Manali in May — the pass opens, the valley fills, and the first half is the secret

Two Mays

May in Manali is two months wearing one name. The first half is spring's last act. Days around 25 °C, the rhododendrons out in the forests above the town, the orchards past blossom and into leaf, the pass being cut open with the deepest roadside snow of the year. And the valley still quiet, because the plains' schools have not yet broken up. The second half is the beginning of the peak: the Hadimba festival in the middle of the month, then the school holidays, then the crowd that stays until the monsoon.

If you can choose, choose the first half. It has everything June has except the crowd, and a few things June has lost.

The pass opens

The event of May is Rohtang. The road authority cuts the road through the winter's snow through April and into May. On the day it opens — announced by the district administration, different every year — the walls of snow at the roadside near the top and above Marhi stand at their highest. The first fortnight after the opening is the best the pass gets: deep snow, a clear sky more often than not, and a permit that is still easy to book because the crowd has not come. The permit system is the same as ever — one per vehicle, online, capped — and the six o'clock start is the same. The Rohtang or tunnel article weighs the two; in early May the pass wins for anyone who wants snow.

Do not, though, book a May trip around a fixed pass date. Some years it opens in the first week and some years in the last. If it is not open when you arrive, Sissu through the Atal Tunnel still has snow on the high ground in May, and Gulaba, where the plough has stopped all winter, has it underfoot.

What else May has

The meadow at its best. Solang is green and the air over the ridge is calm in the mornings. The flying — typically ₹3,000–5,000 for a tandem flight as of September 2026, quoted on the day — is at its smoothest before the June winds. The walk to the shrine above the meadow is dry, and the waterfall it ends at is full with melt.

The melt. Rehala Falls on the pass road and the falls at Jogini above Vashisht are loud in May; the Beas is rising, and the rafting on the river below Kullu is at its roughest, typically ₹500–1,500 per person. The rafting guide has the stretches.

The treks, from the end of the month. Beas Kund and Bhrigu Lake run from late May, with snow still above the meadows and the lakes half frozen — the wildest version of both. The outfits' first fixed departures fill; book ahead.

The rhododendrons. The forests above the town, and the slopes on the way up to Gulaba, flower red through April and May; the sanctuary path is the walk to see them from.

The festival. The Dhungri mela in the middle of the month at the Hadimba temple: three days when the goddess is honoured and the valley's village deities are carried to the grove with their drummers. The town's own festival, the grove's busiest days, and worth being here for; the temple is not yours those mornings, and it should not be.

The second half

From around the twentieth the school holidays begin and the valley fills, and the June article takes over: early starts, rooms booked weeks ahead, the Solang road a queue by ten, the pass permit selling out on weekends. Everything the first half has is still there; it is shared with more people and it costs more. The peak-season plan is written for exactly these weeks, and it works.

Getting here in May

The overnight bus from Delhi, 513 km, is easy to book in the first half and full on weekends in the second. The drive from Chandigarh, 264 km and about 289 min, is on dry roads, with the plains already hot enough to make leaving before five the sensible thing. Flights to Bhuntar, 49 km away, run in the clear weather. The how to reach article compares them.

What to pack

T-shirts for the day and a fleece for the evening, when the town drops to around 9 °C. A shell, a hat and gloves for the pass, which is winter at the top whatever the meadow feels like. Shoes with grip for the Jogini path and its full stream crossings; sun protection for the meadow and the snow. Snowsuits for the pass day are hired at the roadside above Kothi by the day. The packing article has the list.

The plan

Four days with the pass in it: the valley-pass-meadow plan, with the pass day moved to whichever day the road is open. Three days without it: the classic first visit. Children: the kids plan, which uses the tunnel and not the pass. And for the second half, the peak-season plan and its seven o'clock starts.

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