Manali to Chandigarh Road Distance: 310 km · 7-8 hours · Cab from ₹3,410

From Chandigarh the road stays on the plain only as far as Kiratpur; the real climb begins at Swarghat, where the Shivaliks lift the highway above Gobind Sagar, and Bilaspur on the far side is a fair place for breakfast. Between Bilaspur and Mandi the NH-21 tunnels through rock, so run the headlamps in daylight, and Sundernagar makes the better lunch halt before the road drops to Pandoh Dam and enters the Beas gorge. Pandoh to Aut is the section every hill driver watches: narrow, cut into the rock face above the river, and the first to go when the monsoon brings the slope down in July and August. Past Aut the valley opens, Bhuntar and Kullu go by with rafting camps on the river and apple stalls on the verge from July into October, and the last forty kilometres to Manali are easy. December to February the road stays open but there is black ice in the shaded bends beyond Kullu and snow above the town, which is why we start at six and keep the daylight.