Kullu Valley Travel Guide: Kullu, Naggar, Manali and the Beas

Short answer: The Kullu Valley is the 80 km stretch of the Beas river between Mandi’s gorge and Manali, in Himachal Pradesh. Most visitors drive straight through it to Manali; those who stop find Kullu town (about 1,280 m) with its Raghunath temple and shawl weavers, Naggar with a 15th-century castle and the Roerich art gallery, the hilltop Bijli Mahadev temple, rafting on the Beas at Pirdi, and the week-long Kullu Dussehra in October. Give it two nights, ideally in Naggar, between Shimla and Manali or as a quieter base than Manali itself.

What is the Kullu Valley and how is it different from Manali?

Kullu is the district, the valley and the town; Manali is the resort at the top end of it. The valley floor runs from about 1,000 m at Aut to 2,050 m at Manali, with apple orchards on the terraces, deodar and pine above, and the Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar snow peaks closing it off at the top. The old name was Kulanthapitha, the end of the habitable world, and until the 1970s the road ended here.

Manali has the hotels, the cafes and the snow; the rest of the valley has the history, the temples, the weaving and the festivals. Our Manali guide covers the resort end. This article is about everything south of it: the places our drivers pass twenty times a month and most passengers never see. For the state as a whole, read our Himachal Pradesh guide for international travellers.

How do you get to the Kullu Valley?

Everyone arrives along the Beas. From Delhi it is 500 km and 11–13 hours by private car or overnight HRTC Volvo to Kullu; from Chandigarh about 260 km and 6–8 hours; from Shimla 220 km and 6–7 hours via Bilaspur and Mandi, which is the road past our own office. The road enters the valley through the 2.8 km Aut tunnel and the Larji gorge, where the Tirthan and Sainj rivers join the Beas; the Parvati joins at Bhuntar, 10 km before Kullu.

Bhuntar is also the valley’s airport (Kullu–Manali airport, KUU), 10 km from Kullu and 50 km from Manali. Alliance Air flies from Delhi on selected days (07:20 departures Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the May 2026 timetable, Tribune 9 May 2026), with occasional links to Amritsar, Jaipur and Dehradun; weather cancellations are frequent and fares in the ₹17,000–24,000 (US$180–255) range are normal. Our Kullu–Manali airport guide explains when it is worth the gamble. There is no railway; the nearest stations are Joginder Nagar (narrow gauge) and Chandigarh or Kiratpur (broad gauge).

What is there to see in Kullu town?

• Raghunath Temple, Sultanpur: the 17th-century temple of the valley’s presiding deity, Lord Raghunath (Rama), whose idol was brought from Ayodhya by Raja Jagat Singh in 1651 to atone for a wrong done to a Brahmin, according to the local story. It is the deity to whom every other god in the valley pays court at Dussehra. Open mornings and evenings; shoes off, modest dress.
• Dhalpur Maidan: the grassy ground on the river bank where Dussehra is held, with the HPTDC hotel, the bus stand and the Sunday market around it.
• Shawl weaving: Kullu’s hand-loomed wool shawls with geometric borders are a Geographical Indication product. The Bhutti Weavers Cooperative (Bhuttico) showroom at Bhuttico village just south of Kullu and the looms along the Akhara Bazaar road show the real thing; expect to pay ₹1,500–8,000 (US$16–84) depending on wool and work, more for pashmina.
• Vaishno Devi temple and the Beas riverside: a cave shrine 4 km north of town, and the river walk at Dhalpur for an evening.
• Bijli Mahadev: the valley’s great viewpoint (see below).

Why should you stop at Naggar?

Naggar, 20 km north of Kullu and 20 km south of Manali, was the capital of the Kullu rajas for about 1,400 years until they moved to Sultanpur in the 1660s. It sits on the east bank of the Beas, 300 m above the main road, which is why most traffic misses it.

Naggar has a dozen guesthouses and small hotels in the orchards, two or three good cafes, and nothing to do after dark, which is the point. We put guests here who want to be near Manali’s day trips without sleeping in Manali.

What are Bijli Mahadev and the other viewpoints?

Bijli Mahadev is a Shiva temple on a grassy ridge at about 2,460 m on the east side of the valley, directly above Kullu. The name means lightning Mahadev: the 20 m wooden pole beside the temple is said to attract a lightning strike every few years that shatters the stone lingam, which the priest then rebuilds with butter. From Kullu it is about 20 km of hill road to the trailhead at Chansari, then a 3 km uphill walk through pine forest, 60–90 minutes, with the whole Kullu and Parvati valley junction below you at the top. A ropeway from the valley floor has been under construction for several years; ask us whether it has opened for your dates. Go early, before the clouds build, and take water; there are tea stalls at the top.

Other viewpoints: the Mathan ridge above Naggar (a 2–3 hour walk to the temple meadow), the road up to Jana waterfall from Naggar with its dhabas serving siddu and red rice, and Prashar Lake (2,730 m), a floating-island lake with a 14th-century pagoda temple reached by a rough 50 km road from Mandi or a two-day trek; see our Prashar Lake trek page.

