6 Tips for a Budget Trip to Spiti Valley in 2022

In this article today, I will answer a big and most frequently asked question about traveling to Spiti Valley on this blog, “Can I make a budget trip to Spiti Valley“? We all understand that the number of tourists visiting Spiti Valley has grown enormously in the last few years.

So, people from different walks of life are visiting this tribal belt of Himachal Pradesh. Hence, there is a need to satisfy everyone’s budget for traveling to Spiti.

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Can I make a budget trip to Spiti?

Spiti Valley popularly called the middle land is right on its way to becoming one of the most popular destinations in India. Believe it or not, Ladakh is just like another Manali now :D. The hotels are on the rise in Spiti Valley, as well. So is the budget for making a trip to Spiti Valley with the involvement of mediators and travel agencies.

Having said that, there are tons of budget travelers like me who look forward to making a budget trip to any place. And, Spiti Valley is no different. The major issue when making trips to places like Spiti Valley or Ladakh is that you need a good number of days at hand. As you know that even in my recommended most popular itinerary for Spiti Valley, you need at least 10-11 days to make the complete road trip.

Hence, the impact of the daily budget is very critical on the overall budget of Spiti Valley trip. In this article, let me help you with some important tips for making a budget trip to Spiti Valley.

Tips for a budget road trip to Spiti Valley

In the past, I have already written on the topic of calculating the budget of Spiti Valley trip which helps you calculate the overall budget in an eased out manner. However, in this article today, I will enlist some of the tips that I follow when planning a trip to Spiti Valley to keep a check on my budget.

I am sure that the following tips will also help you optimize the budget for your Spiti Valley road trip without making a big dent in your pocket 🙂 …

So, let’s look at them one by one.

1. Travel in shoulder season – May OR September / October

When you travel to Spiti in winter (offseason), there are upsides as well as downsides to it. But, you can choose to travel in the shoulder months like May when the season is about to start or September – October when the season to travel Spiti Valley is about to end. The biggest advantage of such months is that stay options are pretty much about to open or close and hence are more than welcoming to tourists. It gives you three levers to pull:

• a. Instead of pre-booking your stay, you have the option to book on the spot because the majority of stay options will be available due to less number of tourists.
• b. The hotels or guest houses are ready to offer lucrative deals like a free extra bed, allow you to sleep more than three in one room or in general good discounts. In our case, most of the guesthouses did not even care if we were 3 or 4 in the rooms.
• c. Less tourist means, less rush and more time on your favorite spots. You don’t have to wait for tourists to clear a spot and then take a photo. Spiti Valley feels far more peaceful in the absence or lack of many tourists.
• d. Homestays in Spiti Valley will be available easily to reduce the overall budget as well.

In the end, there are some disadvantages as well like in the month of May, you cannot travel on the route from Kaza to Manali as the road is closed due to snow. Hence, you cannot complete the full Spiti Valley circuit.

Dheeraj Sharma

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In the season-end months, it starts to get a bit cold and winds get nippier especially at night. However, the cold can be managed by carrying proper clothes on Spiti Valley trip.

2. Travel in the groups of 3-5 members

Traveling in a group of 3-5 members opens up a good number of options to save more cost and make a budget trip to Spiti. For example, as mentioned above in Tip #1, some hotels may give you a free extra bed. Hence, if you are three people, then you get a room with a discount and a free extra bed, but you divide the cost by three people. So, you are getting a discount as well as saving money as well.

When we talk about commute options when you travel in a group of 4-5, the cost of the taxi is shared in an optimum value as well as you stay comfortable in the car too. According to me, the following guidelines should be followed for your mode of transport or commute:

• a. 1-2 people, then choose Bike Rental OR Shared Taxis. Hitch Hike / Public Transport where ever possible and routes of least interest like Delhi – Shimla or Manali – Delhi Highway.
• b. 3-5 people, then choose a taxi or a self-drive car of an SUV type.
• c. 6-10 people, then choose Taxi as Winger/Tempo Traveller which will save you directly about 55-60% over hiring two taxis and you travel together in the group as well.

Of course, self-drive or self-ride on your car or bike is always the cheapest and the most flexible way to commute on any trip. And if mixed with this tip, it can bring down the cost of travel because the commute is one of the major pie of the cost of any Spiti Valley trip.

Pro Tip: If you are doing a self-drive to Spiti Valley, then make sure to read the article 40 Must-Have Things to Carry on a Self Drive Trip to the Himalayas

What is the Shimla to Spiti Valley taxi fare?

