Spiti Valley Camping Tour Package: 8 Days and 7 Nights to Chandratal Lake 8 Days & 7 Nights

This is a private, fully customizable 8 days 7 nights camping tour of Spiti Valley that reaches Chandratal the gentle way, up through Kinnaur rather than straight over the Manali passes. You spend six nights in hand-picked hill hotels and one unforgettable night camped beside Chandratal Lake at about 4,300 m, under one of the darkest, most star-heavy skies in the country. Because the route climbs slowly through Sarahan, Sangla, Kalpa and Nako before Kaza, your body has days to adjust to the altitude, not hours. A Himachal specialist plans your dates around the June to September camping window, and 24/7 support runs through the trip.

This Spiti Valley camping tour package runs the full Kinnaur-in, Manali-out circuit that almost no fixed camping trip covers: Chandigarh up to Sarahan, then Sangla and Chitkul on the old Indo-Tibetan border, Kalpa in apple country, Nako by its lake, and the thousand-year-old monasteries at Gue, Tabo and Dhankar before you reach Kaza, the capital of Spiti. From Kaza you take in the high-village cluster the valley is famous for, Kye Monastery, Kibber, Hikkim, Komik and the fossil village of Langza, then cross Kunzum Pass to camp a night at Chandratal before the drive out to Manali. It is one of the richest 8-day routes into Spiti, and the only one that pairs the Kinnaur approach with a Chandratal camp night. For other durations and routes, browse our full range of Spiti Valley tour packages.

Trip Highlights

• Camp a full night beside Chandratal Lake (Moon Lake) at about 4,300 m, with tents, sleeping bags and a hot dinner laid on at the campsite.



• Cross Kunzum Pass at about 4,551 m, the gateway between Lahaul and Spiti, on the way to the Chandratal camp.



• Take the gentle Kinnaur approach through Sarahan, Sangla, Chitkul, Kalpa and Nako, so you acclimatize over days instead of hours.



• Visit the millennium-old Tabo Monastery, the fort-like Dhankar Monastery above the Spiti and Pin confluence, and Kye Monastery, the valley's iconic hilltop gompa.



• See the Asia's-highest cluster from Kaza: Langza with its Buddha statue and ammonite fossils, Hikkim's world's-highest post office, Komik and Kibber.



• Stargaze and watch the Milky Way rise over Chandratal, with almost no light pollution for miles.



• Private cab throughout, a labelled cancellation policy, and clear permit guidance for the Kinnaur border stretch.

Spiti Camping Tour at a Glance

Your Camping Experience at Chandratal

The camp night is the heart of this trip, and it lands on Day 7 beside Chandratal, the crescent-shaped "Moon Lake" near Kunzum Pass at about 4,300 m. The camps sit a short walk back from the water, since staying on the shore itself is restricted to protect the lake, and they are simple by design: a fixed tent with a bed and mattress, thick sleeping bags rated for a cold high-altitude night, a shared dining tent where hot dinner and morning breakfast are served, and basic washroom facilities. Bring your own layers; even in July the temperature at the lake can slide toward freezing after dark.

What makes the night special is the sky. With no town, no streetlight and thin, dry mountain air, Chandratal is one of the best places in India to see the Milky Way with the naked eye, and most travellers spend the evening around a camp gathering before the cold sends everyone into their tents. The other six nights of this trip are comfortable hill hotels in Sarahan, Sangla, Kalpa, Nako and Kaza, so you get the one wild night at the lake without roughing it for a week. If you want more nights under canvas, tell your coordinator and we can add a second camp on the route.

Best Time for Camping in Spiti Valley

Camping in Spiti runs from roughly June to September, and the limiting factor is the road, not the weather in the plains. The Chandratal camp and Kunzum Pass only open once the winter snow clears, usually by mid-June, and they shut again with the first heavy snow around early to mid October. June and early July give you long days and the first camps of the season, though meltwater can make some stream crossings on the Chandratal road run high. August is the warmest for camping but also the peak landslide window on the Kinnaur and Kaza roads. Many campers prefer September: clear skies, the sharpest mountain light of the year, and the coldest, most star-filled nights at Chandratal. From November to late May the passes are snowbound and the Chandratal camp does not run, so this exact trip is a summer and early-autumn journey.

The winter temperature in Spiti can drop to around minus 30 degrees Celsius, which is why the camping season is short and firmly tied to the June to September window.

For a month-by-month view of the wider region, see our Himachal travel guide.

