Spiti Valley Circuit

An easy start. We leave Manali mid-morning, run through the Atal Tunnel into Lahaul, and stop at Sissu for the waterfall and the Chandra river flats. Short driving day on purpose — this is your first night above 3,000 metres and the point is to sleep at altitude without having worked for it.

Overnight in a Sissu homestay or camp, depending on the season.

The big scenery day. Along the Chandra river through Gramphu and Batal, then up the switchbacks to Kunzum Pass at 4,590 metres, where the prayer flags and the chorten mark the entrance to Spiti. From Kunzum it is a rough fourteen kilometres to the Chandratal camping area.

Camping near Chandratal, roughly 4,270 metres. Nights here are properly cold even in July — we provide the sleeping bags.

Sunrise at the lake, then back over Kunzum and down into the Spiti valley proper. The landscape changes completely here — the green disappears and you are in cold desert. Stops at Losar and Kiato before Kaza.

Overnight in Kaza. Take the afternoon slowly; this is where altitude usually catches up with people.

Key Monastery in the morning, then Kibber and across the Chicham bridge — the highest suspension bridge in Asia, spanning a gorge that used to take an hour to get around. Afternoon up to Langza with its Buddha statue and marine fossils, Hikkim for the post office at 4,400 metres, and Komic.

Second night in Kaza.

Down the valley through Dhankar, where the old monastery sits on a spur above the confluence, then Tabo — a thousand years old and the reason Spiti gets called the Ajanta of the Himalayas. On through Sumdo into Kinnaur and up to Nako and its lake.

Overnight at Nako. Noticeably warmer and easier to breathe than Kaza.

The Kinnaur road, which is spectacular and narrow in roughly equal measure — cut into cliff faces above the Sutlej. Through Pooh and Reckong Peo into the Baspa valley, and up to Sangla. If time and road allow, we continue to Chitkul, the last inhabited village before the Tibet border.

Overnight in Sangla or Chitkul.

Long final drive down through Karcham, Rampur and Narkanda into Shimla, where the trip ends. Apple country the whole way. We drop you at Shimla bus stand, the railway station or your onward stay.

If you need to get back to Manali or Delhi instead, tell us at booking and we will arrange it.

The Manali–Kaza road over Kunzum Pass is usually open from mid-June to early October, and that is the only window this particular circuit runs. Outside it, Spiti can still be reached from the Shimla and Kinnaur side, which stays open most of the year but takes two extra days.

Indian nationals do not need one for the main circuit. Foreign nationals need an inner line permit for the Sumdo to Tabo stretch — send us a passport and visa copy a week ahead and we handle it.

Mild symptoms — headache, poor sleep, breathlessness on stairs — are common and usually pass. The itinerary is paced to reduce it, and every vehicle carries oxygen. If anyone develops serious symptoms the driver descends immediately; that decision is not negotiable and is not charged for.

Generally yes for children over about eight, and for older travellers in reasonable health with no existing heart or lung condition. Tell us the ages when you enquire and we will adjust the driving days.

BSNL is the only network that works reliably across Spiti. Jio reaches Kaza patchily. Between Manali and Kaza expect no signal at all — worth telling people at home before you leave.