, and the tunnel makes that irrelevant.

What works in April: everything below the pass. The spring itinerary is three days of it — the empty town and the springs, the tunnel to a Sissu still white, the orchards of Naggar in flower.

The snow-and-blossom day

The trick of the season, and the reason to come. The Atal Tunnel to Sissu in the morning — 39 km, about an hour, no permit, the meadow and the roofs white. Back through the tunnel for lunch at Solang or in Old Manali, then down the left bank in the afternoon light to Naggar and its orchards in flower. Two seasons in one day, and the Sissu day trip is the morning half of it. Leave later in the morning after a late snowfall; the road above Solang is cleared after each one.

What is shut

Rohtang Pass, until some time in May; the camping treks, until late May; the rafting below Kullu, until the river settles in March and the counters reopen; and, in early March, some of Old Manali. Nothing else. The Rohtang permit article explains why the pass does not matter in spring.

Getting here in spring

The overnight bus from Delhi, 513 km, runs half-empty; the drive from Chandigarh, 264 km and about 289 min, is on dry roads with no traffic to speak of; flights to Bhuntar, 49 km away, have their best weather of the year. The how to reach article compares them, and the fly-in plan is a spring weekend built round the airport.

What to pack

A fleece and a shell for the town — days mild, evenings cold — and a real jacket for the tunnel day, because Sissu at 3,120 m is winter. Shoes with grip for the walks as they dry out. Sun protection on the snow and in the meadow. The packing article has the season-by-season list.

The plan

Three days: the spring itinerary. Two with a night at Naggar under the blossom: the left-bank plan. A couple who want the valley to themselves: the couples plan, which is written for exactly these months. And the May article for what happens next, when the pass opens and the valley fills.

Plans that include this

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