Ladakh Travel Guide: Places to Visit, Permits, Seasons and Routes

Ladakh's sights fall into clusters around Leh: the town itself and the monasteries along the road to Hemis; the Nubra Valley, about 120 km north over Khardung La; the high lakes of the south-east, Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri, with Hanle beyond; Alchi and Lamayuru to the west; and, on the Srinagar road, Kargil, Drass and the Suru valley, with Zanskar further south. Every trip we run here, tours and experiences together, is on our Ladakh tours and experiences page.

Leh

Leh, at about 3,500 metres, is where every trip begins and where the first 48 hours are spent. Above the Main Bazaar rise the nine-storey Leh Palace, built under King Sengge Namgyal in the 17th century, and the small Tsemo fort on the ridge behind it; the white Shanti Stupa, raised in 1991, looks over the town from its own hill. Incredible India describes Leh as the hub of the caravan trade between Punjab and Central Asia, and between Kashmir and Tibet, from the 17th century until 1949. Our Leh travel guide takes the town sight by sight.

Thiksey, Shey, Stok and Hemis

South and south-east of Leh, along the road towards Hemis, stand the monasteries most visitors see during their first days, which the Leh district allows for places near town. Thiksey, 19 km from Leh by the district's figure, was founded in 1433, is widely compared with the Potala Palace, and lets tourists attend its daily morning prayers. Shey, the old capital, keeps a gilded copper Buddha that rises through three floors of its palace temple. Stok Palace, the former royal family's home, has a museum of crowns, jewellery and thangkas. Hemis, 45 to 50 km away, is the district's most popular monastery, for its treasures and its summer festival.

Khardung La and the Nubra Valley

The road north climbs about 40 km to Khardung La, which the Leh district calls the gateway to the Shyok and Nubra valleys, then drops into Nubra. There, double-humped Bactrian camels wait at the Hunder sand dunes, Diskit has its monastery and a Maitreya statue more than 30 metres tall, and Turtuk, held by Pakistan until the 1971 war, is in the district's words the last outpost of India. The pass and the valley wait until your 48 hours in Leh are over; more in our Nubra Valley travel guide.

Pangong Tso

The Leh district puts Pangong Tso at 14,270 feet, about 4,350 metres, and 134 km long, with a third of it in India and two-thirds in China. Its brackish water changes colour through the day, birds such as bar-headed geese breed on it in summer, and it freezes completely in winter. The road from Leh crosses Chang La, which Ladakh's tourism department lists among the places not to visit within 48 hours of arrival. The lake area is a notified wildlife sanctuary with few rooms, so book before you go. See our Pangong Lake travel guide.

Tso Moriri

Tso Moriri lies on the Changthang plateau, about 240 km from Leh by the district's route through Upshi, Chumathang and Sumdo, a drive it puts at six to seven hours. The lake is about 19 km long and up to 8 km wide, a protected wetland under the Ramsar convention, and quieter than Pangong, with bar-headed geese and great crested grebes on the water. Our eight-day tour adds a night here after Pangong; read the Tso Moriri travel guide.

Hanle

Hanle, about 260 km from Leh and around 4,500 metres up, is home to the Indian Astronomical Observatory. Its night skies are among the darkest in India, and in December 2022 the Ladakh government notified the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve around the observatory, according to the Press Information Bureau. The Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary nearby shelters the kiang, or Tibetan wild ass, and marmots. Our Leh, Nubra and Pangong circuit can add Tso Moriri and Hanle on optional extra days.

Pathar Sahib, Magnetic Hill and the Sangam

The Kargil road out of Leh has three short stops that fit into one outing. Gurudwara Pathar Sahib, built by the Indian Army with local people around a boulder linked to Guru Nanak, serves langar to every visitor. Magnetic Hill, 30 km from Leh on the same highway, seems to pull a stationary vehicle uphill; Incredible India explains it as an optical illusion. At the Sangam near Nimmu, the Indus meets the Zanskar, and the Leh district holds its Ladakh River Festival there in August.

