The turquoise water of Pangong Tso curving between pale mountains under a streaked sky

Ladakh, India · 34.15° N, 77.58° E

Ladakh

A cold desert of monasteries, salt-rimmed lakes and passes above 5,000 metres. Ladakh rewards a slow start and punishes a hurried one.

Best time
May to September
Ideal length
8–11 days
Region
Himalaya
Journeys from
₹68,500

Ladakh is a place of big emptiness and small details — a prayer wheel worn smooth by a thousand hands, apricots drying on a flat roof in Hunder, the way Pangong Tso changes from pewter to turquoise as the sun climbs.

We build every Ladakh itinerary around two nights of doing very little in Leh. It is the least glamorous advice we give and the most important: at 3,500 metres your body needs time, and the trips that skip it are the ones that end early.

After that, the roads open up. Over Khardung La to the sand dunes and double-humped camels of Nubra, along the Shyok river to Pangong, and back over Chang La — with drivers who have been making these crossings with us for more than a decade.

(02)When to go

May to September

Passes open in May. July and August are warmest but busiest; September brings clear skies, golden poplars and quieter roads.

  1. January: not recommended
  2. February: not recommended
  3. March: not recommended
  4. April: not recommended
  5. May: recommended
  6. June: recommended
  7. July: recommended
  8. August: recommended
  9. September: recommended
  10. October: not recommended
  11. November: not recommended
  12. December: not recommended

(03)Don't miss

The moments worth the journey.

Prayer flags strung between two posts on the shore of Pangong Tso, with bare brown mountains beyond
Photo Hans-Jurgen Mager / Unsplash
  1. 01

    Pangong Tso

    A 134 km lake that is mostly in Tibet. Stay the night — the light at six in the morning is the reason to come.

  2. 02

    Nubra Valley

    Sand dunes at 3,000 metres, Bactrian camels and the Maitreya Buddha looking down the valley from Diskit.

  3. 03

    Thiksey at dawn

    Join the morning puja before the day-trippers arrive: horns, butter tea and young monks trying not to laugh.

  4. 04

    The Sangam

    Where the green Indus meets the silt-brown Zanskar. Best seen from the road above, not the rafting beach.

(04)From the road

Ladakh in pictures

  • The green Indus meeting the silt-brown Zanskar at Sangam, seen from above
    The green Indus meeting the silt-brown Zanskar at Sangam, seen from above
  • A lone Bactrian camel on the sand flats of the Nubra Valley below snow-streaked peaks
    A lone Bactrian camel on the sand flats of the Nubra Valley below snow-streaked peaks
  • Young monks in maroon robes on the steps of a Ladakhi monastery courtyard
    Young monks in maroon robes on the steps of a Ladakhi monastery courtyard
  • A row of loaded motorcycles parked on the shore of Pangong Tso
    A row of loaded motorcycles parked on the shore of Pangong Tso
  • The core of the Milky Way over a dark Ladakhi ridge on a new-moon night
    The core of the Milky Way over a dark Ladakhi ridge on a new-moon night
  • Leh town spread across the valley floor with the Stok range lit gold behind
    Leh town spread across the valley floor with the Stok range lit gold behind
  • A camel caravan crossing the Hunder dunes under a heavy sky
    A camel caravan crossing the Hunder dunes under a heavy sky

(05)Journeys

Ways to travel Ladakh

Starting points our planners reshape around your dates, your people and your pace.

Plan a trip to LadakhAll journeys

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Spiti Valley