Spiti Valley Road Trip: The Complete 9-Day Shimla to Manali Full Circuit 9 Days & 8 Nights

Here is the whole trip on one screen before you read the day-by-day. It is the fastest way to see whether the route, altitude and season fit your plans.

Shimla Route vs Manali Route: Choosing Your Spiti Circuit

Almost every Spiti question starts here. There are two ways into the valley, and they are not interchangeable. The Shimla side climbs slowly over several days, which gives your body time to adjust to the altitude. The Manali side is shorter and higher fast, so it reads as dramatic but is harder on first-timers. This trip is built as the full circuit, so you get the safe, gradual climb in and the spectacular high-pass drive out.

Doing the loop in this direction (in via Shimla, out via Manali) is the single best decision you can make for a comfortable Spiti trip. For a wider read on the region before you book, see the Spiti Valley travel guide.

Best Time to Do the Spiti Road Trip

Spiti is a summer-only circuit. The two high passes that close the loop, Kunzum and the road to Chandratal, only clear once the winter snow melts. If your heart is set on the full Shimla to Manali circuit with Chandratal, travel between mid-June and September. Here is how the year breaks down.

July and August bring the busiest roads and occasional landslide delays on the Kinnaur stretch. Early June and mid-September are the sweet spot: the full loop is open, but the traffic and the risk are both lower.

The Full 9-Day Circuit, Day by Day

This is the real, iconic Spiti circuit, not a token overnight. Hotels are on breakfast-and-dinner (MAP) basis, the cab and driver stay with you throughout, and airport or bus-stop transfers are included at both ends.

Day 1: Delhi to Shimla, the overnight climb

Your circuit begins the evening you land. From Delhi airport or railway station you set off on the overnight journey up to Shimla, trading the plains for pine-covered ridges as the road winds through the lower Himachal hills. You reach the old summer capital by morning, ready to start driving into Kinnaur.

Day 2: Shimla to Narkanda

After breakfast you leave Shimla and drive to Narkanda at about 2,700 m, a quiet ridge town wrapped in apple orchards and deodar forest. In clear weather the Hatu Peak viewpoint opens onto a wall of snow ranges. This is a deliberately easy first day: gaining height slowly here is what keeps altitude sickness away later.

Day 3: Narkanda to Sangla Valley

You follow the Sutlej into Kinnaur and turn up the Baspa river to Sangla Valley. Visit the Bering Nag Temple, famous for the Fulaich flower festival held in August and September, and look up at Kamru Fort above the village. If time allows you push to Chitkul, the last inhabited village before the Tibet border and one of the prettiest stops on the whole route.

Day 4: Sangla to Kalpa

A short, scenic drive brings you to Kalpa, perched opposite the Kinner Kailash range. From the village you get one of the best sunrise-on-snow views in Himachal as first light hits the peaks. Kalpa is the gateway where the green of Kinnaur starts giving way to the bare, high-desert look of Spiti.

Day 5: Kalpa to Tabo

Today the landscape changes completely. You cross Nako, with its high-altitude lake, and roll into the Spiti river valley to reach Tabo. The Tabo Monastery, founded in 996 CE and often called the Ajanta of the Himalayas, is over a thousand years old and holds some of the finest surviving Buddhist murals in the country.

Day 6: Tabo to Dhankar to Kaza

En route to Kaza you climb to Dhankar, the old fort-capital of Spiti, where the monastery clings to a cliff above the meeting of the Pin and Spiti rivers. You then settle into Kaza, the valley's main town and your base for the next two nights. Kaza sits at about 3,800 m, so today's arrival is timed to let you rest and acclimatize.

Day 7: The high villages around Kaza

This is the day the postcards come from. You drive up to Key Monastery, the largest in Spiti, stacked like a fort on its hill. From there you reach Kibber and cross the Chicham Bridge, among the highest suspension bridges in Asia, then loop through Langza with its giant Buddha and marine fossils, Komic (one of the highest villages in the world reachable by road) and Hikkim, home to the world's highest post office at about 4,400 m. Post a card to yourself from the roof of the world.

Day 8: Kaza to Chandratal

You leave Kaza and drive west towards Losar, the last village in Spiti, then on to Chandratal, the crescent-shaped Moon Lake at roughly 4,300 m. Depending on conditions you overnight in the camps near the lake. Sunrise and sunset here, with the water changing colour under the surrounding peaks, are the emotional high point of the trip.

Day 9: Chandratal to Manali, over Kunzum and through the Atal Tunnel

The circuit closes on its most dramatic drive. You cross Kunzum Pass at about 4,590 m, pass Batal and Gramphu, then slip through the 9.02 km Atal Tunnel that drops you out of the high desert and back into the green Kullu valley at Manali. Your Spiti road trip ends here, having done the whole loop without ever backtracking a kilometre.

