Travel style · Spiti & Lahaul
Road trips in Spiti & Lahaul
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: Adarsh Patel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 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.
Spiti and Lahaul form one high district of Himachal Pradesh behind the Pir Panjal. Spiti is a rain-shadow desert at 3,000–4,500 m with thousand-year-old gompas and fossil villages; Lahaul is greener, reached in two hours from Manali through the Atal Tunnel. Go June to September, by HRTC bus and homestay or by private car.
Trips
Road trips trips in Spiti & Lahaul
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Spiti circuit: Kinnaur in, Kunzum La out
Private SUV with driver
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Comfort
Lahaul and Chandratal from Manali
Private SUV with driver
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Saver
Spiti by HRTC bus, the slow Kinnaur way in
HRTC and local buses, with one shared taxi loop from Kaza
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Gompas of Spiti, in and out by Kinnaur
Private SUV with driver, private guide
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Signature
Slow Spiti and Lahaul with a private guide
Private SUV with driver, private guide
7 places
Where to go
Photo: Adarsh Patel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Chandratal
The crescent moon lake, open June to early October
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jispa
A riverside stop on the Manali–Leh road at 3,200 m
Photo: Rodmantyler · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Kaza
Spiti's only town, base camp for every village loop
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Keylong
Lahaul's capital on the Bhaga, two hours from Manali
Photo: Madhumita Das · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Langza, Hikkim and Komic
Fossil slopes, a high post office and a 4,587 m village
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Nako
A lake village and 11th-century temples on the road to Spiti
Photo: 11th century West Tibetan painter Photography … · Public domain · Commons
Tabo
A working monastery founded in 996 CE, painted inside
Experiences
Days that fit the style
Photo: Adarsh Patel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Morning walk around Chandratal
Walk from the camps to the lake and around its shore at sunrise, when the water is still and the crescent reflects the …
Photo: John Hill · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Commons
Kunzum La and its roadside shrine
Stop at Kunzum La, about 4,590 m, between Spiti and Lahaul, where drivers circle the small shrine to Kunzum Devi and th…
Photo: Gerd Eichmann · CC BY 4.0 · Commons
Dal and rice at a Batal dhaba
Eat with drivers, bikers and trekkers at Batal, the tiny stop where the Chandratal road leaves the highway. Hot dal, ri…
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Morning walk on the Bhaga riverbank
Walk the gravel flats and willow groves along the Bhaga below Jispa at first light, with snow peaks above and the Leh r…
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Jispa village lanes and gompa
Walk up from the highway into the village, past potato and pea fields, to the small gompa that serves Jispa's families.…
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Drive to Darcha and the start of the high road
A short drive from Jispa to Darcha, the last village before the Manali–Leh road climbs into empty high country, for a t…
Photo: Nrr1729 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Old Kaza and Sakya Tangyud morning walk
An easy first-morning walk through the mud-walled lanes of Kaza Khas to the Sakya Tangyud monastery, perfect for acclim…
Photo: Kirechko · Public domain · Commons
Spitian kitchen supper with sea buckthorn
Eat what Spitian families eat: thukpa, tsampa, barley bread, peas from the fields and sea buckthorn juice. Best done in…
Where to sleep
Stays in these places
Photo: Rupak Sarkar · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Zostel Spiti, Kaza
The Kaza branch of the Indian hostel chain is where most solo travellers and students land in Spiti. Dorm beds and…
Photo: Tim Dellmann · CC BY 3.0 · Commons
Budget
Tabo Monastery Guest House
A plain guesthouse run beside the 996 CE monastery complex in Tabo. Simple rooms, some with shared bathrooms, a sh…
Photo: Sumita Roy Dutta · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
Langza homestays
Langza's farming families open their homes to travellers at about 4,420 m, below the Buddha statue and Chau Chau K…
Photo: Shobhla-Himachal · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Budget
HPTDC Hotel Chandrabhaga, Keylong
Himachal Pradesh Tourism's hotel in Keylong is a plain, government-run stay in Lahaul's district headquarters at 3…
Photo: Prof Ranga Sai · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Sakya Abode, Kaza
A long-running family hotel in Kaza near the Sakya Tangyud monastery. Warm rooms with attached bathrooms, a dining…
Photo: This Photo was taken by Timothy A. Gonsalves. … · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Commons
Mid
Hotel Deyzor, Kaza
A well-known small hotel in Kaza, behind the BSNL office, with warm rooms, attached bathrooms and a restaurant pop…