Alchi and Lamayuru

Alchi, 70 km west of Leh on the Indus by Incredible India's figure, keeps temple paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries, unusually well preserved because it was abandoned as a place of active worship as early as the 16th century; the Dukhang and the Sumtsek hold the finest. Lamayuru, 115 km from Leh, is known for its 11th-century monastery and the eroded "moonland" around it, and the district says it can be seen on a day trip from Leh. Its masked-dance festival, Yuru Kabgyat, falls in June or July.

Kargil, Drass and the Suru valley

The Srinagar–Leh highway runs through Kargil and Drass. Drass, 60 km from Kargil, has the Kargil War Memorial, and the Kargil district notes that the 1999 battle sites of Tiger Hill and Tololing can be seen from there. In the same district, Mulbekh has a Maitreya Buddha carved into the rock. South of Kargil, the Suru valley leads towards Zanskar: Purtikchey looks out on Nun (7,135 metres), and Rangdum, 130 km from Kargil, has an 18th-century monastery on a hillock.

Zanskar

Zanskar lies beyond the Penzi La, about 250 km from Kargil, and the Kargil district says the pass cuts it off for more than eight months a year. Karsha, 9 km from Padum, is its largest monastic establishment, and Phugtal is a cave monastery in the Lungnak valley. The Leh district lists the Chadar, an ice trek from Nimmu to Padum, among its treks. Read our Zanskar Valley travel guide.

Leh is dry all year: IMD's 2011–2024 averages give it 69.5 mm of rain a year, and the Leh district notes that from June to September Ladakh stays unaffected by the monsoon that holds sway over most of the Himalaya. June to September is the main season. Leh's days then average 23 to 28°C, nights 9 to 15°C, and both highways are normally open: the district gives the Srinagar road May to November or December, and the Manali road May or June to September or October. From November to March the roads close, flights are the way in, and January nights in Leh average about minus 13°C. The Hemis festival falls in late June or the first half of July, and the Ladakh Festival fills Leh for a week in September. IMD's hazard profile for Ladakh still names flash floods and mudslides, so keep a spare day even in summer. Month by month, see our guide to the best time to visit Ladakh.

• By air: Leh's Kushok Bakula Rimpochee Airport, run by the Airports Authority of India, is the gentlest arrival on time and effort, and the Leh district lists daily flights from New Delhi. In winter, when both highways are closed, it is the only way in.
• From Srinagar by road: the highway runs 434 km through Drass and Kargil and, by the Leh district's dates, is open from May to November or December. Our 10 Days Ladakh with Srinagar begins with two nights on Dal Lake and reaches Leh by air or by road, depending on the season.
• From Manali by road: since October 2020 the road has run through the Atal Tunnel under the Rohtang Pass, then over Baralacha La; the district gives its season as May or June to September or October. Our Manali–Leh highway drive crosses the Moray Plains, stops a night at Sarchu, and ends with a full rest day in Leh; its own page warns that it gains altitude faster than flying in.
• By rail: there is no railway in Ladakh; the nearest station the Leh district names is Jammu Tawi.

However you come, the Leh health advisory is blunt: road travel "does not help at all" with acclimatisation, so the 48 hours in Leh apply to drivers too.

• The 48-hour rule: the Leh district says all tourists must spend at least 48 hours acclimatising before going to higher places such as Khardung La and Pangong; nearby areas of Leh may be visited meanwhile. The health advisory adds complete rest for the first 24 to 36 hours, no exertion on the first two days, two to three litres of water a day, a light first meal, and no alcohol, cigarettes, sedatives or sleeping pills.
• Warning signs: headache, nausea, coughing, breathlessness, disturbed sleep and loss of appetite. High-altitude pulmonary and cerebral oedema (HAPE and HACE) can be fatal; see a doctor at once. The advisory also recommends a preventive medicine: ask your own doctor before taking anything. Our eight-day tour is not recommended for anyone with a heart or lung condition without medical advice first.
• Indian citizens: no Inner Line Permit is needed. You pay the environment fee online on the Leh district's permit portal, and only there: the administration has warned of fake fee slips sold by private agents.
• Foreign nationals: a Protected Area Permit is needed for areas such as Khardung La, Nubra, Pangong and Tso Moriri. It is valid only for the circuit and entry points it names, and you may have to leave a photocopy at each check-post, so carry several. Citizens of some countries, and holders of diplomatic, official or journalist passports, apply to the Government of India in New Delhi instead.