AAR / 01
Slow
The Slow Valley
6 nightsA gentle arc through Old Manali's orchards, riverside teahouses in Naggar, and an unhurried morning at the Hadimba shrine.
Old ManaliNaggar CastleJanaSolang
Best season
Plan this route →Apr — Jun · Sep — Nov
— Local Manali travel agency · Tours, rentals & permits
Manali,
planned
with care.
Plate 01 · Solang at 17.40
011
Years walking these valleys
06
Curated journeys, this season
38
Partner families across H.P.
1:1
Planner-to-guest ratio
§ 01 — Manifesto
We do not sell mountains.
We introduce you
to a valley.
AAR was founded in 2014 by Ajit Das after two decades in hospitality. Based in Old Manali, the team builds private journeys through the Kullu & Manali valleys, with time for orchards, villages, local tables, and the roads that open toward Lahaul and Spiti.
No two itineraries are ever quite the same. The practical work comes first: the season, the roads, the group, and the pace that lets a visitor spend time in the valley instead of only passing through it.
Founded
2014
Headquarters
Old Manali, H.P.
Planning
Private · Seasonal
§ 02 — Six journeys, 2026
A small library of
considered routes.
AAR / 02
Adventure
Above the Snowline
9 nightsCross the Hampta Pass on foot, fall asleep beside the milky Chandra at Chandratal, and wake to the desert moonscape of Spiti.
Hampta PassChandratalKazaKey Monastery
Best season
Plan this route →Jun — Oct
AAR / 03
Cultural
Tea, Wool & Wood
5 nightsMornings with Tibetan weavers in Aleo, afternoons in Roerich's library, a private kitchen-table dinner with a Kullvi family.
AleoNaggarPini VillageVashisht
Best season
Plan this route →Mar — Nov
AAR / 04
Slow
The Long Winter
7 nightsSki Solang at first light, soak in the sulphur springs at Vashisht, and end each night under quilts beside a bukhari stove.
SolangVashishtGulabaOld Manali
Best season
Plan this route →Dec — Feb
AAR / 05
Family
The Family Knot
5 nightsApple-picking in Pini, a slow river morning on the Beas, and storytelling evenings with a local historian, designed for three generations.
PiniManaligarhHadimbaNaggar
Best season
Plan this route →Mar — Oct
AAR / 06
Adventure
Wings over Solang
4 nightsTandem paragliding from Gulaba, an alpine bivouac on Patalsu, and rafting the Beas through the gorge at Jhiri.
GulabaPatalsuJhiriKullu
Best season
Plan this route →Apr — Oct
§ 08 — Reaching the valley
By bus, by rail,
by air.
Three ways into Manali. We book all three — and the small connecting transfers between them — at no markup.
FromToDurationService
Delhi (ISBT Kashmere Gate)→Manali 12h 30mHRTC Volvo · nightly 17.30
Chandigarh→Manali 08h 10mSemi-sleeper · 21.45 / 23.15
Manali→Leh (via Sarchu) 20hSeasonal · Jun — Sep only
Manali→Dharamshala 10h 00mHRTC ordinary · 18.30
We book Volvo, AC sleeper and HRTC ordinary. Same-day confirmations until 16.00 local time.
Need a dedicated route overview first? Open the Manali bus tickets page.
§ 09 — Wheels & itineraries
Drive yourself.
Be driven.
A small, well-kept fleet — and four hand-shaped sightseeing routes through Kullu, Manali and Lahaul. Mix and match.
The fleet
06 vehiclesMahindra Thar 4x4
4 + driver
Toyota Innova Crysta
6 + driver
Force Urbania (luxury van)
9 + driver
Royal Enfield Himalayan 450
1 rider
Hyundai Creta (self-drive)
5
Tata Hexa (snow-equipped)
6 + driver
On request
Each vehicle is matched to your specific dates and route. Write to the team with your itinerary and we'll confirm availability within a day.
All vehicles include driver (where indicated), fuel cap, basic insurance and a hot flask of kahwa for high-altitude runs.
Custom sightseeing
Kullu · Manali · LahaulThe Kullu — Manali Loop
01 dayA gentle full-day circuit through the valley's living history — ideal for first-day acclimatisation.
Hadimba TempleManu TempleVashisht hot springsTibetan MonasteryVan ViharMall Road
Solang & Atal Tunnel
01 dayCross under the Pir Panjal in nine minutes. Picnic in Sissu, return before sundown.
Solang valleyAnjani MahadevAtal Tunnel south portalSissu (Lahaul)Beas kund viewpoint
Lahaul Sojourn
03 daysThe other side of the range — moonscape, monasteries, and the Bhaga river running blue.
Atal TunnelSissuKeylongJispaSuraj TalBaralacha La (seasonal)
Spiti Circuit
06 daysThe high desert. Four-thousand-metre villages, the world's highest post office, monasteries from the 11th century.
