Himachal & Uttarakhand · Sunday 25 October
The next big weekend in the hills is Lakshmi Puja weekend (23–26 Oct). The big names — Manali and the rest — get packed and the approach roads jam, while the quieter hill stations stay calm. Here is the crowd forecast for every town we track, busiest first, so you can go where the bheed (crowd) isn't.
| Hill town | Rush | Where |
| Manali | Avoid (10/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Mussoorie | Avoid (10/10) | Uttarakhand |
| Nainital | Avoid (10/10) | Uttarakhand |
| Dharamshala | Heavy (8/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Shimla | Heavy (7/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Rishikesh | Busy (5/10) | Uttarakhand |
| Bir | Easy (3/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Chail | Easy (3/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Chopta | Easy (3/10) | Uttarakhand |
| Sethan | Easy (3/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Barot | Calm (2/10) | Himachal Pradesh |
| Kanatal | Calm (2/10) | Uttarakhand |
| Mukteshwar | Calm (2/10) | Uttarakhand |
A forecast for 23–26 Oct, refreshed daily · how we work this out
Yes — Manali reads 10 out of 10 on Lakshmi Puja weekend (23–26 Oct). Expect heavy traffic and full hotels; book well ahead or pick one of the calmer towns below.
This Lakshmi Puja weekend the calmest hill stations we forecast are Kanatal, Mukteshwar, Barot — all reading Calm or Easy while the big names are packed.
Head to Kanatal, Mukteshwar, Barot. RushCheck forecasts the crowd for every Himachal & Uttarakhand hill station for Lakshmi Puja weekend and points you to the quieter ones.