Why This Trip Takes the Kinnaur Circuit

Spiti has two doors. Most quick camping trips barrel in from Manali, climbing from about 2,050 m over Rohtang and Kunzum to Kaza in a single day, which is dramatic but hard on the body. This package instead comes in the long, gentle way, up through Kinnaur: Sarahan, then Sangla and Chitkul, Kalpa, and Nako, gaining height over four or five days before Kaza. The pay-off is two-fold. Your body acclimatizes slowly, which cuts the risk of altitude sickness at the Kunzum and Chandratal high point, and you see a whole side of the region the Manali dash skips: the Sutlej gorge, the apple orchards of Kalpa, the last-village feel of Chitkul, and the border monasteries at Nako, Gue and Tabo. You still get the Manali high passes, just at the end, on the drive out after the Chandratal camp.

Altitude and AMS: Staying Safe on a High-Desert Camp

Spiti is high, cold-desert country, and on this trip you sleep at about 3,800 m in Kaza and 4,300 m at the Chandratal camp, and cross Kunzum Pass at about 4,551 m. The good news is that the Kinnaur route is one of the gentler ways to gain that height, so acute mountain sickness (AMS) is less likely here than on a Manali-in dash. AMS still shows up 6 to 24 hours after a fast climb as headache, nausea, breathlessness, poor appetite or broken sleep. It is usually mild, but it must not be ignored, and the Kunzum and Chandratal day is when it matters most.

A few habits cut the risk sharply. Drink 3 to 4 litres of water a day, skip alcohol for the first day or two, and eat light. Talk to your doctor before the trip about carrying Acetazolamide (Diamox) if you are prone to altitude sickness. If symptoms turn severe, meaning confusion, breathlessness at rest or repeated vomiting, descend without waiting and get help; Kaza has a small hospital. This is general guidance, not medical advice, so plan the trip with your own doctor if you have a heart or lung condition.

How to Reach and Permits for Spiti

This trip starts in Chandigarh and ends in Manali, so most travellers reach the start point by air or rail to Chandigarh and fly home from Kullu or by road from Manali. The table sums up the main options.

"Do the Chandratal camp night near the end, not the start. By Day 7 your group has had five days climbing through Kinnaur, so you sleep far better at 4,300 m than anyone who rushed up from Manali," says the lead of TravelTriangle's Spiti operations desk [reviewer name and role to be confirmed]. The fares and the June to September camping window on this page are checked by our Himachal desk against current road-status advisories before each season.

A Word From Our Spiti Desk

"Do the Chandratal camp night near the end, not the start. By Day 7 your group has had five days climbing through Kinnaur, so you sleep far better at 4,300 m than anyone who rushed up from Manali," says the lead of TravelTriangle's Spiti operations desk. The fares and the June to September camping window on this page are checked by our Himachal desk against current road-status advisories before each season.

Day-by-Day Itinerary

Day 1: Chandigarh to Sarahan

Your driver meets you on arrival in Chandigarh and you set off up the hills to Baga Sarahan, driving through Theog and Narkanda and on along the Indo-Tibetan road toward Duttnagar. Kullu Sarahan is a quiet village in the Seraj region that few tourists reach, with big mountain views, old wooden architecture and an easy, unhurried feel. Check in, then wander the village in the late afternoon before dinner. Dinner and overnight in Sarahan.

Included today: Chandigarh to Sarahan transfer, dinner, stay.

Day 2: Sarahan to Sangla

After breakfast you check out and drive to Sangla in the Baspa valley, about a six-hour road trip through some of Kinnaur's finest scenery, with the Sutlej and then the Baspa river for company. Reach Sangla, freshen up, and spend the evening on a walk to its old carved temples and Buddhist shrines. Dinner and overnight in Sangla.

Included today: Sarahan to Sangla drive (about 6 hrs), breakfast, dinner, stay.

Day 3: Chitkul, then on to Kalpa

A morning run takes you to Chitkul, the last inhabited village on the old Indo-Tibetan route, where you can walk the lanes, meet local families and take in the raw high-valley scenery. After the visit you head back down and on to Kalpa, the apple-country village that looks straight across at the Kinner Kailash range. The rest of the day is yours to relax or stroll the nearby hamlets. Dinner and overnight in Kalpa.

Included today: Chitkul sightseeing and transfer to Kalpa, breakfast, dinner, stay.

