Ladakh Tours & Experiences

Things to do in Ladakh

Leh is the base, and the order matters: by the Leh district's rule, nobody heads higher, to Khardung La or Pangong, until they have had 48 hours in Leh. Day one is for rest; on day two the bazaar, Leh Palace and the Shanti Stupa are all at Leh's own height. Each of Leh, Nubra and Pangong has a page of its own.

Visit the monasteries around Leh

Thiksey's daily morning prayers are open to visitors, and Hemis is the region's most popular monastery, for its treasures and its festival. A full day of our Leh and Khardung La road trip, which sleeps every night in Leh, goes to them, beginning at Thiksey at dawn; the eight- and ten-day tours keep a free day for Hemis or Thiksey.

Watch the masked dances at Hemis

The Hemis festival follows the Tibetan calendar and lands in late June or early July: for two days, masked monks in brocade dance the cham in the monastery courtyard. Our Hemis Festival trip puts rest days in Leh first, gets you to the courtyard early for a good place and has a guide explain each dance.

Drive up to Khardung La

About 40 km from Leh, Khardung La is the pass into the Nubra Valley, and Ladakh's tourism department advises against going up in your first 48 hours. The road trip drives up on its fourth day for the view back down the valley; the eight- and ten-day tours cross it to reach Nubra.

Ride a Bactrian camel in the Nubra Valley

Over the pass, the Leh district points visitors to double-humped camel safaris on the Hunder dunes, and Diskit has its monastery and giant Maitreya statue. The eight-day and ten-day tours and our Leh–Nubra–Pangong circuit spend an afternoon and a night there; the ride itself is not included.

Spend a night beside Pangong Tso

At 14,270 feet, about 4,350 metres, Pangong Tso is a brackish lake 134 km long, a third of it in India, and its water changes colour as the day goes on. Those three trips cross from Nubra for a night on its shore; rooms there are few, so the tourism department urges booking ahead.

Go on to Tso Moriri

From Pangong, the Ladakh Tour — 8 days heads across the Changthang plateau to Tso Moriri, which its day plan calls quieter than Pangong, before the long drive back to Leh; see our Tso Moriri guide.

Look at the night sky over Hanle

Hanle has some of the darkest night skies in India, and the Ladakh government has notified a dark sky reserve around the Indian Astronomical Observatory there. Our circuit can add Tso Moriri and Hanle on optional extra days.

Drive the Manali–Leh highway

Our Manali–Leh highway trip makes the road the point: Baralacha La and the Moray Plains, a night at Sarchu, then Leh and a full rest day. The Leh district gives its season as May or June to September or October.

Choosing between our tours and experiences

The Hemis Festival trip is our one Ladakh experience: a guide, a vehicle and a place in the courtyard in June or July. Our tour packages are complete journeys with a driver and the permits their routes need. New to altitude? The road trip turns back at Khardung La. The circuit and the eight-day tour go on to the camps of Nubra and Pangong, and the eight-day adds Tso Moriri for fit, patient travellers. The ten-day tour starts on Dal Lake, and the Manali–Leh drive gains height faster than a flight. Our Ladakh tour packages page compares all five.

When to go for these

Most of our Ladakh trips run between May and September, when the roads in are open; the Leh district gives the Srinagar highway's season as May to November or December. Leh averages only about 70 mm of rain a year, by IMD's 2011–2024 figures. Pangong is a breeding ground for birds in summer and frozen in winter, when Leh's January nights average about minus 13°C.

Planning tips for Ladakh

The Leh health advisory asks for total rest on arrival, 24 to 36 hours of it, then nothing strenuous for two days, and no alcohol, cigarettes, sedatives or sleeping pills; arriving by road, it adds, does not acclimatise you. Permits depend on your passport: Indian citizens need no Inner Line Permit, only the environment fee paid online on the Leh permit portal, while foreign passport holders require a protected-area permit for Khardung La, Nubra, Pangong or Tso Moriri, valid only for the route it names. Our tour packages include the permits for their routes; the Ladakh travel guide covers the rest.