Tosh
town · 50 min from Kasol
4 nights · 5 daysFirst visitMulti-hubbalanced
Kasol and Manali in five days — two nights on the Parvati, two on the Beas, the left bank between
Two nights on the Parvati and two on the Beas: Chalal, Tosh and Manikaran, the Naggar road with the castle for lunch, then Solang, Vashisht and Hadimba.
The two valleys are two hours apart and different enough to be worth the transfer: the Parvati narrow, green and loud, a valley of walks and one road; the Beas wide and busy, a valley of drives and a town with everything. Five days gives each its two nights and puts the left-bank road through Naggar — the best drive in Kullu — in the middle as the transfer, with the castle for lunch.
Every road minute is measured on the actual road; the activities at Solang are notes with the bands we last checked and are paid on the day. Nothing is booked ahead except, in peak weeks, the rooms.
Photos: Pinakpani (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Timothy A. Gonsalves (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Vyacheslav Argenberg (CC BY 4.0) · Itsarti (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Madhumita Das (CC BY-SA 4.0) — via Wikimedia Commons, resized.
Who this is for
First visits to Kullu with five days and a wish to see both sides, and anyone doing the Delhi–Bhuntar bus who wants more than one valley from it. The order is deliberate — Kasol first, when the legs are fresh for Tosh, Manali last for the drives and the road out. Reverse it if the flight in lands at Bhuntar in the afternoon; the Manali days then come first.
Day by day
Day 1
Up the Parvati — Kasol and the far bank
From Bhuntar up the side valley to Kasol by late morning. The bridge, the river path to Chalal, and the evening on the far bank.
- 11:30KasolThe market for cash and a room — typically ₹800–2,500 a night in season as of Sep 2026 — and the taxi stand for tomorrow's run to Barshaini. Then the lane down to the bridge.
- ↓ 3 min by road · 1 km13:30ChalalTwenty minutes along the far bank through the pines. Lunch on the path, the river until the light goes, and the walk back with a torch.
Day 2
The road-end, Tosh on foot, and the springs after
The Parvati's classic day — a taxi to Barshaini, the hour up to Tosh, and Manikaran's hot tanks on the way back down when the buses have gone.
- 09:00BarshainiThirty-seven minutes up the valley; the taxi is typically ₹800–1,500 one way as of Sep 2026 and waits. The Tosh path leaves from the bridge.
- ↓ 13 min by road · 4 km10:30ToshAn hour's climb to the village on its shelf, lunch on a terrace facing the snow, and down by mid-afternoon.
- ↓ 45 min by road · 16 km16:30Gurudwara Sahib ManikaranThe gurdwara over the hot springs on the road back: heads covered, shoes off, the tanks, the langar for an early dinner. Nothing to pay, and quiet after five.
Day 3
Down the Parvati, up the Beas by the left bank
The transfer day, done slowly. Down to Bhuntar and up the Beas on the quieter left-bank road through Naggar, with the castle for lunch, to Manali by late afternoon.
- 13:00Naggar CastleKasol to Manali is 75 km and about two hours by the main road; the left-bank road through Naggar adds little and is the better drive. The timber castle from the 1400s, tea on its balcony over the valley, and the Roerich gallery up the hill for anyone with an hour.
- ↓ 33 min by road · 20 km17:00Old ManaliOver the Manalsu bridge and up the lane for the two Manali nights: guesthouses, cafés and the trekking counters. The Manali guide has the room bands; they run above Kasol's.
Day 4
Up the valley to Solang, and the hot baths at Vashisht
The Beas side's day out — the meadow at Solang in the morning, when the ridge flies and the ropeway runs, and Vashisht's temple tanks across the river in the afternoon.
- 09:00SolangThe meadow up the valley from Manali. Tandem flights in season and the ropeway on clear days, quoted on the day at the counters above the car park — the bands are in the Manali guide; or the walk to the shrine under the rock for free.
- ↓ 23 min by road · 11 km15:00Vashisht TempleThe village across the Beas from Manali with the wooden temple and the free hot-spring tanks in its courtyard — the Beas valley's answer to Manikaran, smaller and quieter.