Day 4: Kalpa to Nako

After breakfast you check out and drive deeper into the mountains to Nako, a small village set around its own lake near the Tibet border. You can explore Nako on foot, visit the lake and the Buddhist monastery, and drive on to see the Gue Monastery, home to the naturally preserved 500-year-old monk mummy, and the ancient monastery town of Tabo. You return to Nako for dinner and overnight.

Included today: Kalpa to Nako drive with Gue and Tabo visits, breakfast, dinner, stay.

Day 5: Nako to Kaza via Dhankar and Pin Valley

Today you head for Kaza, the capital of Spiti, breaking the drive at two highlights. Dhankar Monastery stands like a fort on a spur at about 3,894 m, a roughly thousand-year-old gompa on the World Monuments watch-list of endangered sites, overlooking the meeting of the Spiti and Pin rivers. Nearby, Pin Valley National Park is the only cold-desert national park in Himachal, a wide, empty landscape of ochre hills. You reach Kaza by evening. Dinner and overnight in Kaza.

Included today: Nako to Kaza drive with Dhankar and Pin Valley, breakfast, dinner, stay.

Day 6: Kaza and the Asia's-highest villages

This is the day most people picture when they think of Spiti. A full-day loop from Kaza takes in Kye (Kye Monastery), the tiered whitewashed gompa built in the 11th century at about 4,115 m and known as "Little Tibet"; Kibber, one of the highest villages linked by road; Komik, whose monastery sits at about 4,587 m as one of the highest reachable by motorable road; Langza at about 4,200 m, famous for its hillside Buddha and the ammonite fossils in the soil around it; and Hikkim, home to the world's highest post office, where you can mail a postcard home. You are back in Kaza by evening. Dinner and overnight in Kaza.

Included today: full-day Kaza high-village sightseeing, breakfast, dinner, stay.

Day 7: Kaza to the Chandratal camp via Kunzum Pass and Batal

After an early breakfast you leave Kaza and drive toward Chandratal, crossing Kunzum Pass at about 4,551 m, the high mountain gate that connects the Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti valleys, where a short spin of the roadside shrine is a local custom before the descent. The road drops to Batal, the lonely dhaba stop on the Chandra river, before the rough final track up to Chandratal. You check into the camp, walk out to the lake that shifts from deep blue by day to green in the evening light, and settle in for the night that gives this trip its name. Dinner around the camp and overnight in tents beside Chandratal.

Included today: Kaza to Chandratal drive via Kunzum Pass and Batal, breakfast, dinner, camp stay with tent and sleeping bag.

Day 8: Chandratal to Manali

After breakfast you strike camp and drive out of the high country to Manali, coming down the Chandra valley and through the Atal Tunnel as the cold desert gives way to green Kullu forest. You reach Manali by evening, where the trip ends. Your Spiti camping journey closes here, with a memory card full of high passes, border monasteries and a night under the Chandratal stars.

Included today: Chandratal to Manali drive, breakfast.

Hotels and Campsites

You stay in comfortable, hand-picked hill hotels for six nights and camp for one night at Chandratal. Exact properties can change with availability and are confirmed on your final quote; typical stays are shown below.

What's Included and Excluded

Booking, Cancellation and Refund Policy

You confirm the trip with a part-payment and clear the balance before departure, with the exact amounts shown on your quote. Because this is a private, customizable trip, you can change hotels, add or drop a night, or adjust the route before you pay. Cancellation charges apply on a sliding scale that rises as your travel date nears, and the Chandratal camp booking follows its own operator rules once the season's slot is issued. High-altitude weather can force a change of plan, so if the Kunzum or Chandratal road is shut on your dates we help you re-plan the affected leg. Given the short June to September window, we recommend booking a few weeks ahead for peak September dates. Your trip coordinator confirms the full, written policy with your final quote so the terms are clear before you commit.

Why Book This Spiti Camping Trip With TravelTriangle

Every trip is arranged through a network of verified local Himachal agents who know the Kinnaur road, the Kunzum snow window and the Chandratal camps first-hand, so a specialist plans your dates, not a call centre. This is a private cab for your group alone, fully customizable, with a labelled cancellation policy, clear permit guidance and 24/7 support through the trip. TravelTriangle has served 40 lakh+ travellers since 2011. Compare this against every other Himachal tour package before you decide.

Related Spiti and Himachal Trips

Weighing your options? Start with our full Spiti Valley packages for other durations and routes, or read the region overview in our Himachal tourism guide. Ready to lock your dates? Send us your preferred month and group size and we will tailor this 8 days 7 nights Spiti camping itinerary to you.

Edited by TravelTriangle