How to Plan a Fantastic 5 Days Kinnaur Valley Road Trip Under 8k (With Itinerary)

Last updated on May 20th, 2021 at 04:43 am

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Traveling on a budget is challenging and what if I say I did a road trip to Kinnaur Valley under 8k!

I have summarized how it feels when you travel on a budget!

It just feels like a plate full of yum dishes in front of the eyes and hands are tied in a rope and that too when hungry.

Yeah, appreciate yourself and your efforts and I appreciate you too.

I did a Delhi to Kinnaur Valley road trip under a budget of 8k for 5 days and it was a special one because this was a gift to me on the birthday.

My Delhi to Kinnaur tour is something that I wanted to do for a long time and just a few days before my birthday (10^th April ) made a plan that I will do Kinnaur Valley Tour and make this memorable.

Also, I was very fascinated by the movie “Highway” and the picturization stuck in my mind that insisted me to make a Kinnaur Valley Trip plan.

Hence, I thought that I will do a road trip to Kinnaur valley on a budget and save some money for future travels also.

And guess what, yeah you guessed it right and I did it.

Firstly,

Where is Kinnaur Valley?

Kinnaur Valley is in Himachal Pradesh and the Kinnaur Kailash ( Adobe of Shiva ) can be seen from here.

It is among the twelve administrative districts of Himachal Pradesh.

1. Bilaspur
2. Chamba
3. Mandi
4. Shimla
5. Kinnaur
6. Sirmaur
7. Solan
8. Una
9. Hamirpur
10. Lahaul and Spiti
11. Kangra
12. Kullu

In my Kinnaur road trip, I have covered Kalpa Valley, Reckong Peo, and Chitkul Valley. Hence, I crossed Sangla and Rakcham too but for a very small period.

Mostly covered the major part of Kinnaur Valley.

Are you more of a photo person?

Okay, see the Kalpa Valley Photo Blog.

Road Conditions of Kinnaur 

The Kinnaur Road is among the deadliest roads in the world.

Why Deadliest?

Because of the risk involved and one can also say it’s the one-way road on most of the journey and must do calculations on how the other vehicle will pass by. This is extremely preferred to the experienced drivers and especially those who drove on mountains several times before driving on the Kinnaur road.

How to Plan a Kinnaur Valley Itinerary with Budget?

I will be going to summarize how I planned my Kinnaur Tour and then we will focus on each point separately.

You need to ask few questions yourself before starting.

I am here to answer them all and give examples from my own experience during my Kinnaur trip.

1^st – How to reach Kinnaur Valley?

2^nd – Which place you will be using as a hub in your Trip to Kinnaur?

3^rd – How you are going to travel from one place to another?

4^th – Where you can eat?

5^th – What all places you can see in your 5 days Kinnaur Valley Tour?

Remember what the title says?

Yes, how to do a road trip to Kinnaur Valley under a Budget of 8k?

That clearly states I will be going to suggest the cheapest ways so that you can also do on a low budget trip to Kinnaur.

Also Read, 10 Must have Motorcycle Accessories while Backpacking

1^st – How to Reach Kinnaur Valley

Don’t forget the title.

The cheapest way you can reach is by Bus or your vehicle depends upon one preference.

By Bus

From Bus it would be –

Delhi – Shimla (347km) – Rampur Bushahr (126km) – Reckong Peo (100km)

Delhi to Shimla Bus Fare

The Volvo Bus fare would be around Rs.700 – Rs.800.

The Ordinary Bus fare would be around Rs. 400 – Rs.500

Shimla to Kinnaur Bus Fare

The bus fare from Shimla to Kinnaur/ Reckong Peo (Headquarter of Kinnaur district) is Rs.417 (subject to change).

Considering this part – Rs.2200 (From Delhi to Kinnaur and Return from Kinnaur to Delhi) by Bus for one person.

By Personal Vehicle

The route will be the same. Again, safety measures must be taken.

One of the benefits and it’s an important one; the much-needed interval that one gets during the journey because the bus will be going to stop where it meant to be stopped.

This is what I think an important part of a long journey or say during the Kinnaur Valley Tour.

This part is about fuel expenses and the distance from Delhi to Kinnaur is about 600 km.

(Also you can’t drive continuously and rest is much needed)

For e.x– An early morning start from Delhi and a night stay at Shimla or Rampur which is another 126km would be a good fit. The early morning starts the next day and you can comfortably enter Kinnaur in the afternoon.

