Snow Destinations of India: Gulmarg, Auli, Manali (Issue 81)

Welcome to Issue 81 of Travel Viewpoint, our January 2026 edition, and the start of a new year of travel. This month we go north and up, into the Himalayan winter.

January is when snow comes to the mountains in earnest. The meadows of Gulmarg fill with white, the slopes of Auli open to skiers, and Manali’s old village goes quiet under frozen roofs. For many Indian travellers, a first sight of real snow is one of the great moments of childhood, or of adult life. For others, the snow is an old friend they return to every year.

This issue is about three of India’s best-loved snow destinations: Gulmarg in Kashmir, Auli in Uttarakhand and Manali in Himachal Pradesh. But it is also about how to travel in the snow well: slowly, safely and with respect for the people who live with winter every year.

Here is what is inside.

Start here

Editor’s letter: Snow Destinations of India — Why we chose the snow this January, and why the best snow trips are often the slowest.

Avalanche, road and permit notes — Read this before anything else if you are travelling. Where to find avalanche warnings, road advisories and permit rules, with a practical checklist.

What the passes do in January — Rohtang, Zojila, the Atal Tunnel and more: which high routes usually close in winter and how to plan around them.

Gulmarg, Kashmir

Gulmarg when you are not chasing a photo — The famous gondola, done sensibly, and the quieter pleasures of a snow meadow at dawn, for travellers who stay longer than a day.

Auli, Uttarakhand

Skiing in Auli — Our guide to India’s best-known ski slopes, from the beginner runs to the higher slopes, with equipment, lessons and safety tips, now updated for the 2026 season.

Auli for people who do not ski all day — Nanda Devi at sunrise, a lesson for the curious, slow afternoons and the views that make the long drive worthwhile, even without skis.

One meadow you walk to — The winter walk from Auli to Gorson Bugyal, through snowy forest to a high meadow with one of Garhwal’s great mountain panoramas.

Manali and Himachal

Manali’s old village, not the Mall Road — Wooden houses, the Manu temple, Hadimba’s cedar forest and a village that still belongs to its residents in winter.

A guest night in a wooden house — Our guest writer spends a snowy night with a family in a traditional kath-kuni house and learns how Himachal has always kept warm.

The town to skip if the road is shut — When snow or landslides block the roads, the hardest and wisest decision may be to go somewhere else. How to decide, and where to go instead.

Travelling well

A rest day is part of the trip — Altitude, cold, weather and closed roads all argue for one thing: a planned day of doing very little. Here is how to spend it well.

A note on facts and safety

Winter conditions in the mountains change daily. Roads close and reopen, avalanche warnings come and go, and rules about permits and access change from season to season. We have tried to be accurate and to hedge where things are uncertain, but please always check the latest official information before you travel. We have deliberately avoided quoting prices, which vary widely and change often.

Why these three places

We chose Gulmarg, Auli and Manali because they are the snow destinations our readers ask about most, and because between them they show three very different faces of the Indian winter.

Gulmarg is a high meadow ringed by forest, with some of the most serious ski terrain in the country above it and a gondola that lifts you towards the ridge. Auli is a ski slope on a mountainside facing some of the highest peaks in India, with Nanda Devi on the horizon. Manali is a busy hill town in a river valley, with an old village and cedar forests just above its crowded centre.

All three are reachable, with some effort, from the plains of north India. All three can be overwhelmed by crowds in peak weeks. And all three reward travellers who slow down, stay longer and step a little away from the obvious.

How to use this issue

If you are planning a first snow trip, start with the safety notes, then choose one destination and read its pieces. If you are an experienced mountain traveller, try the walk to Gorson Bugyal or a night in a wooden house. If you have children or older travellers with you, read the rest day piece twice.

And if you are not travelling at all this month, we hope these pages bring a little mountain light to wherever you are reading.

A sample week, if you want one

Several readers asked us for a simple shape for a first snow trip. Here is one, to adapt rather than follow exactly.

Day 1: Travel to your base, ideally arriving in daylight. A short walk, an early dinner.
Day 2: Rest and acclimatise. Sunrise from a terrace, a gentle stroll, plenty of water.
Day 3: The main event: the Gulmarg gondola, a beginner ski lesson in Auli, or the lanes and forest of Old Manali.
Day 4: A walk to somewhere quieter, such as Gorson Bugyal above Auli or the meadow loop in Gulmarg.
Day 5: Buffer day for weather or closed roads.
Day 6: Travel down, leaving early and finishing the mountain drive before dark.

If you have only a long weekend, cut the trip to one destination and keep the rest day; it is the part most people drop and most regret dropping. That is a slow week by most standards. We think it is the right speed for the mountains in January.

Coming next

In February, Issue 82 heads to the opposite extreme: the deserts of western India, from the Desert Festival in Jaisalmer to the white salt plain of the Rann of Kutch.

Thank you for reading, and happy new year from all of us at Travel Viewpoint.