People often worry that a place like Manali needs a very high budget but guess what it’s not true. You can’t even imagine how low your Manali Solo trip budget can be. Excited! Just follow me till the end and you will know everything that you need to manage your budget for the Manali Solo trip.

What will you get to know from this post?

• How to reach Manali alone to keep my budget to the minimum?
• Where to stay in Manali on a solo budget trip?
• Is it safe for a solo tourist/solo female tourist to stay in a dorm in Manali?
• Should I rent a Bike while travelling Solo in Manali?
• How much does it cost to rent a Bike in Manali?
• How much money do I need for each day of my Manali solo trip?
• How much does a Manali Solo Budget trip cost?
• Tips and Tricks to minimize my budget.
• Conclusion

How to reach Manali alone to keep my budget to the minimum?

The cheapest ways to reach Manali from Delhi:

Bus from Delhi to Manali:

There are multiple buses running from Delhi to Manali and their prices start from around 700rs. The back seats of a semi-sleeper bus are comparatively cheaper but I won’t recommend you to book that.

If anyone wants to reach Manali via Chandigarh then here is some important information.

Train to Chandigarh and then bus to Manali

How to reach Chandigarh from Delhi by train?

Train No.	Starts from	Start time	End time	Journey time	Runs on	Sleeper/CC
14217	DLI	04:15	09:15	5hr	Everyday	170rs
13008	NNO	04:41	05:21	40min	Everyday	140rs
14095	DEE	05:35	10:25	4hr 50min	Everyday	105rs
12057	NDLS	14:35	18:38	4hrs 3min	Everyday	140rs
18101	DLI	21:25	02:53	5hr 28min	Mon, Tue, Sat	180rs

How to reach Manali from Chandigarh by bus?

HRTC Bus type	Start time	End time	Journey Time	Ticket price
Ordinary/seater	18:40	02:51	8hr 11min	700rs
AC Volvo/seater	22:00	08:00	10hrs	1200rs
Ordinary Seater	18:10	04:30	10hr 20min	700rs

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Prices may vary on different booking sites.

Note: I have only mentioned the details of HRTC buses. There are many private buses also running between Chandigarh and Manali but they are costlier.

Where to stay in Manali on a budget solo trip?

I would say you to choose the area wisely. 

For example, if you will look for a budget room on Mall road, you will never be able to find it. So, always try to look for a budget room a little distance from the main market.

In old Manali, you can easily find dorms starting from 500-600rs/bed.

Sharing is always budget-friendly. There are also female dorms for any solo female tourist.

Is it safe for a solo tourist/solo female tourist to stay in a dorm in Manali?

In my opinion and as per my experience yes it is. I have spent many days in Manali and during my stay, I saw many solo female tourists come and go. Not only in my dorm but I also observed many solo tourists both male and female roaming around and enjoying their trip.

However, it is best to keep an eye on everything and verify the locality and everything prior.

Other things you can do:

1. While booking online, always confirm your booking with the hotel/hostel.
2. Always read the reviews, especially of solo travelers while booking online on different platforms.
3. Inform someone from your family or friend about your stay

Should I rent a Bike while travelling Solo in Manali?

Yes, you can rent a bike in Manali. But there are a few things that you should keep in mind prior to it.

1. Only book a bike if you need it for the whole day, otherwise, take a taxi.
2. Only book a bike when you are offroading or going out of the city otherwise book a scooter.
3. Every bike renting agency has an online presence, check their reviews on google prior to booking the bike.
4. Take pictures and videos of the bike that you are booking and always read the meters.

How much does it cost to rent a Bike in Manali?

Activa 125	500-600rs/day
Access	600-700rs/day
Avenis 125	750-850rs/day
Ntorq	750-850rs/day
Access 125cc	750-850rs/day
Thunderbird 350cc	1000-1200rs/day
Classic 350cc	1000-1200rs/day
Himalayan	1400-1500rs/day

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How much money do I need for each day of my Manali solo trip?

Even if you are travelling solo, there is a lot to do and explore in Manali hence you need a budget plan for your Manali trip. Here is an outline of how my day was in Manali during my Solo trip.

I will exclude the extra activities from this budget to keep it simple.

• Stay: 600rs
• Morning breakfast: 200rs
• Renting a scooter for the whole day: 800rs
• Fuel: 400rs
• Lunch: <250rs(Having lunch outside your residence can be expensive)
• Evening snack in a cafe in Old Manali: 300-400rs
• Dinner: <250rs
• Total: <3000rs/day

You may not need to rent a bike/scooter every day and in that case, your daily expenses can reduce to 2500rs.

How much does a Manali Solo Budget trip cost?

During my trip, I visited almost every site in Manali including Hidimba temple, Vashishtha Kund/Temple, Jogini Waterfalls, Himachal Museum, Mall Road, Vyas Kund, Rohtang, Atal tunnel, and even more. I was able to cover all these places in 3 days.

As per our calculation, we need almost 7500rs for this 3 days Manali solo Budget trip. Now you can reduce this even more by following these following tips and tricks.

• Use more share taxis than reserving them.
• Most of the places in old Manali are on the main road itself so you don’t need to book anything and you can even walk through it.
• Always keep in my mind that you won’t be able to find any taxi apart from the new side of Manali.
• Avoid booking a bike for half day, try to start your day early or take a taxi.
• In the off-season, you can avoid booking your accommodation online and you can directly visit any hostel by checking their reviews online.

Conclusion

Manali is one of the best destinations for Solo tourists. People often think that a Manali trip is not for budget travelers but here is a budget trip for everyone. Even if you are planning to visit Manali in a group you can just calculate your total expenses based on per person/day cost.

We also saw that Manali is safe for a solo male/female tourist however there are things we can take care of that we just discussed. There are multiple ways to reach Manali directly from Delhi or via Chandigarh while maintaining our budget.

Let me know in the comments if you liked this article and also share it on your social media handles.