Kullu district is a broad open valley that is formed by river Beas, with many historic temples, pine and deodar forests and apple orchards. City of Kullu is the capital of Kullu district and the airport at Bhunter is about 10 Kms from Kullu. Airport is connected to Chandigarh and Delhi but the flight service is quite erratic. Kully valley located at the height of 4200 feet, lies between Great Himalayan range and Pir Panjal range of mountains. Kullu Valley is also known as “Valley of Gods” or “Dev Bhumi” as it has many holy places for Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. The river Beas, which originated at Beas Kund near Manali, flows through the town of Kullu. The Great Himalayan National park, lying between elevations of 4900 to 19700 feet covering an area of 1172 sq kms, is located in the Kullu district.
Kullu region offers a lot for adventure lovers. Besides the Great Himalayan National park, which is also designated as UNESCO Natural World Heritage Site in India, there and many other offbeat places like Shoja, Kasol, Rohtang Pass and surrounding areas, Tirthan Valley and popular treks like Hampta Pass trek and Bhrigu Lake treks, Chanderkhani Pass to Malana trek and Pin Parvati to Sarahan trek that originate from Kullu Valley. For anglers Kullu valley offers many places for trout fishing. Beas river between Manali & Kullu offers some excellent stretches for white water rafting. Besides all this for the adrenaline junkies, places around Manali offer an opportunity for Paragliding and skiing.
Road trips in this region can act as cure for tired city souls with fatigued minds. Nature has blessed that land with ample beauty of snowclad mountains, green forests & valleys, glacial streams, gushing rivers and hospitable & humble locals. Road trip in this region can under taken by people of any age who are young at heart and physically fit. Road trip in Kullu Valley can be combined with Spiti Valley, Lahaul Valley and Kinnaur & Shimla region, depending on the time you have at your disposal. The town of Old Manali, mystic Malana, the serene Kasol & Manikaran area all have a magnetic lure for travelers looking forward to spending time close to nature. People suffering from Asthma heart ailments and back problems must consult their doctor before undertaking any kind of road trip in this region. However, everyone needs to make some preparation for this trip and should try to have as much local information as possible on the places you will be visiting.
From Kullu Valley you can undertake many road trips. One can start from Manali and go the Leh, en-route spending a few nights in Lahaul Valley. You can also do a round trip to Spiti Valley from Kullu, or you can start from Kullu Valley, go to Spiti and from there go to Kinnaur Valley and end your tip in Shimla. You can also start from Kullu and via the Great Himalayan National Park, Tirthan Valley and Parvati Valley go to Shimla. All these road trips are of different durations and different terrains and once you do one road trip you will definitely come back for more.
Kullu Valley is open to tourist round the year. But for road trips Spring and summer period, the monsoon months should be avoided due to landslides and treacherous road conditions. So best months are April, May, June, September and October.
Kullu and Manali can be reached by overnight Volvo services from Delhi & Chandigarh. Kullu also has an airport with air services from Chandigarh & Delhi but flights schedules and erratic and unreliable.
