Planning a Trip to Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur Only

Today I am going to write about something I mostly suggest, traveling to Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur valley side. There is a solid reason that I mostly recommend traveling to Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur side, and that is acclimatization of the body due to gradual ascend in the altitude on this route.

On the other hand, if you travel to Spiti Valley from Manali side, there are high chances that you will end up getting hit with AMS symptoms. You can also read about the 5 reasons why to make a trip to Spiti Valley from Kinnaur.

Download your FREE high-resolution version pdf copy of this day by day plan infographic guide for Spiti Valley trip from Shimla – Kinnaur side in 10 days. If, you liked it and found it helpful, please feel free to share it with your family and friends to help them too.

Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur in 10-11 Days

In the last article, I talked about planning a trip to Spiti Valley from Manali only. But, in this article today, I will suggest a travel plan to make a trip to Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur side and come back from Shimla – Kinnaur side as well.

You should be aware that the route from Manali to Kaza, Spiti Valley, only remains open in the summer months from mid-June to mid-October. Beyond this period, the route from Manali to Kaza is usually closed, or I will not recommend traveling on this route because of the reason of getting stuck in the middle of no man’s land as snowfall can close the road at any time for six months or so.

However, if you plan to see Spiti Valley in winters or early summers, then you can travel to Spiti from Shimla – Kinnaur side and come back from the same route. The route from Shimla – Kinnaur Valley to Spiti Valley remains open almost throughout the year, including winters barring few days of heavy snowfall that closes NH-22 or road between Kaza – Tabo. The roads within Kinnaur Valley usually remain open all around the year too with some exceptions.

What does this plan cover?

I will be suggesting the most popular itinerary to travel to Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur side and make the best use of the time and energy to explore most parts of this hidden, magical middle land in the lap of trans-Himalayas.

I have already suggested plans for Spiti Valley from Shimla back from Manali and Spiti Valley from Manali back from Shimla, where I did mention that sooner or later Ladakh will be full of a mad rush of tourists and people will prefer other adventure destinations in the Himalayas. However, Spiti Valley is altogether untouched in comparison and people mostly confuse it with Lahaul Valley. Some tourists are more or less restricted only to a visit to Chandratal Lake.

However, the real beauty of Spiti Valley starts beyond Kunzum Pass. The beauty of the valley magnifies towards Losar village then to Kaza, the upper villages of Langza, Hikkim, Komik, Ki, Kibber and then towards Tabo – Nako or further to Kalpa – Sangla – Chitkul in Kinnaur Valley. Not to forget the Pin Valley in between and there is a hell lot of heavenly beauty to explore in Pin Valley.

This article covers almost all major places in Spiti Valley including Tabo, Kaza, Losar, Chandratal, Kunzum Pass, Ki, Kibber, Pin Valley, etc..

Day by Day Plan

Below is the most common itinerary for Spiti Valley from Shimla – Kinnaur side only spanning over about 10-11 days and making the most use of the time.

Day 1 | Delhi – Shimla / Narkanda

• Shimla sightseeing includes Famous Ridge, Mall Road, Lakkar Bazaar, Jakhu Temple
• Narkanda is about 60 KMs from Shimla takes about 2 Hrs
• About 8 Hrs drive to Shimla
• Overnight at Shimla or Narkanda, whichever suits your timings

Day 2 | Shimla / Narkanda – Kalpa

• Leave early, if from Shimla and enjoy the vistas en route
• You can plan for lunch at Rampur
• About 8 – 9 Hrs of beautiful drive through Kinnaur Valley
• Overnight at Kalpa

Day 3 | Kalpa – Nako – Nako Lake – Geyu Mummy – Tabo

• Start your day early and watch the vistas en route over Hindustan Tibet Highway
• Check Out Khab, Confluence of Spiti and Satluj Rivers
• See the Leo Purygal Peak from Khab Bridge
• Have your lunch at Nako Lake
• Meet the dreaded Malling Nalla ahead of Nako
• After Chango – Sumdo you will enter Spiti Valley.
• After Sumdo police registration, detour towards Geyu Village to visit the 500-Year-old Mummy
• About 8 – 9 Hrs drive, depending upon the breaks you take in between
• Overnight at Tabo

Day 4 | Tabo – Dhankar – Dhankar Lake – Pin Valley (Mud Village)

• Visit Dhankar Monastery and Dhankar Lake and leave after early lunch
• Enjoy the magnificent vistas all-day
• Traverse the Pin Valley | Kungri – Sagnam – Mud – Tailing
• About 4 – 5 Hrs of drive in the day
• Overnight at Mud Village in Pin Valley

Day 5 | Pin Valley – Kaza – Ki – Kibber – Gette – Tashigang – Kaza

• Head for Kaza, headquarters of Spiti Valley
• Have lunch at Kaza and check in to Hotel
• Visit Ki – Kibber – Gette – Tashigang in the second half of the day and for more details you can read: Key – Kibber – Gette – Tashigang – Local Sightseeing in Kaza
• Ki is a famous monastery and others are places to explore as a lovely drive
• Tashigang is where the road ends but again beautiful drive
• About 4 – 5 Hrs of drive in the day
• Overnight at Kaza