You can also hire a taxi from Shimla or Chandigarh or Delhi to travel on the road to Spiti Valley via Kinnaur Valley. It is always better to hire Xylo or Scorpio. Mostly, the charges range from 3000 to 3500 per day from Shimla, depending upon the season of travel, the number of days you will travel, and your bargaining skills. But, if you’re traveling in a group, this might not be that expensive of a proposition.

You can always get connected with local taxi drivers in this list of taxi drivers in Kinnaur and Spiti Valley.

3. Make on the spot bookings for stay & transport

If your luck does not work out well then a lot can go wrong in high-altitude places Spiti Valley. Roadblocks, landslides, acute mountain sickness, or health issues are a few things that hover over any Spiti Valley tour from Delhi.

When you pre-book, you also lose the flexibility of staying more at a place that you like a lot. Or you may run madly to make up for the lost time in a landslide to reach your place of an overnight stay. You should consider the following things when you bring costs into play. These will help you keep a check and plan a budget Spiti trip.

On the spot bookings on Spiti trip

In a place like Spiti Valley, if you are not so choosy or finicky over particular things, you will certainly find some guest house or a homestay to spend the night unless your stars are completely wrong in place 😉 …

So, you can rely upon the on-spot bookings if you look out a few places on arrival. It will also help you in being flexible to makes changes to your tour plan while you are on the trip

You can always keep the article on the list of good places to stay in Spiti Valley handy with you to keep in touch with them on the go. If you are plying in a taxi, then your taxi guy will help you easily hunt a nice place to stay within your budget.

Start your day early

When traveling in the Himalayas, always tend to follow my golden rule Leave Early, Sleep Early. When doing on-the-spot bookings, the key is to let the owner know that you do not care about staying and only looking for a good price. The late in the day you reach the place, the less bargaining power you will have because soon it will be dark. Hotel owners will know that you will not have many options and energy to explore.

This will certainly help you cut on the cost and make a budget trip to Spiti Valley.

4. Be wise in choosing accommodation & where it is located

You should forget the word “hotel” when you travel on a budget or Spiti Valley backpacking trip. Most part of your day will be on-road or outside when traveling or sightseeing in Spiti Valley. Hence, any decent homestay or guest house with cleanliness, comfortable beds, and clean toilets should be a good preference for a stay.

Sometimes the disadvantage of such small homestays or guest houses is that food may not always be available on your request. When the family prepares their food, you will get the food at that time. Hence, the concept otherwise you are better off with a hotel.

Dheeraj Sharma

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5. Be wise what and where you eat or drink

Eating at the roadside dhabhas or tea shacks or a local Tibetan food shack is going to save much more money than eating at the hotel or fancy restaurants. Try some local food at homestays and limit your unnecessary spending.

You should try to create a balance between eating at local places or joints and good fancy restaurants throughout the trip to get a taste of everything. Again, a little reduction in the overall cost and hence, helping in making a budget trip to Spiti Valley.

Well, did you read my article on 14 mistakes people commit on a Spiti Valley trip?

6. Pay for Individual Meals??

Well, though in a group of friends sometimes it looks odd in a country like ours. However, it is quite common to pay on a table individually in many parts of the world, and I feel nothing wrong at all in it, especially when traveling with strangers.

I know that things get a bit messy if you are not used to the custom. But, it gives good control over your food expenses If you take this up, you can additionally save about 10-12% on your overall trip or help someone in the group save it.

Online Travel Partners for your solo trip to Spiti Valley?

You can even search for online Travel Partners for your solo trip to Spiti Valley in order to reduce the overall cost. At DwD Community we already have an easy way to spot Travel Partners through our dedicated and very easy-to-use DoW Travel Calendar.

Using our Travel Partners Forum and Calendar, you can pretty quickly and easily spot on which dates people are traveling. It helps you find if some group suits your preference to gel up or not. You can filter the travel partner calendar entries based on your preferences and places of choice. So, take advantage and travel in a group to reduce your travel cost and make a budget Spiti trip 🙂

Or you can join the DwD Community Facebook group as well and look out for travel partners in that group.

Conclusion

I hope this article will help you in reducing the overall cost and help you make a budget trip to Spiti Valley. You can also read one of the topics in the DwD Community regarding Customize Tour v/s Self Organized Tours to see the benefits of traveling on your own.

Have a travel question?? You can subscribe to my YouTube channel and leave a comment to ask your travel questions about traveling to the Himalayas.

If you like the article, please feel free to share it with any of your family or friends who are planning to make a budget trip to Spiti Valley. In the next article of the series, I am going to talk about some lovely places in Spiti Valley as a detailed travel guide.