Spiti Valley 6 Days Itinerary : 3 Detailed Travel Plans

In my opinion, if you are planning a trip to Spiti valley; you should keep a minimum of 9 days in hand to fully experience the entire Spiti circuit. This ensures that you are not spending all the time traveling and are able to visit all tourist attractions in Spiti while enjoying the natural beauty around. This however is not always possible for everyone due to which a lot of people wonder if they can make a short trip to Spiti. If you too are wondering the same, then provided in this article is a Spiti valley 6 days itinerary that you can follow for your trip.

There are two ways that you can go to Spiti valley from. One, and the popular one for that matter, is that you start from Shimla and exit at Manali. Second way of course is to do this the other way around, start at Manali and exit at Shimla. Kaza is the headquarters of Spiti valley and distance between Kaza and Shimla is approximately 450 kilometers. On the other hand, distance between Manali to Kaza is 200 kilometers so a short trip to Spiti means that you should plan from Manali only and avoid Shimla route altogether. You can reach from Manali to Kaza in one day however from Shimla it takes 2 days at the least. I will suggest three different versions of the itinerary. Depending on your preference and time of travel, you can choose to follow either of them.

For the sake of these itineraries, I will assume that you are traveling from Delhi. If however you are traveling from some other place, then your journey for first and last day will be different; travel time can be less or even more.

Spiti valley 6 days Itinerary # 1

For this first plan, I will suggest a plan via Manali. You will reach Spiti valley via Manali & Rohtang La and will come back the same way.

• Day 1 – Delhi to Manali
• Day 2 – Manali to Kaza
• Day 3 – Kaza to Kibber / Komik to Kaza
• Day 3 – Kaza to Dhankar / Tabo Kaza
• Day 3 – Kaza to Mud Village (Pin Valley) to Kaza
• Day 4- Kaza to Chandratal
• Day 5 – Chandratal to Manali
• Day 6 – Manali to Delhi

This is the best itinerary you can follow if you just have 6 days in hand and I strongly recommend that you do so. Traveling this way, you will be able to enjoy the journey better and give time to explore Spiti Valley. Your long travel hours will be limited to just Day 1 and Day 6. You will be in Spiti Valley right on Day 2 and will spend the next 4 days exploring it further.

Day 1 – Delhi to Manali

Start as early as you can from Delhi on Day 1 as the drive to Manali is long and monotonous. Roads are mostly good and it can take you anywhere between 12-14 hours to reach Manali; depending upon your speed.

Your biggest concern here would be to arrange for Rohtang Permits. Read How to get a Rohtang Pass Permit  for more details. Without the permits, you will not be able to cross Rohtang La so ensure that you have this covered in advance or else your Day 2 will be spend in Manali; arranging for these from SDM office. Another way around this is to call a hotel and ask if they can arrange permits for you beforehand. Hotels in Manali do provide this service in order to win customers over. If the hotel says yes; book with them for your night stay at Manali. However please make sure that you call them at least a week in advance to give some time for permits.

The link I provided above has details on what are the current restrictions pertaining to Rohtang Pass are; what are the different charges that you are required to pay; and how can you apply for a permit either at SDM office Manali or online. Getting the permit online of course would be the most convenient option.

Day 2 – Manali to Kaza

On Day 2, take an early start again as the journey till Kaza can take some time even though the distance is short. You will be traveling on some terrible roads today, probably the worst ones that you have ever seen in your life. From Manali, climb up to Rohtang Pass which is a drive of about 50 odd kilometers. Roads are a mix of good and really bad towards Rohtang Top. While descending towards Lahaul valley, take the diversion towards Spiti near Gramphoo. From here, roads are a total nightmare with numerous rivulets, broken roads, dirt trail, slush, and big stones on the road. Drive slow and very carefully. From Batal, you will start your climb towards Kunzum Pass and then descent towards Losar. After Losar, it is a straight run to Kaza.

Day 3 – Kaza to Kibber / Komik or Dhankar / Tabo or Pin Valley to Kaza

There are three ways that you can spend your Day 3; all depends on your own preference. You can either travel towards the small villages of Kibber, Komik, Langza and Hikkim while covering Key Monastery on the way. Read How to Plan a Trip from Kaza to Kibber & Komik for more details and also a map of the region.

Another choice would be to travel to Tabo & Dhankar and visit the monasteries there. If you have time, you may even trek to Dhankar Lake. Tabo is at a total of 48 kilometers and Dhankar is 33  kilometers so you can easily cover all this in a day and return to Kaza by evening. Roads are mostly OK around this area so the drive too will not be bad.

The third option, and the one that I too would recommend, is to drive up to Mud Village in Pin Valley and return to Kaza by evening. You can also cover Dhankar this way as the road towards Pin Valley is just a couple of kilometers before Dhankar, near Attargo Bridge. Pin Valley is an entirely different experience; a complete lush green in contrast with the desert of Spiti and the drive too is an amazing experience. Read How to Plan a Trip to Pin Valley  for more details and also a map of the region.

Day 4- Kaza to Chandratal

On Day 4, you will start your return journey however will also be visiting Chandratal on your way. From Kaza, take the same road towards Kunzum Pass. A little after Kunzum top, you will notice a narrow road going towards Chandratal. There is a board put up there marking the road so you will have no problem noticing it. It is about a kilometer towards Batal after Kunzum Pass. Take this 14 kilometers long road to reach Chandratal.

