India
Ladakh
A high desert behind the Himalaya, with Buddhist monasteries on every ridge, turquoise lakes and villages of apricot trees. In summer, when the rest of India has the monsoon, Ladakh stays dry and clear.
Ladakh sits at 3,000 to 4,500 metres, between the Himalaya and the Karakoram. Its culture is Tibetan Buddhist, its landscape bare and immense, and its season short: from late May to September.
Every journey starts with two or three quiet days in Leh to adjust to the altitude. After that, the roads climb over some of the highest passes in the world to the valleys of Nubra and the lake of Pangong.
Written by the TravelZeg team in New Delhi.
In short
- Best for
- Mountain landscapes, Tibetan Buddhist culture, walking, a summer trip to India
- Less suited to
- Anyone with heart or breathing problems, without a doctor's advice; winter travel
- Best time
- June to mid-September. The Hemis festival is in June or July.
- Ideal length
- 8 to 12 nights.
Where to go
Where to go in Ladakh
- Leh
- The old town under the royal palace, the monasteries of Thiksey, Hemis and Shey nearby, and the Shanti Stupa at sunset.
- Nubra valley
- Over the Khardung La pass to sand dunes, Bactrian camels and the Diskit monastery.
- Pangong Tso
- A long, high lake that changes colour through the day, at about 4,300 metres. A night there is cold but unforgettable.
- Alchi and the Sham valley
- Thousand-year-old painted temples and apricot villages along the Indus, lower and gentler than the east.
- Walking
- Village-to-village walks with homestays in the Sham valley, or longer treks for those who are fit.
In pictures
Ladakh in pictures
Our view
What we rate, and what we would skip
What we rate
Three slow days in Leh to start
It makes the rest of the trip enjoyable rather than an endurance test.
A morning prayer at Thiksey
Monks chanting in the assembly hall at dawn.
A village homestay
With a Ladakhi family, in the Sham valley.
What we would skip
Driving up from Manali in one go
Spread it over two days, or fly to Leh.
Pangong as a day trip from Leh
Ten hours in a car for an hour at the lake.
Travelling between October and May
Most roads and hotels close for the winter.
Practical
Getting there and around
- Getting there
- Fly to Leh from Delhi, about 1½ hours. Nubra and Pangong need a protected area permit, which we arrange.
- Combine with
- Delhi and Agra; Himachal by road over two days.
Plan my journey
Tell us roughly what you have in mind
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