ChandratalKunzum LaKazaKey MonasteryLangzaHikkimKomic
§ 10 — In the air, in the river
Two ways to
feel the valley
move.
Tandem flights from four launch sites and four grades of white-water on the Beas. Booked with certified operators only.
fig. 07
Paragliding
2,400 — 3,980 m
Mar — Jun · Sep — Nov
Solang Valley300 m10 — 15 minBeginner
Gulaba ridge900 m20 — 25 minIntermediate
Marhi to Solang1,500 m30 — 40 minExpert / tandem
Bir Billing (private)850 m25 — 35 minPro tandem
All flights with AAI-certified Himalayan pilots. GoPro footage included.
fig. 08
River Rafting
Beas · 1,500 — 1,900 m
Apr — Jul · Sep — Oct
Pirdi → JhiriGrade II07 km · 45 minEasy
Babeli → JhiriGrade II — III14 km · 1h 30mStandard
Shamshi → JhiriGrade III — IV16 km · 2hAdvanced
Spiti river expeditionGrade IV03 daysExpedition
Certified life vests, dry-bags and a safety kayak follow every run.
§ 11 — Documentation
Permit for the
Rohtang
Pass.
Pass
Rohtang Pass
Altitude
3,978 m
Status
Verify online
Window
Weather-dependent
Rohtang tourism visits require a dated vehicle permit. Availability, application windows, maintenance days, and road access can change, so confirm the official portal for your dates.
Four steps to the pass
- 01Vehicle registration
RC, PUC and Aadhaar / passport of the registered owner.
- 02Official portal
Apply through the District Administration Kullu portal for your intended travel date.
- 03Daily cap
The official portal currently lists 800 petrol and 400 diesel vehicles per day.
- 04Print & recheck
Carry the required printout and recheck current access before leaving Manali.
Fine print
Check the official portal - —Rules, availability and maintenance days can change.
- —The official portal currently lists valid ID, valid PUC and a vehicle age limit of 10 years.
- —The permit portal is the source of truth for your travel date.
§ 03 — Field notes
Six small obsessions.
A short index of the moments that, in our view, justify the journey north. Any of them may be folded into your plan, at any season.
01 · Pinefig. 01
A morning in the deodar
Birdwatching walk with Tej, our resident naturalist.
02 · Weavefig. 02
Looms of Aleo
Hand-spun pashmina, two hours with the Bodh family.
03 · Stonefig. 03
Hadimba at first light
Cedar pagoda, 1553. Private dawn entry arranged.
04 · Sulphurfig. 04
The hot springs of Vashisht
Closed bath, sundown to ten.
05 · Applefig. 05
Pini orchards, October
Press your own cider in the Sharma's barn.
06 · Skyfig. 06
Tandem over Solang
20-minute glide, certified Himalayan pilots.
§ 04 — Calendar
The valley has
four moods.
We plan year-round. Each season opens a different door: high passes in summer, hot springs in winter, the apple harvest in autumn, rhododendrons in spring.
03
Our quiet favourite. Apples ripen, the light turns long and gold, the rivers run clear again.
This season favours— Harvest— Photography— Solitude
§ 05 — Voices from the journals
We came expecting mountains. We left having met a valley — its weavers, its apple farmers, the lady who poured us tea at the Naggar bookshop. Not a single thing felt performed.
Ananya & Rohit
Bengaluru
The Slow Valley · AAR / 01
§ 06 — About AAR
Plate 06 · Ajit Das, Manali17.10, 2026
One person.
One valley.
One desk.
Ajit DasFounder · Lead Planner
Ajit spent the better part of two decades in hospitality industry — hotels, resorts, the quiet work of making people comfortable in unfamiliar places. The industry gave him something most people spend a lifetime chasing: a genuine ease with strangers. He listened well, remembered names, and understood that service done right is invisible.
He moved to Manali because the valley made sense to him in a way few places had. He wanted to keep doing what he had always done, look after people but on his own terms, with a place he actually loved as the backdrop.
AAR grew out of that instinct. He is not interested in volume. He is interested in visitors leaving Manali the way he arrived: with the feeling that they have been somewhere real.
Manali travel guides
Plan with local context.
Custom trips · Old ManaliTour packagesRead guide →Local sightseeing · Longer road tripsCar rentalsRead guide →Self-ride · Himalayan routesBike rentalRead guide →Volvo · AC sleeper · HRTCBus ticketsRead guide →Bus · Rail connection · AirReaching ManaliRead guide →Solang Valley · Weather-dependentParaglidingRead guide →Beas River · Seasonal activityRiver raftingRead guide →Official portal · Date-sensitive rulesRohtang permitRead guide →Four seasons · Different routesBest time to visitRead guide →
§ 07 — Plan a journey
Tell us where
you'd like the
valley to find you.
Four short questions. A reply within thirty-six hours, from a real planner — with a proposed shape for your trip and a quiet conversation about it.