What's on in Manali (Himachal), India through the year

Peak crowds — Snow season at Solang, Winter break in India

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Snow season at Solang (20 Dec – 28 Feb)

Busy — Snow season at Solang, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Snow season at Solang (20 Dec – 28 Feb)

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Peak crowds — Summer crush, Summer vacation (north & east) in India

• Season

  Rohtang Pass season

  1 May – 15 Nov · usuallyTrail season

  The pass is open from about May to November and going up needs an online permit, capped daily and gone in the season. Since the tunnel opened underneath it, Lahaul is reachable all year and Rohtang is the scenic option rather than the only one. Source ↗

• Season

  Summer crush

  1 May – 30 JunSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Delhi and Chandigarh come up for the school break and the Mall and the Solang road stop moving. Rooms cost what they cost at New Year and the valley is at its least restful.

Peak crowds — Summer crush, Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Summer crush (1 May – 30 Jun)

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Season

  Landslides on the valley road

  1 Jul – 15 Sep · usuallyMonsoonRiskClosures

  The Beas runs high and the highway down to Kullu and Mandi loses sections most seasons, sometimes for days. Hotels are cheap and half empty, and the getting out is the part that is not guaranteed.

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually))

Busy — Kullu apple harvest, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

• Nature

  Kullu apple harvest

  15 Aug – 15 Oct · usuallyCrowded

  The valley's apples come down in trucks for two months and every road out is behind one of them. Orchard work is the local economy here; the fruit stands on the highway are only the visible part of it.

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Landslides on the valley road (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Kullu apple harvest, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Landslides on the valley road (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Kullu apple harvest (15 Aug – 15 Oct (usually))

Peak crowds — Kullu apple harvest, Kullu Dussehra

• Festival

  Kullu Dussehra

  1–25 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Two hours down the valley, hundreds of village deities are carried into the Dhalpur maidan for a week that begins on the day the rest of India's Dussehra ends. Kullu and Manali fill together for it. Source ↗

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually)), Kullu apple harvest (15 Aug – 15 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Rohtang Pass season (1 May – 15 Nov (usually))

Peak crowds — Snow season at Solang, Winter break in India

• Season

  Snow season at Solang

  20 Dec – 28 FebSki seasonCrowded

  Solang and the slopes above town are where the plains come to see snow, which is a different activity from skiing. Gear hire and a rope tow exist; the traffic up the valley on a good weekend is the real story.