What is Kullu Dussehra and when is it?

Most of India burns Ravana’s effigy on Vijayadashami; Kullu starts its festival that day and carries on for a week. In 2026 it ran from 21 to 27 October at Dhalpur Maidan (Free Press Journal, checked 30 Oct 2026). More than two hundred village gods, each carried on a palanquin by its own villagers and drummers, come down the valleys to pay homage to Raghunath, whose chariot is pulled across the maidan by rope on the first and last days. In between there is a fair, folk dance competitions in the evenings, and the deities camp in rows across the ground. It is loud, crowded and genuinely rural, and one of the few Himalayan festivals that a visitor can simply walk into. We cover dates, timings and where to stand in our Kullu Dussehra guide, and hotels in Kullu and Naggar fill for the week, so book two months ahead for 2027.

Which outdoor activities are in the valley?

Which side valleys branch off the Kullu Valley?

Parvati Valley turns east at Bhuntar: Kasol, Manikaran’s hot springs and gurdwara, Tosh, and the Kheerganga trek. It is the backpacker valley and has its own rules about the river; read our Parvati Valley guide before going. Tirthan Valley turns west at Aut: Banjar, Gushaini and the entrance to the Great Himalayan National Park, with trout streams, wooden tower-temples and some of the quietest homestays in the state; our Tirthan Valley page and the Jibhi and Tirthan itinerary cover it, and Jibhi, over the 3,120 m Jalori Pass road, is the valley’s small-cafe village. Sainj Valley, between the two, is the least visited and leads to Shangarh’s meadow. Each of these is a comfortable two-night add-on between Shimla and Manali.

When is the best time to visit the Kullu Valley, and how long?

The valley floor is lower and warmer than Manali. March–April brings apple and plum blossom and the first rafting; May–June is warm (up to 30°C in Kullu town) and busy; July–August is monsoon, with the Beas high and brown and the Aut–Kullu road prone to slides, so we avoid it; mid-September–November is harvest, Dussehra and the clearest light; December–February is cold but mostly dry at valley level, with snow on the ridges and Bijli Mahadev often white. Our best time to visit Manali page has the month-by-month detail for the upper valley.

Two nights in Naggar or Kullu is the right amount for most trips: one day for Kullu town, Bhuttico and Bijli Mahadev, one for Naggar and the Roerich gallery, with rafting squeezed in on the way up from Mandi. Add a third for a side valley. Our Kullu–Manali honeymoon package is 4 nights/5 days from ₹12,999 (about US$137) per person on the Deluxe tier in the off-season band (1 November–19 December and 6 January–14 March), and the Manali tour from Delhi is ₹14,999 (about US$158); both can be rerouted to include a Naggar night at no extra cost in most seasons. Peak dates are about 25% more. A 20% token confirms a booking, refundable in full within 48 hours, and we accept international cards via Razorpay and PayPal.

Frequently asked questions

Is Kullu worth visiting, or should you go straight to Manali?

If you have only three nights, go to Manali and visit Naggar as a half-day trip. With four or more, a night in Naggar or Kullu gives you the castle, the Roerich gallery, Bijli Mahadev and the shawl weavers at a slower pace, and puts you an hour closer to the airport and the Parvati and Tirthan side valleys.

When is Kullu Dussehra held?

It starts on Vijayadashami, the tenth day of the Hindu lunar month of Ashvin, and runs for seven days. In 2026 it was 21–27 October at Dhalpur Maidan in Kullu. The 2027 dates will fall in mid-to-late October; the first and last days, when Raghunath’s chariot is pulled, are the highlights. Hotels fill, so book early.

How do you get to Bijli Mahadev?

Drive about 20 km from Kullu up the east side of the valley to Chansari village, then walk roughly 3 km and 60–90 minutes up a stone path through pine forest to the temple at about 2,460 m. Start early for clear views and carry water. A ropeway has been under construction; check with us whether it is running on your dates.

What are the Naggar Castle and Roerich Gallery opening hours?

Naggar Castle is open roughly 09:00–18:00 with an entry fee of about ₹30, free for hotel guests. The Roerich Art Gallery, a kilometre uphill, keeps shorter hours, closes for lunch and, in our experience, on Mondays, so visit mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Both are on the same lane and can be done in two to three hours.

Can you raft on the Beas in winter?

Generally no. The rafting season at Pirdi runs from about March to June and again from mid-September to November, when the water level is right. In the monsoon the river is dangerous and operators stop; in December–February the water is too low and cold. Rafting is run by registered operators with a safety kayak and life jackets.

Which side valley should you add to a Kullu trip?

Tirthan and Jibhi for quiet villages, trout and the Great Himalayan National Park; the Parvati Valley for Kasol, Manikaran’s hot springs and the Kheerganga trek, with a younger crowd. Both are two to three hours from Kullu and suit two nights. Families and older travellers usually prefer Tirthan; backpackers lean towards Parvati.