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Spiti Valley is remotest part of Himachal and can be properly accessed during Indian summer months. A road trip to Spiti valley can give you a journey of a lifetime. In this blog post we will cover Spiti valley itinerary in 9 days. In this itinerary you will get the feel of green pine tree and snow covered side of Himachal to the rustic and dry Ladakh like mountains as well from Spiti valley.
We will try to cover the full circuit of the Spiti valley in 9 days and all you need to do is take 5 working day leave and add Saturday Sunday to it.
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Day 1 Reaching Narkanda
Spiti valley is the remotest part of Himachal, accessible via Shimla or Manali. As we are going to cover the complete circuit we will start from Shimla side. You need to take a flight to Chandigarh and preferably take a direct flight to Chandigarh from any major cities from India. In case flight to Chandigarh is too expensive then opt for a Friday night flight to Delhi, and take a overnight sleeper bus to reach Shimla. In case you are from Delhi you can drive to Shimla as well.
From Chandigarh to Shimla is roughly 4-5 hrs if no traffic, our recommendation will be instead of halting at Shimla, opt for a night halt in Narkanda. Visit Hatu Peak for sunset and early dinner at Negi Dhaba before calling it a day.
Checkout Narkanda in details here
Day 2 Reaching Chitkul via Sangla
Wake up early and if possible enjoy sunrise at Hatu Peak and leave early. En-route enjoy the gorgeous landscape and head towards Sangla valley. If you leave by 7AM, then you can reach Sangla via Sarhan. But our recommendation would be reaching Chitkul as soon as possible and stay there overnight.
You are entering Kinnaur district and the road will be stunning anyway with plenty of stopovers. If you reach in this village you will understand why I insist to stay the night here. This day will be long day 6-8 hrs drive depending on how many stops you take. Enjoy the sunset at the gorgeous Chitkul valley by the river and go to bed early.
Day 3 Reaching Kalpa
All you photographers our there can chose to wake up early to see the sunrise, other can sleep a bit longer today. In the morning explore the Chitkul village and temple. Post breakfast get ready to go to Kalpa. En-route visit the Kamru fort in Sangla.
Today’s drive is 4-5 hrs, so target to reach Kalpa by afternoon, so that you get ample time to relax and explore Kalpa. In Kalpa see the Kalpa Monastery and temple. Enjoy the gorgeous sunset with breathtaking views of Kinnaur Kailash before calling it a day.
Day 4 Reaching Tabo and Entering Spiti Valley as per this itinerary
Most Important thing to remember today is start early as it’s going to be a long day. You need to cover 8-9 hrs today along with lot of sights to see. Start the morning to visit Suicide point near Kalpa, for a quick instagram worthy photo and head out towards Nako Lake.
Today’s drive is going to be definitely gorgeous but not a comfortable one. You will notice how the green snow covered mountain ranges changed into orange, yellow or at times brown colored rusting mountains. The road here is prone to land slides and expect some delays when that happens.
You will visit Nako Village and Holy Nako lake today, that will actually give you what you the feel of Spiti region that you are about to experience. You will then head towards Geyu monastery, and then reach Tabo. Tabo has a gorgeous monastery where you can even chose to stay the night. Explore the Tabo monastery before ending the day and remember to have dinner at Cafe Kunzom Top.
Day 5 Reaching Mud Village via Dhankar
Wake up early have heavy breakfast at Cafe Kunzum Top and head out to see the Tabo meditation caves if interested. You need to walk a bit to see these caves, as the car will not be able to take you there. We have skipped these caves and directly headed towards Dhankar monastery.
Dhankar monastery has two buildings one new and old, you can check out both of them but it won’t take long time. Dhankar lake hike is the main attraction here, the hike up the lake and back will take 2-4 hrs of walking depending on your fitness and the time you spend by the lake.
After the hike drive towards Pin Valley, starts. The moment you will enter the valley, it will take your breath away. You can chose any village to stay but our recommendation would Mud village. Mud is the last village in Pin valley, you will mostly reach at the time of sunset, enjoy the sunset from the valley. Before heading out to sleep make sure you look out the night sky I bet you, will see zillions of stars first time in your life. In our Spiti Valley Itinerary, spending a night in Mud is a must.
Read more on out Mud experience
Day 6 Reaching Kaza in our Spiti Valley Itinerary
Today you don’t need to rush to wake up, take all that you can from the Pin Valley before heading towards Kaza. Kaza is the capital of Spiti district. It only take 1-2 hrs to reach Kaza from Pin Valley.
Once you reach Kaza check in to your hotel, then head out to explore Kaza. Checkout the Kaza monastery, then head towards Chicham bridge, Kibber village and the Key Monastery. Possibly hangout till the sunset in Key Monastery. The view here is gorgeous. Spend the night in Kaza, enjoy cool cafe’s and market at Kaza.
Day 7 exploring Langza, Hikkim and Komic
Start early from Kaza and today you will explore 3 villages Hikkim, Komic and Langza. These places are not too far from one another so less travel but gorgeous landscapes, so more time. Check out Hikkim village where world’s highest post office is there, sending a post card home from here is the coolest thing to do. After exploring Hikkim you head out for Komic, explore the village, see the monastery here.
Next stop will be Langza, where you will get to see giant buddha statue overlooking the valley. Langza is also known as fossil village and you might hunt some real fossils here. Please do not take or buy real fossils from here to protect the environment. If you are into Astrophotography then you should chose to stay here instead of Kaza. Please note Langza has limited basic home stays.
If you want you can shuffle between Day 6 and 7 based on your first day arrival time in Kaza.
Day 8 Chandratal
Today we leave early and drive towards the Chandrataal or Moon Lake. This lake is inaccessible most of the year due to snow fall. If you are in the Spiti Valley trip in month of May to September you will get to see the lake. Otherwise, today you return back from the road your came from. Chandrataal lake you will reach visa losar, you can opt to stay in Losar or Luxury/basic camp near the Chandrataal lake.
Chandrataal is a high altitude lake, so chances are there of getting hit by AMS. It’s one of the most important part of your Spiti trip and we missed it as the road was blocked due to snowfall. Our recommendation will be to stay near the lake and get the most out of this place.
Day 9 leave for Manali
Today we wind up the trip and leave early to reach for Manali via Rohtang-pass. You will reach Manali by evening and you can chose to take a overnight bus to Delhi or Chandigarh to end the trip, Next day fly out of the airport. In case you have a day extra, you can stay the night in Manali and leave next day for your home.
Really love to hear from you in the comment how you liked our detailed Spiti Valley Itinerary.
