Travel style · Ladakh
Road trips in Ladakh
The high roads, driven at the right speed
The Himalaya has some of the highest motorable roads in the world: Manali to Leh, the Spiti circuit, Sela Pass, the Old Silk Route. We plan them with acclimatisation days, a driver who knows the bends and honest drive times.
Photo: Saurabh Lall · CC BY 2.0 · CommonsA mountain road is slow. Two hundred kilometres can take eight hours when the road climbs over a pass, crosses snow-melt streams and waits for a landslide to be cleared. We plan drives in daylight, keep long days to one in three, and build a spare day into any route that crosses a pass above 4,000 m.
Ladakh is a high-altitude desert on the Indus, reached by air to Leh (3,500 m) or by road over Zoji La or the Manali highway. Go June to September for open passes. Rest 48 hours in Leh before you climb higher. A saver trip runs ₹2,000–3,500 a day.
Trips
Road trips trips in Ladakh
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Leh, Nubra and Pangong with a private car
Private Ladakh Taxi Union SUV with driver
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Comfort
Leh to Zanskar and out to Srinagar by car
Private SUV with driver; local car in Padum where required
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Saver
Leh, Nubra and Pangong by bus and shared jeep
State bus over Khardung La, shared taxis to Nubra and Pangong, local buses in the Indus valley
Photo: Saurabh Lall · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Saver
Srinagar road to Leh and Turtuk on a budget
Shared Sumo taxis, state buses and local shared cars
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Signature
Nubra, Pangong and Tso Moriri with a guide
Private SUV with driver and a private naturalist guide
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Signature
Thiksey camp, Nimmu House and Nubra in style
Private SUV with driver and a private guide throughout
8 places
Where to go
Photo: Saurabh Lall · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Kargil
Purig's river town between Zoji La and Leh
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Lamayuru
Ladakh's old gompa above the eroded moonland
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Leh
Old caravan town at 3,500 m, and where every Ladakh trip begins
Photo: Addy6697 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Nubra Valley
The old caravan valley over Khardung La, with dunes and orchards
Photo: KennyOMG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Pangong Tso
A 134 km brackish lake at about 4,250 m, best at first light
Photo: John Hill · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Tso Moriri
A Ramsar lake at 4,522 m, home of the Changpa herders
Photo: Suryadasika · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Turtuk
A Balti village of apricots on the Shyok, open to visitors since 2010
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Zanskar (Padum)
Ladakh's remotest valley, reached over Pensi La
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Jparande · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Mulbekh's Maitreya and the Shergol cliff gompa
Drive east from Kargil into Buddhist Purig to see the 9 m rock-cut Maitreya at Mulbekh, the cliff-top Mulbekh gompa and…
Photo: Narender9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
The Suru valley to Panikhar and Nun Kun
Follow the Suru river south from Kargil past Sankoo to Panikhar, where meadows and willow groves face the snow and ice …
Photo: Narender9 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Drass and the war memorial on the Srinagar road
Drass, 60 km west of Kargil, is a high village known for hard winters. The war memorial beside the road remembers soldi…
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Morning prayers at Lamayuru Monastery
Sleep in the village and walk up before the day-trip cars arrive, to sit at the back of the assembly hall while the mon…
Photo: Fulvio Spada from Torino, Italy · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Commons
Sunset walk along Lamayuru's moonland
An easy evening walk from the village along the lanes and the old highway, looking over the eroded lake sediments that …
Photo: Deepank Ranka · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Wanla village and its hilltop temple
A short drive south of Lamayuru, Wanla is a farming village with an old Avalokiteshvara temple and ruined fort on a rid…
Photo: KennyOMG · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Leh old town and palace morning walk
A slow walk from Main Bazaar through the mud-brick lanes of the old town to Leh Palace, finishing on the palace roof. I…
Photo: Vinay Goyal, Ludhiana · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Shanti Stupa sunset over the Leh valley
A white peace stupa above Chanspa, completed in 1991 and reached by 555 steps or a road. Sunset lights the palace, the …
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Anirvan Shukla · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Budget
Zostel Leh
Zostel's Leh hostel offers dorm beds and private rooms within walking distance of Main Bazaar, with a common area …
Photo: Suryadasika · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Turtuk Balti homestays
Turtuk is a homestay village: dozens of Balti families in Youl and Farol, the two halves of the village, rent simp…
Photo: Biplav Arya, 3rd July 2009 · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Budget
Spangmik and Man homestays, Pangong
The villages of Spangmik, Man and Merak on Pangong's southern shore have family homestays where you sleep in Chang…
Photo: Bernard Gagnon Canon EOS REBEL T4i · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Stok Palace Heritage Hotel
Rooms inside part of Stok Palace, the home of Ladakh's former royal family since the 19th century, and in the orch…
Photo: McKay Savage from London, UK · CC BY 2.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Omasila, Leh
A long-running family hotel in Changspa, the quiet green lane below Shanti Stupa, with garden seating and a short …
Photo: Bernard Gagnon Canon EOS REBEL T4i · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Luxury
The Grand Dragon Ladakh
Leh's largest full-service hotel, open all year, with heated rooms, a restaurant serving Ladakhi and international…