Drive very carefully and slowly as this road is barely wide enough for one car. If you notice another car coming from the other direction, find a spot wide enough to let it pass and wait there. There are several camp sites at Chandratal where you can check in however all of them are at a distance of at least 3 kilometers from the lake. It is not permitted by law to set up camp anywhere near the lake.

If you are planning to camp on your own, do not camp in middle of nowhere. Bet is to pay a small amount at any of the camp sites and they will give you a spot to camp. In return, they will also let you use their washrooms which will be a great benefit. There is also the risk of wildlife here so once again; do not camp all on your own at a secluded spot.

For camp sites, read Camping at Chandratal.

Day 5 – Chandratal to Manali

From Chandratal, take the same road back to Manali via Rohtang Pass that you took to reach Kaza. You will once again have to drive through the nightmarish Batal – Gramphoo stretch. Rohtang permits are only required when you are crossing over from Manali side; no permits will be needed for this day as you return back to Manali from Spiti.

Day 6 – Manali to Delhi

Once again it will be the long journey back home. Start after your breakfast at Manali and you will reach back Delhi late in the evening.

While this Itinerary will work fine in terms of sightseeing, there are few problems that you will need to handle. First one is of Rohtang permits which I mentioned previously in the article. Second is of high altitude sickness that you may suffer at Kaza. The gain in altitude in first 2 days of journey is quite sudden and your body may not adjust to it while you are at Kaza. You may suffer from AMS symptoms on Day 2, by evening and first night at Kaza but should be OK Day 3 onward.  Another problem is that you can only follow this itinerary while Manali to Kaza stretch is open which is pretty much limited to from Mid June to September. For other times, you cannot follow this travel plan.

Spiti valley 6 days Itinerary 2

The second travel plan as mentioned below covers the entire Spiti circuit, starting from Shimla and exiting at Manali. Read further for more details.

• Day 1 – Delhi to Narkanda
• Day 2 – Narkanda to Reckong Peo / Kalpa
• Day 3 – Reckong Peo / Kalpa to Kaza
• Day 4 – Kaza to Chandratal
• Day 5 – Chandratal to Manali
• Day 6 – Manali to Delhi

If Itinerary 1 does not suite you for any reason, this is the second Itinerary that you can follow in 6 days. Good part about this plan is that you do not have to worry about Rohtang Permits and will not suffer from AMS. However this too will be time bound and can only be followed if Manali to Kaza stretch is open. The biggest disadvantage with this plan is that most of the days include long traveling hours.

Day 1 – Delhi to Narkanda

On this day, you can chose to break the journey at either Shimla or Narkanda. Personally, I would recommend the small and peaceful Narkanda as opposed to crowded Shimla. It would also benefit you on your Day 2 journey reducing the total travel time. If you started really early from Delhi, you can even make it past Narkanda all the way to Rampur. There are several hotels in Narkanda that you can check in to. Roads will remain good all the way to Narkanda and it will take about 9-10 hours to reach there depending upon your speed.

Day 2 – Narkanda to Reckong Peo / Kalpa

From Narkanda, continue on the road towards Reckong Peo. Road condition will be good until Rampur post which it will start to deteriorate. It will get really bad between Jeori and Reckong Peo, severely limiting your speed. At Reckong Peo, you will have to leave the highway and go uphill about 30 kilometers towards Kalpa, crossing Reckong Peo on the way.

Day 3 – Reckong Peo / Kalpa to Kaza

This day will be a long journey so ensure that you get an early start. From Kalpa; reach back to the highway and continue towards Puh. You will cross Nako, Tabo and Dhankar on the way but limit your breaks as much as you can. Reckong Peo to Kaza is a total of 200 kilometers but the bad patches of road at several places will keep your speed limited.

Your journey for Day 4, 5 and 6 will be the same as I described in Itinerary 1.

Good part about traveling this way is that even though rushed; you will still be able to cover the entire Spiti circuit. If you are planning a trip on motorcycles and are used to riding for long hours, then by all means you can travel as above. If traveling by car however; I would not recommend this itinerary at all.

Spiti valley 6 days Itinerary 3

This is the third Itinerary that you can follow for traveling to Spiti valley with just 6 days in hand; in case none of the above two suited you. This Itinerary however covers on Shimla to Kaza stretch.

• Day 1 – Delhi to Narkanda
• Day 2 – Narkanda to Reckong Peo / Kalpa
• Day 3 – Reckong Peo / Kalpa to Kaza
• Day 4 – Kaza to Nako
• Day 5 – Nako to Rampur
• Day 6 – Rampur to Delhi

Good part about this again is no Rohtang Permits, no AMS and you will not be bound by Manali Kaza stretch. You can follow this plan any time of the year however the biggest disadvantage is that the traveling time is even longer than Itinerary 2. Most of your time will be spend on the road and will have very little to enjoy the journey.

Your journey for Day 1, 2 and 3 will be the same as described in Itinerary 2.

For Day 4, start on your way back from Kaza on the same road that you took to reach there. Journey for Day 4 will not really be that long, just 5-6 hours so that you at least have some time to enjoy the vistas around. Nako has a few hotels that you can check in to. Journey on Day 5 will be of about 7-8 hours. From Nako you will reach Rampur and stay there for the night and return to Delhi the next day.

Conclusion

These are the three different versions of a 6 days travel plan to Spiti valley. Of course, not everyone can follow these to the last details as your itinerary will depend on several factors like how are you traveling, the company you are travel with, if there are any budget constraints etc but these three itineraries should at least get you started to make your own final travel plan.

I hope the above mentioned Spiti Valley 6 days Itineraries were helpful. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section below and I will be glad to answer.