Old Manali

The split between Old Manali and the Mall Road side is the most useful thing to understand about the town. Mall Road is where the buses arrive, the shops are loud and most package hotels sit. Old Manali, across the Manalsu bridge, is slower — narrow lanes, orchards behind the houses, and cafes with terraces looking down the valley.

The Manu Temple at the top of the village is the anchor, said to be the only temple to Manu, the figure the town takes its name from. Below it, the cafe strip fills from March and thins out through deep winter when many owners head down to Goa.

What's actually there

• Manu Temple at the top of the village
• The cafe strip — terraces, long breakfasts, live music in season
• Apple orchards and traditional slate-and-timber houses
• The Manalsu bridge and the walk up from Hadimba
• Small shops for shawls, silver and secondhand books

Local notes

• Walk it. The lanes are narrow and parking above the bridge is genuinely miserable.
• In January many cafes are shut. Ask us which are open before planning an evening there.
• The uphill from the bridge is steeper than it looks from the road. Allow twenty minutes.
• Stay in Old Manali if you want quiet, on the Mall Road side if you want convenience and easier pick-ups.

Snow, month by month

Old Manali sits at 2,050 m. Shaded months below are when it reliably holds snow.