Best time to visit Manali

India · South Asia

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Manali

Tap a month for its page

Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Good for

Hiking Sep · fair Apr–Jun, Oct–Nov

Go in Apr, Jun, Sep or Oct — these months score within a whisker of each other; 19C max, 11 rainy days. May is the next best.

Plan this trip

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Flights

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Where to stay

Things to do

Car hire

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Things to do in Manali

Rohtang Pass At an altitude of 3979 m (13,050 ft) above sea level, this is another adventure tourist site where it can be cold even on a summer day.
Hidimba Temple It is an ancient cave temple dedicated to Hidimbi Devi, who was a character in the Indian epic, Mahābhārata.
Solang Valley Popularly known as Snow Point, Solang Valley is 13 km northwest of Manali and famous for its 300-m ski lift.
Naggar The Castle, Roerich House and Art gallery are places to see.
Hanuman Tibba Mountain peak in Himachal Pradesh, India
Sissu Falls Waterfall in Himachal Pradesh, India
Chachi Mug Mountain in India

Tours and tickets in Manali

Each site opens on its own search: choose your dates there. A few open on their home page, where you type the place too. Links marked Ad pay us a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you; most pay nothing, and what a site pays never decides whether it is listed or where. How we rank

Sights and their lines from Wikivoyage (Manali), licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, and Wikidata; in order of how often each one's Wikipedia article was read on phones in the last 12 months.

Month by month

No fare history for this route yet, so this ranking is climate and crowds only — the price column will fill in as the scanner collects.

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	9°	18d	45%	7.6h	avoid	monsoon: 18 rainy days, 355mm
Feb	10°	18d	45%	8.4h	avoid	monsoon: 18 rainy days, 330mm
Mar	13°	17d	45%	9.7h	avoid	monsoon: 17 rainy days, 289mm
Apr	17°	12d	45%	10.8h	sweet spot	17C max, 12 rainy days
May	21°	14d	52%	11.7h	okbusy	busier than usual
Jun	24°	12d	63%	12.0h	sweet spot busy	busier than usual
Jul	24°	17d	83%	9.4h	avoid	monsoon: 17 rainy days, 275mm
Aug	24°	15d	84%	9.6h	avoid	monsoon: 15 rainy days, 204mm
Sep	23°	10d	73%	10.4h	sweet spot	23C max, 10 rainy days
Oct	19°	11d	51%	10.5h	sweet spot	19C max, 11 rainy days
Nov	15°	13d	43%	9.2h	ok	15C max, 13 rainy days
Dec	11°	12d	34%	8.5h	ok	11C max, 12 rainy days

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the town, 41 km from the airport (KUU): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest in January, February, March, May and June; quietest from July to October.

Then and now

Manali's February days now average 10.4°C, 4.3°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 12 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	5.3°	6.1°	9.6°	13.8°	18.1°	22.2°	22.4°	22.2°	20.7°	16.7°	11.9°	7.6°
2017–26	9.0°	10.4°	13.3°	17.2°	21.1°	24.0°	24.2°	24.1°	23.0°	19.3°	14.6°	11.0°
Change	+3.7°	+4.3°	+3.7°	+3.4°	+3.0°	+1.9°	+1.8°	+1.9°	+2.4°	+2.6°	+2.6°	+3.4°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Manali is, and what it costs, depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Type C and D plugs at 230 V. Drives on the left. The currency is the Indian rupee. UK Foreign Office: avoid all travel to parts. Everything for India: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Cards are taken at larger hotels, chain stores and many restaurants; small shops and family-run businesses rarely take them, so carry some cash.
Tipping — Not traditional; up to 10% is usual only in smarter restaurants. Taxi and auto-rickshaw drivers do not expect a tip.

Getting around Manali

Apps — Rides: Ola, Rapido, Uber. Maps: Google Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WhatsApp. The apps also book auto-rickshaws, and bike taxis where these are allowed.

There are various ways of getting around in Manali, if you are not already travelling with your own vehicle. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Manali, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Help

Emergency — 112 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 3 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (29)

Manali in pictures

Zingzing Bar Suraj Tal Himachal Jul19 D72 10907 — i

Timothy Gonsalves, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mountains Left Jankar Nala Shingo La Lahaul Oct22 A7C 03556 — i

Timothy A, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Simsa Manali East Himachal Oct22 A7C 03328 — i

Timothy A, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Beas Valley Palchan Kullu 2014 05 10 2279 01 — i

Original: Biswarup Ganguly Derivative work: UnpetitproleX, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Top View of Sissu , Lahaul — i

Navneet Sharma, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Manali is like

Manali is a city of about 11,000 people (2023) in Central Himachal Pradesh. A staging point for a number of treks (Beas Kund, Chandrakhani Pass) and sports such as white-water rafting, Manali is also on the road to Ladakh via the valley of Lahaul and Spiti and Rohtang Pass, which is the main attraction near Manali. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: There are several beautiful places that you can visit around Manali. You can either use your own vehicle or hire local taxes. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Get your photos clicked with either rabbits or yaks (near the Hidimba Temple). It will cost about ₹10-20 for a single photo. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: Manali is about 570 km (350 mi) from Delhi and there are buses connecting the town with Delhi, Shimla, Dharamsala and Leh. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Manali is a safe city but during seasonal time a surge of visitors keep visiting this beautiful place and some transients exploit this opportunity for their own benefits. Best be exercise caution if in a crowd. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Manali, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Manali

Also in India

Nearby

Kind of place

Mountains

Manali is in India, South Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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