Day 5
Hadimba in the grove, the Mall, and the road
The temple in its deodar grove before the day-trip crowd, an hour on the Mall, and the road down the Beas to Bhuntar for the flight or the bus.
- 08:30Hadimba Devi TempleThe four-tiered timber temple in the cedar grove above the town, ten minutes on foot from Old Manali; go before nine for the grove to yourself.
- ↓ 6 min by road · 2 km10:30Mall RoadCoffee and the shawl shops, then the taxi down the valley: Bhuntar and the airport are about an hour and a quarter below Manali.
Getting there
Bhuntar is the gateway to both valleys: the airport is there and the Delhi and Chandigarh buses pass it. Kasol is 32 km up the Parvati, about 70 minutes; Manali is up the Beas on the same road, about an hour and a quarter. The plan starts and ends within an hour and a half of the airport.
Where to stay
Chalal or Kasol's market for the Parvati nights; Old Manali for the Beas nights — the lane above the bridge with the guesthouses and the counters, twenty minutes on foot from the bus stand. The Manali guide compares the town's areas; the Kasol guide the valley's.
Know before you go
- Cash for the Parvati days, drawn at Bhuntar or Kasol; Manali has ATMs on every street.
- Prices are bands checked in September 2026; both valleys' counters quote on the day, and Manali's run higher in May–June.
- Take the left-bank road through Naggar for the transfer; the main road is faster by minutes and worse by miles.
- Solang flies in the morning; be at the meadow by nine or skip the flight.
- The Beas at Manali is as dangerous as the Parvati at Kasol — sit by both, swim in neither.
If plans change
More Parvati, less Beas: the friends plan adds the Kheerganga night and drops Manali.
More Beas, less Parvati: Manali's four-day plan with a Kasol day trip is the other balance.
The Manali side alone: the Manali three-day classic.
Places on this route
Other ways to do it
All Kasol itineraries →
2 nights · 3 days · First visitClassicThree days in Kasol — Chalal, the road-end and the walk up to Tosh, then Manikaran
The classic three days in Kasol: the river and Chalal, the taxi to Barshaini and the walk up to Tosh, Manikaran's springs on the way out, with measured times.
Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Nov
See the plan →
3 nights · 4 days · FriendsClassicKasol with friends — four days: a Tosh night, the Kheerganga walk, and Chalal to finish
A four-day Kasol plan for a group: a night in Tosh, the walk to Kheerganga and a night by the spring, down to Chalal, Manikaran on the way out.
Best Apr–Jun · Sep–Nov
See the plan →
2 nights · 3 days · First visitClassicThree days in Manali — the classic first visit
A three-day Manali itinerary: the temples and Old Manali on foot, Solang and the Atal Tunnel to Sissu with no permit, then Naggar Castle on the way out.
Best Mar–Jun · Sep–Dec
See the plan →
3 nights · 4 days · First visitClassicFour days in Manali — the valley, the pass and the meadow
A four-day Manali itinerary: the temples on foot, a full day up to Rohtang Pass with the permit sorted, a slow day at Naggar Castle, then waterfall walks.
Best May–Jun · Sep–Oct
See the plan →Questions people ask
How far is Kasol from Manali?
75 km and about two hours by road as of September 2026: down the Parvati to Bhuntar, then up the Beas. The left-bank road through Naggar adds little time and is the better drive, with the castle and the Roerich gallery as the lunch stop. Buses change at Bhuntar or Kullu; a taxi runs it in one go.
Should I do Kasol or Manali first?
Kasol first if you arrive by bus in the morning — the legs are fresh for Tosh and Manali has the easier last day and the road to the airport. Manali first if the flight lands at Bhuntar in the afternoon, when the Beas side's drives suit a late start and Kasol's walks come with rested legs.
Is five days enough for Kasol and Manali?
For the essentials of both, yes: two nights on the Parvati for the river, Tosh and Manikaran, a transfer day with Naggar in the middle, and two nights on the Beas for Solang, Vashisht and Hadimba. The Kheerganga night, Malana and Rohtang each need a day added.