* It’s safe but needs to be avoided in the monsoon because landslides are prone to happen in this region. So, it’s better to be on the safe side.

2^nd – Which place you will be used as a Hub in your Trip to Kinnaur Valley?

Okay, it’s ideal to stay at the destination you are arriving itself.

For e.x– in your Kinnaur trip plan – you will be arriving first at Kalpa which means a stay at Kalpa then next you will be heading towards Sangla means a stay at Sangla and Chitkul means a stay at Chitkul.

I don’t want you to do a mistake as I did.

What I did is; my hub is at Kalpa Valley and I continued to keep my hub the same during my Trip to Kinnaur.

I have a plan for Chitkul Valley that means a stay in Chitkul is a must because the very first bus will drop in the afternoon. So, I continued to use my Hub at Kalpa and stayed for a night in Chitkul. So, paying on both occasions (I covered up in food and travel).

You got this, now you can do Kinnaur Tour very easily under 8k.

A homestay would cost anywhere around Rs. 600 – Rs. 700 on an average for a night (At any destination you are arriving).

This part can be covered under Rs. 3000 for 4 nights.

3^rd – How you are going to travel from one place to another?

By foot, if you take my suggestion.

For Ex – In touring Kalpa Valley and Reckong Peo – On foot, it can be covered very easily.

Don’t take taxis if you want your road trip to Kinnaur to be done under a certain budget. Taxi prices are high. It’s like Rs. 200 from Reckong Peo to Kalpa which by bus is Rs. 15 – Rs. 20.

By Bus for long distances like Kalpa Valley to Chitkul Valley.

Firstly from Kalpa, you have to reach Reckong Peo, take a morning bus to Chitkul Valley.

Bus Fare from Reckong Peo to Chitkul

The fare from Reckong Peo to Chitkul would cost around – Rs.100 – Rs.110.

If Dividing Journey into Sangla and Chitkul separately.

Bus Fare from Reckong Peo to Sangla – Rs.70 – Rs. 72
Bus Fare from Sangla to Chitkul – Rs. 40

4^th – Where you can eat?

All the food lovers.

Don’t forget you are doing Kinnaur Valley tour on a Budget.

Every time you forget.

There can’t be any best option apart from eating in a “Dhaba”. I feel Dhabas are underrated and Restaurants are overrated, although doesn’t apply to all.

A normal thali would cost around Rs. 150 – Rs. 200 and a sandwich/omelet would fit for a healthy breakfast.

Considering this part of Rs. 1500 – Rs. 1700 for 4 days for a person keeping you eat less than for Rs.200 at two times.

Assuming you booked for a homestay and the cost of food is involved in your stay only.

For e.x- the cost of Homestay is Rs. 600 for a night and some make meals involved in that cost only. So, you don’t have to spend extra bucks and if it’s not involved “Dhaba” is always an open option for you.

In my case, I got three times the meal involved in my stay only of Rs. 1000

Bang on if you get a homestay with around Rs.600 with meals involved.

i.e. Where to Eat part concludes at Rs. 1700 – Rs. 1900 for 4 days for a person.

The budget tally now reaches Rs. 7200 – Rs. 7400.

And we are on the last part too, excited?

Yeah, I got you.

5^th – What all places you can see in your 5 days to Kinnaur Valley?

In my road trip to Kinnaur valley, I had covered –

1. 1. Kalpa – A Heritage Village in Kinnaur Valley.
   2. Reckong Peo – District headquarters of Kinnaur Valley.
   3. Chitkul – Last Indian Village on Indo – China border.

You can also go to Nako, Tabo if time permits for another 2-3 days making it a trip of 7-8 days.

And Spiti too. Who doesn’t want to see Spiti especially winter Spiti?

Okay, it’s altogether a different topic to cover.

Therefore all the four points are referring to this part only –

1. How to reach
2. Which place to use as a Hub.
3. How to Travel from one place to another.
4. Where to eat.

Conclusion

The conclusion here arises that a road trip from Delhi to Kinnaur valley on a budget proved to be on my top list of budget trips.

Hence, it concludes that a budget trip to Kinnaur Valley between Rs. 7200 – Rs. 7400 is possible.  I did at slightly high Rs. 7600 – Rs. 7700 because of the Hub part if you have read in the second point.

Do let me know if you have anything to ask in the comments below or can contact me on Facebook and Instagram as well.

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Until then see you on the roads.