Mandi Travel Guide
At the confluence of the Beas and the Suketi rivers, Mandi (800 m), capital of an erstwhile kingdom, is one of the most important cities of Himachal Pradesh. Built in 1278 by Ban Sen, it developed into an important religious centre with over 80 temples and earned the epithet of ‘Varanasi of the Hills’. Combined with Rewalsar Lake and Jogindernagar, this is a minor circuit which is an offshoot from the NH 21 at Mandi. Temperatures drop to near freezing point in winter and in summer the climate is hot. The circuit is excellent for a winter sojourn.
Related Travel Information
Mandi By road
At the junction of national highways nos. 20 (pathankot-mandi) and 21(chan-digarh-manali), mandi is very well con¬nected to all parts of himachal pradesh and the northern region. Road distances to some important centres in the region are: manali 110 km, dharamshala 140 km, dalhousie 265 km, shimla 130 km, hamir-pur 75 km, chandigarh 210 km and delhi 460 km.
Being on two major national highways, mandi is excellently served by bus servic¬es, both deluxe and ordinary. All deluxe, airconditioned and ordinary buses of vari¬ous states transport corporations, like del¬hi, haryana, rajasthan, punjab, chandi¬garh, j&k and himachal, and private coach operators
Dalhousie: By road
Dalhousie lies astride the main i pathankot-chamba route and the road i to the city diverts at banikhet, 6 km. The i city, however, is well connected by a i good network of roads to different parts i of himachal pradesh and region. Some 1 distances to important places in gion are: chamba 56 km (via bani-i kliet) and 48 km (via khajjiar), pathankot 180 km, dharamshala 143 km (via bani :, chakki, nurpur) and 127 km (via i bakloh, lahru, sihunta and shahpur), i amritsar 191 km, jammu 190 km, mandi 270 km, manali 380 km, chandigarh
Palampur : Himachal Pradesh
Palampur is the tea capital of northwest India. It is set on the rising slopes of the Kangra Valley before they merge with the Dhauladhar ranges. But tea is just one aspect which makes Palampur a special resort. Abundance of water and proximity to the mountains have endowed it with a mild climate. (The name comes from the local word 'pulum,' meaning lots of water). This sets it apart from other tourist centres as one can enjoy its delights at any time of the year. Situated in and about the middle of the Kangra Valley, it
Mandi Excursions
Himalayan herbal trek:
Himachal tourism offers a unique trek package to create awareness about the depleting bio-resources And stress the importance of medicinal plants resources of the
State. The package is jointly organised by himachal tourism and research institute for indian systems of medicine, joginderna¬gar. Experts from the research institute accompany the 7-day long trek in the mountains to show and explain various floral species of medical importance. The Trek is generally organised in september, when the herbs are in Maturity.
Chamba By road
The road access to chamba, from pathankot or places in himachal pradesh, like shimla, manali, dharamshala, etc, is similar to dalhousie except from banikhet the state highway continues left to cham¬ba (50 km). Some road distances to impor¬tant places beyond chamba are: bharmour 65 km, tissa 56 km.
Chamba is very well linked by bus servic¬es to pathankot (nearly a half-hour service), delhi, jammu and all the major cities of him¬achal pradesh and north india by state trans¬port corporations of himachal, delhi, punjab and j&k. Many private bus companies also run services to the city from many places in