How to Reach the Starting Point

The circuit starts from Shimla, so your job is simply to reach Shimla (or Delhi, from where this package's overnight leg begins).

• By air: The nearest large airport is Chandigarh (about 115 km from Shimla). Shimla's own Jubbarhant airport has limited flights. Most travellers fly into Delhi or Chandigarh and drive up.

• By rail: Kalka is the main railhead. From there the toy train or a taxi climbs to Shimla, and Chandigarh station is the fast broad-gauge option from Delhi.

• By road: Shimla is about 343 km from Delhi and 113 km from Chandigarh on good highway. This package builds in the overnight Delhi to Shimla leg, so you can join at either point.

Permits, Inner Line Permit and Documents

Good news for most travellers. Indian citizens do not need any special permit for the core Shimla to Kaza to Manali circuit. Carry a government photo ID for hotel check-ins and army check-posts. Foreign nationals need an Inner Line Permit for the sensitive Kaza to Reckong Peo (Sumdo) stretch near the border, which a licensed operator can arrange. Keep a few passport photos and ID photocopies handy either way.

Altitude and Acclimatization: Staying Safe on the Circuit

Most of Spiti sits above 3,500 m, and Kunzum touches 4,590 m, so acclimatization is not optional. The reason this trip runs in via Shimla is precisely that the slow climb over four to five days lets your body adjust before you sleep high at Kaza or Chandratal.

• Drink 3 to 4 litres of water a day and go easy on alcohol, especially the first two nights in Spiti.

• Do not gain sleeping altitude too fast. The built-in rest at Kaza before Chandratal is deliberate.

• Some travellers take Diamox (acetazolamide) as a preventive. Ask your own doctor before the trip, do not self-prescribe.

• Watch for warning signs: a headache that will not clear, nausea, breathlessness at rest or dizziness. If they worsen, the only reliable fix is to descend, and your driver knows the route down.

What It Costs and What Is Included

This package starts at INR 44,595 per person on twin sharing (from a list price of INR 47,952). That covers 8 nights of hotels on breakfast-and-dinner basis, a private cab with driver for the entire circuit, both airport or bus-stop transfers, and all road, toll and parking taxes. Organising the same loop yourself means booking scarce Spiti homestays blind, arranging a reliable high-altitude vehicle, and driving unfamiliar mountain roads. The package trades that risk for a fixed, guided plan.

Packing, Connectivity, Fuel and ATMs

Spiti is remote, and a little preparation removes most of the stress. Pack for cold nights even in summer, and sort cash and fuel before you leave the last town that has them.

• Clothing: layered warm clothes, a windproof jacket, gloves and a cap even in June, plus strong sunscreen and sunglasses for the high UV.

• Connectivity: BSNL and Jio postpaid work in patches, and BSNL has the widest reach. Expect no signal for long stretches, so download offline maps before you go.

• Cash and fuel: the last dependable ATMs are at Reckong Peo and Kaza, so carry enough cash for the days in between. Kaza has the region's highest fuel pump, so tank up fully there before the Chandratal and Manali leg.

• Documents and meds: ID copies, any personal medication, a basic first-aid kit and a reusable water bottle.

Cancellation and Booking Policy

Booking is a simple enquiry-and-confirm process: you share dates and preferences, a trip planner sends a customised quote, and the trip is confirmed on advance payment. Cancellation charges are tiered by how close to departure you cancel, with a larger retention closer to the travel date and refunds processed per the confirmed policy. Because Spiti roads are weather-dependent, keep some buffer for delays caused by landslides or late snow on the passes.

Why Book This Spiti Circuit With Us

A Spiti road trip is not the trip to improvise. This package is put together by agents who run the circuit every season, and it is backed by 40 Lac+ happy travellers and a 4.2 out of 5 rating across 1,503 reviews. Every day of the itinerary can be changed, and support stays reachable on the road.

Ready for the Circuit

The Spiti Valley road trip is one of the great Himalayan drives, and doing the full Shimla to Manali loop the paced, guided way is how you enjoy it rather than survive it. Tell us your dates and we will tailor the 9 days around them. To see other durations and starting points, browse all Spiti Valley tour packages, or explore the wider Himachal tour packages range.

Rated 4.2 out of 5 by 1,503 travellers and booked through a network trusted by 40 Lac+ happy travellers since 2011, every day of this circuit is customisable. Free cancellation applies within the policy window, and a trip planner stays with you on WhatsApp and phone through the drive.