Day 6 | Kaza – Hikkim – Komik – Langza – Kaza – Lhalung / Tabo

• Today visit the road less traveled or offbeat places near Kaza.
• Great view of Chau Chau Kang Nelda peak from Langza.
• Statue of the Buddha near Langza looking down the valley.
• The Tanggyud monastery at Komik is one of the most important and the highest monastery in the Spiti Valley.
• To cut short the next day’s journey, you can move to Lhalung or Tabo further from Kaza, or you can leave the next day early morning and rest this whole day. You can stay at a remote village of Lhalung about 14 km of diversion in Lingti valley in case you are interested in it else stay either at Tabo or Kaza only
• Overnight at Kaza or Lhalung or Tabo

Day 7 | Tabo/Lhalung/Kaza – Nako – Puh – Sangla/Rakcham

• Start your day early and watch the vistas en route over Hindustan Tibet Highway
• After Chango – Sumdo you will exit Spiti Valley.
• Have your lunch at Nako or at Puh
• You can make quick progress on this day with fewer stops, as you have already covered to places of interest while reaching Tabo from Kalpa
• About 9 – 10 Hrs drive, depending upon the breaks you take in between
• Overnight at Sangla/Rakcham village

Day 8 | Sangla/Rakcham – Chitkul – Rakcham/Sarahan

• Enjoy the day at Sangla Valley, visiting most beautiful Chitkul village in Kinnaur
• Go over to Sarahan or you can skip Sarahan and stay in Chitkul / Sangla only. Going over to Sarahan will help you Split the journey but in case you have more days, best is to stay here and move to Sarahan the next day
• Visit Kamru Fort at Sangla in case you decide to visit Sarahan the next day and enjoy a relaxing day in Sangla today
• You can plan for lunch at Chitkul village, last inhabited place in India towards Tibet
• About 2 – 5 Hrs of beautiful drive through Kinnaur Valley
• Overnight at Sangla/Rakcham/Chitkul/Sarahan

Day 9 | Sangla/Rakcham/Chitkul/Sarahan – Narkanda – Chail

• Leave early and enjoy the vistas en route
• You can plan for lunch at Narkanda, Negi Dhabha. Check review in DwD Community
• This time instead of staying at Narkanda stay at Chail by taking the different inner beautiful route to Chail from Kufri.
• About 6 – 10 Hrs of beautiful drive through Shimla – Kinnaur Valley
• Overnight at Chail

Day 10 | Chail – Delhi

• Roam around in Chail and leave for Delhi by afternoon
• About 8 Hrs drive to Delhi
• Overnight at Delhi / sweet home

Day 11-12 | Buffer Days

When you are traveling to such a remote corner of Himachal Pradesh, your road trip must have some buffer days to be kept in case of road closure due to landslides or snowfall, or perhaps you want to enjoy more 🙂

Add On Days in Spiti Valley??

If you have more days then perhaps you can choose any of the days to explore more beautiful places within Spiti Valley.

• In case, you are going in season time when Chandratal lake route is open and somehow not planning to come from Manali side, you can go over to Chandratal on Day 6 after visiting Langza, Hikkim, Komik early in the day. Next day you can come back to Kaza/Lhalung or Tabo and continue the journey as above. This will add a day in the plan for you.
• Spend a Day to explore Rama Valley and Lingti Valley that includes Demul, Lhalung
• Spend a day to explore Mane Village in Spiti Valley or maybe a trek to Sopona Lake

You may also check this less than 3-minute video on Discover With Dheeraj YouTube Channel on these five reasons to take Shimla to Kaza route instead of Manali to Kaza. If you like my video, please do not forget to SUBSCRIBE to the YouTube channel.

Petrol Pumps Between Shimla – Kinnaur – Spiti Valley

When you travel to Spiti from Kinnaur side, you may not worry much about petrol availability or extra petrol to carry on your road trip. There are plenty of petrol pumps on the way from Delhi to Kinnaur Valley. I usually prefer to top up at Narknada and then either at the last petrol pump of Rampur, or I prefer the petrol pump at Tapri to top up.

After topping up at Tapri, the only petrol pump left is Kaza if you do not have any plans to go to Reckong Peo, and plan to stay at Sangla Valley and Chitkul instead. So, do not miss to fill your vehicle petrol tank at either Tapri petrol pump or petrol pump at Reckong Peo.

Finally, there is only one petrol pump at Kaza and hence, you must fill your tank after reaching Kaza and doing the local sightseeing. Make sure you top up again before starting the trip back to Kinnaur – Shimla from Kaza. This way you do not need to carry extra petrol on your Spiti Valley trip.

• Theog
• Narkanda Do Top Up Here
• Rampur After crossing the town, the last one on the right side is pretty reliable
• Jeori
• Tapri – New one, not sure if one can rely on it
• Powari – Mostly Closed
• Rekong Peo
• Kaza – Do Not Miss

Foreign Nationals visiting the protected areas of Spiti Valley and Kinnaur Valley are required to get the inner line permits or ILP. Domestic (Indian) tourist do not require any permits. If you are Indian, then just carry a valid photo ID proof of your nationality to be on safe side.

Conclusion

I am sure the above itinerary if not help you 100% with planning a trip to Spiti Valley but can certainly act as a starting point for your upcoming Spiti Valley trip. Do share your valuable thoughts or queries or doubts you have in the comment section, and we can discuss more on your upcoming travel plans for Spiti Valley 🙂

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